Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Bronica SQ

Zenza Bronica · Bronica SQ mount · 55.6 × 55.6mm on 120 or 220 (Tamron JP specification). 24 × 36mm with the 135N back; 6×4.5 with the later SQ-i 120J/220J backs and 24 × 54mm with the 135W back, which arrived with the SQ-Ai (camera-wiki) · 1980

Also known as: Bronica SQ · Zenza Bronica SQ · Zenzabronica SQ · Bronica SQ 6x6 · Bronica SQ 6×6 · ゼンザブロニカ SQ · ゼンザブロニカSQ · ブロニカ SQ · ブロニカSQ

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
SQ (1980–84) Bronica SQ 1980–1984 — No production total is known to have been published. Discontinued in September 1984 by the English Wikipedia model table.
  1. Dimensions and weight are Tamron's figures for the camera with standard lens, back and waist-level finder; no body-only figure is given for the SQ.
  2. Tamron's specification lists the shutter as 'B, T, and 8s to 1/500'; camera-wiki gives 8s–1/500 plus T and treats bulb as a feature the SQ-Ai introduced. The SQ-A page on the same Tamron site lists T only.
  3. The 6×4.5 and 24 × 54 frame sizes depend on the SQ-i backs introduced with the SQ-Ai in 1990; camera-wiki lists 120, 220 and 135N as the SQ/SQ-A-era backs.
  4. The discontinuation date (September 1984) rests on the English Wikipedia model table alone.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • ZENZA BRONICA SQ on the front plate; four-claw bayonet; the shutter-speed dial sits on the body's left side with a battery-check button and a red LED above the finder screen (Tamron JP; camera-wiki)
  • No mirror lock-up lever; a multiple-exposure lever is present (Tamron JP; camera-wiki)
  • Lenses mount and dismount only with the shutter cocked; green cocking indicators on both lens and body (camera-wiki)

SQ (1980–84):

  • Plain SQ engraving, no suffix letter; no mirror lock-up lever on the body, which the SQ-A added (camera-wiki)
  • Finder bay without the extra electronic pins of the SQ-A: the later AE finders do not seat properly on it (camera-wiki)
  • Battery check button and cable-release socket beside the shutter-speed knob; a collar around the release locks it (camera-wiki)

Specifications

Format
55.6 × 55.6mm on 120 or 220 (Tamron JP specification). 24 × 36mm with the 135N back; 6×4.5 with the later SQ-i 120J/220J backs and 24 × 54mm with the 135W back, which arrived with the SQ-Ai (camera-wiki) · 12 on 120, 24 on 220 (Tamron JP specification) exposures
Finder (waist-level finder)
folding hood, supplied in the standard set (Tamron JP)
Finder (CdS MF Finder S)
chimney finder with a CdS meter coupled to the back's ASA dial (Tamron JP; camera-wiki)
Finder (CdS ME Prism Finder S)
eye-level prism with a CdS meter coupled to the back's ASA dial (Tamron JP; camera-wiki)
Shutter
Seiko #0 electronically controlled leaf shutter in each lens; mechanical fallback at 1/500 (Tamron JP) · 8s–1/500 and T in whole steps, no intermediate speeds (Tamron JP; camera-wiki); Tamron's page also lists B, see disputed · flash sync X contact only, at all speeds; socket on the front beside the mount, with a second sync connector on the base (Tamron JP; camera-wiki)
Film advance
Crank, one full turn, which also cocks the shutter; the turn can be made in small increments (Tamron JP)
Back
Interchangeable 120/220 backs with an ASA dial coupled to the metered finders; 135N back for 24 × 36 (camera-wiki); the shutter will not fire with the dark slide in (camera-wiki)
Meter
None in the body; CdS cells in the MF and ME Prism finders (Tamron JP)
Motor drive
Not compatible — No motor coupling; the integral-motor body is the separate SQ-Am (camera-wiki)
Weight
1500 g
Dimensions
92 × 179 × 109 (W × D × H) and 1,500g with the 80mm lens and waist-level finder (Tamron JP) mm
Country
Japan
Original price
¥187,000 for the standard set of body, 120 back, Zenzanon-S 80mm f/2.8 and waist-level finder (Tamron JP, which notes the price is given as a set because of the commodity-tax rules of the time) (today ¥277,000)
Accessories
Finders: waist-level finder, CdS MF Finder S (chimney), CdS ME Prism Finder S; the later plain prism, ME, MF, AE and AE-i finders are for the SQ-A onward (camera-wiki) · Focusing screens: micro-split (standard), centre matte, grid matte, microprism, split image (Tamron JP) · Backs: SQ 120, SQ 220, 135N for 24 × 36; Polaroid backs CB102 and CB103 (camera-wiki) · Speed Grip S, winding crank, extension tubes 18 and 36, auto bellows, bellows lens hood, 2× teleconverter, close-up lenses 1 and 2, cold battery pack (camera-wiki)

