Bronica ETRSi
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR mount · 42 × 55.1mm on the ETRSi sheet, 42.5 × 55.1mm on the earlier ETR sheets; 4:5 ratio matched to print paper (Tamron) · 1988
Also known as: Bronica ETRSi · Bronica ETR-Si · Bronica ETRSI · Zenza Bronica ETRSi · Zenzabronica ETRSi · Bronica ETRSi 645 · Bronica ETRSi 6x4.5 · Bronica ETRSi body · Bronica ETRSi AE-III · Bronica ETRSi 40th · ゼンザブロニカ ETRSi · ゼンザブロニカETRSi · ブロニカ ETRSi · ブロニカETRSi
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETRSi, black | Bronica ETR | 1988–2004 | — | Not published. Tamron's spec sheet says production ended at the end of December 2004 (平成16年12月末); camera-wiki's table gives 1988–2004. Japanese Wikipedia records 300,000 ETR-series cameras sold by March 1996 |
| ETRSi William Fox Talbot 150th Anniversary | Bronica ETR | 1990–1990 | — | No number published |
| ETRSi 300,000 commemorative, chrome | Bronica ETR | 1996–1996 | — | 300 units, March 1996 (Japanese Wikipedia) |
| ETRSi 40th Anniversary | Bronica ETR | 1999–1999 | — | 300 sets, September 1999 (Japanese Wikipedia) |
- Price year: the ¥182,000 is the figure on Tamron's last Japanese spec sheet, the one that records the December 2004 end of production, so it is carried as the 2004 list rather than the 1988 launch price, which no source found gives. The 5% tax in the with-tax figure fits any year from 1997 to 2004.
- Weight: 480 g body and 1,285 g set are Tamron's; the spec table on Emulsive's review prints 493 g for the body, which is the ETR manual's figure (body with battery) and looks carried over.
- Frame: Tamron's ETRSi sheet says 42 × 55.1 mm where its ETR, ETR-C, ETRS and ETRC sheets say 42.5 × 55.1 mm; the gate did not change, so the difference is rounding.
- Battery: one 6 V alkaline or silver cell, checked by a red LED in the finder that doubles as the shutter-closed signal (Tamron). Both reviewers warn that the electronic B setting and a dial left on drain it.
How to tell them apart
- 'ETRSi' on the nameplate, lens release on the front of a polycarbonate body, mirror lock-up lever by the crank, B on the speed dial and an SCA socket on the shutter side — any one of these separates it from an ETRS
- Ei backs: grey locking dark-slide handle and a flip-out winding crank (camera-wiki)
- Half-stop aperture clicks on the Zenzanon-PE lenses introduced with it; MC and E lenses fit and work (Tamron; camera-wiki)
- Chrome finish means the March 1996 300,000-unit edition; champagne with grey leatherette the September 1999 40th; a gold plaque under the speed dial the 1990 Fox Talbot
- Listing trap: sellers write 'ETRS' for ETRSi bodies and 'ETR-Si' or 'ETRSI' for the same camera
ETRSi, black:
- 'ETRSi' on the nameplate; polycarbonate shell on the second-type ETRS body with the lens release returned to the front (camera-wiki)
- Mirror lock-up lever beside the winding crank (camera-wiki; Tamron: 'ミラーアップ可能、本体のレバー')
- B as well as T on the speed dial — the only ETR body with a bulb setting (camera-wiki)
- SCA flash socket on the shutter side of the body for TTL off-the-film flash through an SCA 386 adapter (camera-wiki; Tamron)
- Ei 120/220 backs with a locking dark slide with a grey handle and a flip-out crank in place of the thumb winder (camera-wiki)
ETRSi William Fox Talbot 150th Anniversary:
- Standard black polycarbonate body with a gold plaque below the shutter-speed dial; supplied with a Billingham case (camera-wiki)
ETRSi 300,000 commemorative, chrome:
- Silver-chrome polycarbonate body with fine black leather and a matching Ei 120 back whose shells are black-painted with chrome inserts (camera-wiki)
- Black winding crank rather than a chrome one (camera-wiki)
ETRSi 40th Anniversary:
- Champagne-chrome (metallic-painted) polycarbonate body with grey leatherette, a Bronica D-style logo and a 40th-anniversary plate (Japanese Wikipedia; camera-wiki)
- Sold as a set with a matching PE 75mm, Ei 120 back, AE-III finder and Speed Grip; camera-wiki notes even the lens barrel is polycarbonate
- ETRSi, black: The standard camera for sixteen years. Tamron's final Japanese spec sheet lists the standard set, body, Ei 120 back, Zenzanon-PE 75mm f/2.8 and waist-level finder E, at ¥182,000 (¥191,100 with tax), the AE set with AE-III finder and Speed Grip E at ¥263,000, and the AE set with Motor Winder Ei II at ¥289,000. Japanese Wikipedia notes that despite the new features the price fell against the ETRS.
