Bronica sq review pro#
Bronica sq review professional#
Bronica sq review series#

Now, I’m normally a one lens type of guy, that is I buy a camera and usually I’m happy with only one lens, but I actually have four lenses for my GS-1! They are:

Bronica sq review series#

This is the reason why you have S and PS series lenses for the SQ series and MC and PE lenses for the ETR series. So much so that after they created the coatings and formula for the GS-1’s PG series of lenses, they went back through their other camera lines (the 6×6 SQ and the 6×4.5 ETR) and re-released lenses for those cameras with the same formula. What about the lenses? The GS-1 lenses were held up to be gold standard for Bronica. Otherwise expect to pay around $100 for the Tripod Adapter and $200 for the Rotating prism. While a creative solution to address this issue, be warned that these rotating accessories can be somewhat difficult to find (sometimes you can luck out and buy them as part of a lot of GS-1 equipment). When the GS-1 arrived, I was surprised at how well it was designed - it was just large enough to handle shooting the big 6×7 negative, but at the same time it was lightweight and compact enough that you could visualize shooting it handheld on location for an extended period of time, without needing a tripod. The GS-1 won out in the end due to price, I was able to get the body, a prism, one lens and one 120 back for under $500 from KEH, I would have spent a couple of hundred more (which I didn’t have), for a comparable Mamiya RZ67 outfit.

Bronica sq review pro#

At the time, the Rz67 was still an in-demand film body, and Mamiya was still selling this camera as new (as the RZ67 II pro D), so used lenses and accessories ran a tad pricey for my pockets. Some time after I bought the Bronica, I had the chance to compare directly with a friend who had just bought an RB67 and my suspicions were proven correct. I figured that if Mamiya had dared make a 6×6 TLR that big and bulky, their take on a 6×7 SLR would be even heavier and bigger. While shopping around, I had the chance to handle a Mamiya C330, and while I loved the photos I saw from it online, the camera felt like a cinder block in my hands. The main reason why I didn’t go with these Mamiya RB67 / RZ67 systems was strictly to do with size. I wanted to be able to sync all the way up to 1/500, which I felt was always the strength of shooting medium format. The Pentax’s 1/30 max flash sync, was a deal breaker for me. I wasn’t a fan of it’s oversized 35mm SLR looks and ergonomics and I was heavily into shooting in the Strobist style using off-camera flash. While the Pentax 67 is prized for what is hands down one of the best medium format lenses for any system (the 105/2.4), the system as a whole didn’t speak to me. Let’s deal with my personal reasons one by one: Why not a Pentax 67? Why not the Mamiya RB/RZ 67 or the Pentax 67?

1 Why not the Mamiya RB/RZ 67 or the Pentax 67?.

Usually, these photographers are talking about the Bronica SQ 6×6 or the ETR 6×4.5 systems I’m here to talk about the one Bronica camera that rarely is talked about – the GS-1. …or even thoughts from photographers who started their careers with Bronica equipment, just to “trade up” to a Mamiya or Hasselblad as soon as they were able to. Film-loving photographers, eager to take advantage of these bargains but confused by the various format options and cameras naturally took to photo internet forums as a place for them to ask questions.Įxperienced photographers always chime in, giving advice on cameras they’ve had personal experience with but one name is almost always left out of these conversations… Until that is, when one or two lone voices chirp up and in hushed words say “…Bronica”.įor some reason, these conversations then turn into complaints about accessories and availability of parts system reliability issues, or how some wedding pros may have trashed their cameras during the 80’s. Medium format film camera prices have dropped dramatically, and photographers have been able to buy gear at fractions of what it cost new.

Bronica sq review professional#

Over the last 15 years or so, the professional market has moved to digital.

“Going medium format, but I’m clueless, where do I start?” “I want a medium format camera, but I don’t know which one, help!”