Bronica ETRC
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR mount · 55.1 × 42.5mm, 5:4 ratio (Tamron spec sheet) · 1978
Also known as: Bronica ETRC · Zenza Bronica ETRC · Zenzabronica ETRC · Bronica ETR C · Bronica ETRC 645 · Bronica ETRC fixed back · ゼンザブロニカ ETRC · ゼンザブロニカETRC · ブロニカ ETRC · ブロニカETRC
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETRC | Bronica ETR | 1978–1980 | — | Not published. Tamron's discontinued-products list ends it in October 1980; camera-wiki's table gives 1978.10–1980.10 |
- Price: Tamron's sheet prints the ¥130,000 under the same 'standard-set equivalent' wording as the other ETR sheets, whose set includes a waist-level finder, while its weight (1,220 g) and dimensions are given without a finder. Whether the ¥130,000 bought a finder is therefore not settled by the sheet; it is ¥23,000 under the ETRS set either way.
- Weight: 1,220 g with the 75mm lens and no finder (Tamron). No body-only weight was published; the ETRS body is 465 g without battery, and the fixed back adds to that.
- Battery: one 6 V alkaline or silver cell, checked by a green LED on the top plate according to the ETRC sheet — the ETR's arrangement, where the ETRS sheet says a red LED in the finder.
How to tell them apart
- 'ETRC' without a hyphen is the 1978 fixed-back ETRS; 'ETR-C' with one is the 1977 fixed-back ETR. Neither has a removable back and listings mix them; the ETRC has the ETRS's eyelet strap lugs and three-position release lock, the ETR-C the ETR's spring-catch studs
- Focusing screens interchange — microprism, central matte and grid matte are listed (Tamron)
- Takes every ETR lens, MC, E and PE, and the ETRS finders including the AE-II
ETRC:
- No film-back release; the back is part of the body and takes a 120 insert (Tamron: 'フィルムバック固定式')
- Otherwise a first-type ETRS: metal panels, eyelet strap lugs, three-position release lock, red battery-check LED in the finder (Tamron; camera-wiki)
- ETRC: The only version. Tamron's sheet gives the price as ¥130,000 and the weight as 1,220 g with the standard lens and no finder, 110 × 160 × 87 mm without finder.
Specifications
- Format
- 55.1 × 42.5mm, 5:4 ratio (Tamron spec sheet) · 15 on 120; the fixed back takes 120 only (Tamron spec sheet) exposures
- Finder
- folding hood with −1.5 dioptre magnifier, one-action open and close; interchangeable · 4.03× magnification · 94% coverage
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled leaf shutter in each lens; speed set on the body (Tamron spec sheet) · T, 8s–1/500; no intermediate speeds; 1/500 mechanically without a battery · flash sync X contact, at all speeds
- Film advance
- Crank, one full turn; lens interchange only with the shutter cocked, as on the ETRS
- Back
- Fixed; 120 film on an insert. No mid-roll change (Tamron lists 120 only)
- Meter
- None in the body; metering through the AE finders
- Weight
- 1220 g
- Dimensions
- 110 × 160 × 87 (W × D × H) with 75mm lens, without finder (Tamron spec sheet) mm
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥130,000 (1978) — Tamron Japan's spec sheet, shown as the standard-set equivalent (body, standard lens and waist-level finder by the sheet's set wording); the sheet's weight of 1,220 g is given without a finder (today ¥215,000)
- Accessories
- Waist-level finder E, AE finder, AE-II, prism, rotary and sports finders, as on the ETRS (camera-wiki) · 120 film inserts · Speed Grip, Motor Drive, tripod release (camera-wiki)
Tamron's ETRC sheet: 4.03× alone, 1.25× with the 75mm lens, coverage 96 × 94%, standard magnifier −1.5 dioptre. Finders interchange as on the ETRS.
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 ETRC appeared in October 1978 together with the ETRS, as the ETRS with its film back fixed, the same relationship the ETR-C had to the ETR a year earlier. Tamron’s spec sheet gives it the ETRS’s shutter, frame, finder and screen set, with the back marked fixed and 120 the only film listed; the price is ¥130,000 against the ETRS set’s ¥153,000, and the weight 1,220 g with the 75mm lens and no finder. camera-wiki sums it up as the ETRS specification without the interchangeable back.
It lasted two years. Tamron’s list ends it in October 1980, two months before the ETR-C went the same way, and no fixed-back ETR body followed; the later SQ and GS-1 lines never had one either. The reason is not recorded in any source found, though a 645 camera whose selling point was interchangeable backs for 120, 220, 35mm and Polaroid film left little room for a version that could take only one of them.
The name is the trap. ETRC and ETR-C differ by a hyphen, both are 120-only bodies without a removable back, and sellers use the two spellings interchangeably. The ETRC is the later and the more ETRS-like of the two: eyelet strap lugs, the three-position release lock and the extra finder contact for the AE-II, where the ETR-C has the ETR’s spring-catch studs. Both take every ETR lens from the 1976 MC series to the PE lenses of the 1990s. No review of the ETRC was found; the ETRS page carries the published reviews of the body it is built on.
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
Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.