- ETRSi William Fox Talbot 150th Anniversary: Marks the 150th anniversary of Fox Talbot's negative process; camera-wiki is the only source found, and Japanese Wikipedia does not list it.
- ETRSi 300,000 commemorative, chrome: Marks 300,000 ETR-series cameras sold. The only chrome ETRSi; chrome ETR and ETRS bodies had ended around 1981.
- ETRSi 40th Anniversary: Forty years from the first Bronica of 1959, and the last ETR edition before Tamron closed the line.
Specifications
- Format
- 42 × 55.1mm on the ETRSi sheet, 42.5 × 55.1mm on the earlier ETR sheets; 4:5 ratio matched to print paper (Tamron) · 15 on 120, 30 on 220 (Tamron ETRS sheet); 35mm and instant-film backs each in their own holder (Tamron ETRSi sheet) exposures
- Finder (waist-level finder E (standard))
- folding hood with magnifier, one-action open and close; interchangeable · 94% coverage
- Finder (AE-III prism finder E)
- metering pentaprism, sold in the AE sets with the Speed Grip E or Motor Winder Ei II (Tamron)
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled leaf shutter in each lens; speed set on the body (Tamron spec sheet) · T and B, 8s–1/500; no intermediate speeds; about 1/500 mechanically without a battery. B draws power for as long as it is open (camera-wiki) · flash sync X contact only, at all speeds; TTL off-the-film automatic flash through the SCA system adapter (Tamron)
- Film advance
- Crank, one full turn, with small-step winding possible (Tamron); Motor Winder Ei and Ei II optional. Lens interchange only with the shutter cocked, as on every ETR body
- Back
- Interchangeable Ei 120 and 220 backs with locking grey dark slides, plus 35mm and instant-film backs (Tamron; camera-wiki). Earlier ETR/ETRS backs fit
- Meter
- None in the body for ambient light; TTL off-the-film flash metering built in; ambient metering through the AE finders
- Motor drive
- Motor Winder Ei, Motor Winder Ei II, Speed Grip E — Japanese Wikipedia lists Motor Winder Ei support among the ETRSi's additions; Tamron's final sets pair the AE-III with the Speed Grip E or the Motor Winder Ei II
- Weight
- 480 g
- Dimensions
- 92 × 87 × 69 (W × H × D) body; 92 × 107 × 163 with PE 75mm, Ei 120 back and waist-level finder E (Tamron spec sheet) mm
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥182,000 standard set (¥191,100 incl. tax) — body, Ei 120 back, Zenzanon-PE 75mm f/2.8 and waist-level finder E — on Tamron Japan's final spec sheet, which records the end of production in December 2004; AE set ¥263,000 (¥276,150), AE + Motor Winder Ei II set ¥289,000 (¥303,450). Tamron USA's 2004 sheet listed the body alone at $1,473 (Tamron USA sheet on web.archive.org) (today ¥207,000)
- Accessories
- Waist-level finder E, AE-II, AE-III prism finder E, prism, rotary and sports finders (camera-wiki; Tamron) · Ei 120 and Ei 220 backs, ETRS 135 back, 70mm back, CB102/CB103 Polaroid backs (camera-wiki) · Speed Grip E, Motor Winder Ei and Ei II, tripod release, Polaroid tripod adapter (camera-wiki; Tamron) · SCA 386 flash adapter for TTL off-the-film flash (camera-wiki) · Interchangeable focusing screens; full matte as standard (Tamron)
Tamron's ETRSi sheet gives 94% coverage for every interchangeable finder and a full-matte screen as standard; the earlier sheets' 4.03× / 1.25× magnifier figures are for the same part.
