Zenza Bronica C
Zenza Bronica · Bronica S mount · 1964
Also known as: Zenza Bronica C · Bronica C · Zenzabronica C · Bronica C 6x6 · Bronica Model C · Zenza Bronica C Nikkor-P 75mm · ゼンザブロニカ C · ゼンザブロニカC · ブロニカ C · ゼンザブロニカ C型
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenza Bronica C (1964–1965) | Bronica S | 1964–1965 | — | Not published in any source found. Five months in the catalogue, by Tamron's dates, before the C2 replaced it. |
- Tamron's sheet is the source for the shutter, sync, focusing stroke and throw, weight and price; Japanese Wikipedia independently gives 1/500, X 1/40 and the fixed magazine. No dollar price was found: Mike Eckman gives none for the C.
- The 1,780 g is Tamron's figure and the sheet does not say whether it includes the standard lens; the same figure is printed for the C2.
- Tamron's sheet lists 'film back' in the standard set for every model, including this one with its fixed chamber; the phrase is a template the archive applies to all the bodies.
How to tell them apart
- Film chamber built into the body with no removable magazine, the first and simplest test against an S or S2 (Japanese Wikipedia; camera-wiki on the C2)
- Shutter dial ends at 1/500 with X at 1/40; the S and S2 read 1/1000 with X at 1/50 (Tamron sheets)
- Removable helicoid focusing block on the front, 14 mm stroke and 250° throw, with distance scales for 50, 75, 135 and 200 mm and a depth-of-field scale on its ring; the block comes off to expose the large bayonet (Tamron)
- New large bayonet on the body, introduced with this model; lenses and focusing units made for the D and S's old large bayonet do not fit (Japanese Wikipedia)
- No self-timer and no mirror pre-release button (Japanese Wikipedia)
- No 120/220 lever on the body; a C2 has one (Tamron; collection-appareils)
- Polished 18-8 stainless-steel shell, the same 100 × 100 × 140 mm as the S and S2 (Tamron)
Zenza Bronica C (1964–1965):
- No 120/220 selector lever: the C takes 120 only, and the lever is the one external difference from the C2 (Tamron sheets; collection-appareils)
- Zenza Bronica C (1964–1965): The only version. collection-appareils notes that period catalogues do not separate the C from the C2, which is why some dates run the C on to 1971.
Specifications
- Finder
- removable folding hood with magnifier over a Fresnel-equipped ground glass; interchangeable with a prism finder or an outdoor magnifier (Tamron C sheet)
- Shutter
- vertical-travel focal-plane shutter with a single-axis, non-rotating dial (Tamron C sheet) · B, 1–1/500 s, X (1/40), and T by locking the release (Tamron) · flash sync automatic switching; X (1/40) and 1–1/15 for electronic flash, FP bulbs at every speed except X, M bulbs B and 1–1/125, F bulbs B and 1–1/15 (Tamron) · no self-timer
- Film advance
- crank or knob, about three turns per frame, self-cocking; multiple-exposure dial; automatic frame counter (Tamron)
- Back
- fixed: the film chamber is part of the body and the magazine does not come off (Japanese Wikipedia; Tamron); loading by start mark with a C-type inner frame (Tamron)
- Meter
- none (no meter appears on the Tamron specification sheet)
- Weight
- 1780 g
- Dimensions
- 100 × 100 × 140 (Tamron C sheet) mm
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥82,000 for the standard set of body, film back, standard lens and waist-level finder (Tamron's archive, a figure converted to a standard set because of period tax rules) (today ¥391,000)
Where sources disagree
- Last
- Replaced by the C2 in May 1965 — Tamron model list; English Wikipedia (December 1964 to May 1965)
- 1964–1971 — collection-appareils, which notes that period catalogues do not distinguish C from C2
Better supported: May 1965
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The C of December 1964 was Bronica’s cheaper camera: the S’s shell and the S’s 75 mm Nikkor, but a film chamber built into the body with no removable magazine, a shutter that stops at 1/500 with flash at 1/40, and no self-timer or mirror pre-release. Tamron’s archive puts the standard set of body, lens and waist-level hood at ¥82,000, against ¥88,000 for the S that was still on sale. Mike Eckman adds that it brought back the double-exposure dial the S had lost.
Its importance is out of proportion to its five months in the catalogue, because the C is where the focal-plane Bronica’s front end changed. In place of the D and S’s rack-and-pinion tube inside the body, the C has a removable helicoid focusing block on the front, 14 mm of stroke over a 250° throw, carrying the distance scales for the 50, 75, 135 and 200 mm lenses and a depth-of-field scale. Take the block off and the body’s large bayonet is exposed, and larger lenses go onto it directly; Eckman notes this is what opened the system to more lenses, extension tubes and bellows. The large bayonet itself was changed at the same time, so lenses and focusing units made for the D and S do not fit the C or anything after it, and Japanese Wikipedia is explicit that the two standards are not interchangeable. The S2 of July 1965 was, in effect, the S’s interchangeable back on the C’s front.
The C2 of May 1965 is the same camera with a lever to switch between 120 and 220 film, and collection-appareils warns that period catalogues do not separate the two, which is why some references run the C on to 1971. On a body in hand, the lever settles it: a C has none. Weight is Tamron’s 1,780 g, and the shell is the polished stainless steel of the whole line.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Live listings
- FOXHOME ZENZA BRONICA ブロニカ 接写リングセット C-A C-B C-D C-C
- alpha-03 並品 ZENZA BRONICA ブロニカ 接写リングセット C-A C-B C-D C-C
- RB052『並品』ZENZA BRONICA ブロニカ 接写リングセット C-A C-B C-D C-C
- 1010『並品』ZENZA BRONICA ブロニカ 接写リングセット C-A C-B C-D C-C
- 6AHOME ZENZA BRONICA ブロニカ 接写リングセット C-A C-B C-D C-C
Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.
Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.