The AE-II and AE-III finders use the contact added on the ETRS; the Fox Talbot and 40th sets were supplied with the AE-II and AE-III respectively (camera-wiki).
Where sources disagree
- Weight (grams)
- 480 g body — Tamron Japan's ETRSi spec sheet
- 493 g body — the spec table on Emulsive's ETRSi review, which matches the 1976 ETR manual's body-with-battery figure
Better supported: 480
The 493 g looks copied from the ETR rather than weighed.
What reviewers say
- Denys Trofimchuk, Emulsive (blog) — "All in all, I love my Bronica and use it often": about the size and weight of a pro DSLR, the 75mm "works like a charm", but it "has lots of plastic parts, previous versions are better built (ETR, ETRS)" and it lives on its battery.
- Kent, Analog.Cafe (blog) — The best-value 645 he knows: a body, 50mm, 75mm, back and prism for about $300 in 2020. "Despite the total of four pounds/two kilos in weight, the system is easy to disassemble and fit into a backpack"; the electronic bulb mode "can drain the battery quickly".
History
The ETRSi of December 1988 is the ETR line’s final form, and the one most working copies are. It is built on the polycarbonate second-type ETRS body, with the lens release moved back to the front, and adds what the ETRS lacked: a mirror lock-up lever beside the crank, a mirror shock absorber, a true B setting next to T, TTL off-the-film flash metering through an SCA socket on the shutter side of the body, and Ei film backs whose grey dark slides lock in place. The Motor Winder Ei was made for it, and the Zenzanon-PE lenses launched with it brought half-stop aperture clicks. Japanese Wikipedia notes that for all the additions the price fell against the ETRS; Tamron’s last Japanese sheet puts the standard set, body, Ei 120 back, PE 75mm f/2.8 and waist-level finder, at ¥182,000, and Tamron USA’s 2004 list had the body alone at $1,473.
The shutter is unchanged from 1976: a Seiko #0 leaf shutter in every lens, electronically timed from 8 seconds to 1/500 with X sync throughout and a mechanical 1/500 when the 6 V cell is flat. The body weighs 480 g and the standard set 1,285 g by Tamron’s sheet. Three limited runs mark the years: a 1990 William Fox Talbot 150th Anniversary camera, black with a gold plaque and a Billingham case; the March 1996 silver-chrome edition of 300 celebrating 300,000 ETR-series cameras sold, the only chrome ETRSi; and the September 1999 40th Anniversary set of 300 in champagne chrome with grey leatherette, a Bronica D-style logo and a matching PE 75mm, AE-III finder and Speed Grip. Tamron, which had absorbed Bronica in July 1998, ended ETRSi production at the end of December 2004 and left medium format altogether in October 2005.
Reviewers treat it as the cheap way into a modular 645. Denys Trofimchuk at Emulsive finds it the size and weight of a professional DSLR, loves it and uses it often, and still prefers the build of the metal-bodied ETR and ETRS, since the ETRSi “has lots of plastic parts”. Kent at Analog.Cafe put a body, two lenses, a back and a prism together for about $300 in 2020 and calls it the best-value 645 he knows, two kilos that come apart to fit a backpack. Both warn about the battery: the electronic B holds the shutter open on power, and a dial left on will drain the cell. An editor’s note on the Analog.Cafe review puts complete kits at roughly $500–700 in 2024.
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
- Zenza Bronica ETRSi Medium Format Film Camera, prism, 150mm f3.5 lens kit
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