camera-wiki's compatibility table marks the CdS finders as working only on the original SQ; the ME, MF, AE and AE-i finders of the later bodies are for the SQ-A onward, and the AE finders cannot seat on the SQ because of their extra connector pins.

Where sources disagree

Speeds
  • B, T and 8s–1/500 — Tamron JP specification page for the SQ
  • 8s–1/500 plus T, with bulb arriving on the SQ-Ai — camera-wiki's model table

Better supported: 8s–1/500 and T

Tamron's SQ-A page lists T only, and camera-wiki says explicitly that the SQ-A has no bulb mode; a B setting on the earlier SQ alone would be odd, so the Tamron SQ entry may be a slip.

Last
  • September 1984 — English Wikipedia model table
  • Not stated — Tamron JP and Japanese Wikipedia give no end date

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 SQ of August 1980 was Bronica’s second leaf-shutter system, after the 6×4.5 ETR of 1976, and the camera that retired the focal-plane 6×6 line running from the Z of 1959 to the EC-TL II. Nothing carried over: the SQ’s four-claw bayonet takes only the Zenzanon-S lenses made for it and the Zenzanon-PS lenses that followed, each with its own electronically timed Seiko #0 shutter and helicoid (Tamron JP; camera-wiki). The body is a box with interchangeable finder, screen and back, wound by a one-turn crank, timed by one 6 V battery, with a mechanical 1/500 as the only speed when the battery is dead.

Exposure is manual. Tamron’s specification lists 8 s to 1/500 and T in whole steps, X sync at every speed through the leaf shutter, a multiple-exposure lever and a micro-split screen as standard; a red LED above the screen doubles as battery check and shutter-closed signal. Metering came only from the two CdS finders, the MF chimney and the ME prism, whose cells read the ASA dial on the back (Tamron JP; Japanese Wikipedia). What the SQ lacks shows up in its successor: no mirror lock-up, and a finder bay without the extra pins that the SQ-A’s AE finders need, so those finders do not seat properly on it (camera-wiki).

Tamron published the standard set — body, 120 back, Zenzanon-S 80mm f/2.8 and waist-level finder — at ¥187,000, 1,500 g and 92 × 179 × 109 mm. The English Wikipedia model table ends the SQ in September 1984, by which time the SQ-A (1982) and the motorised SQ-Am had taken over; Tamron and Japanese Wikipedia give no end date. No dedicated review of the plain SQ was found; the long-term accounts of the line are of the SQ-A and SQ-Ai, on their own pages.

Expand Collapse

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

Asking price, USD: a median of $25 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-02 (middle half $20–$25). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

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.

Related: Zenza Bronica EC-TL II · Bronica ETR · Bronica SQ-A · Bronica SQ-Ai · Bronica SQ-Am · Bronica SQ-B

Lenses for this body: Zenzanon 40mm f/4 (SQ) · Zenzanon 50mm f/3.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS Macro 110mm f/4 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS Macro 110mm f/4.5 1:1 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 135mm f/4 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 150mm f/4 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 180mm f/4.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 200mm f/4.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 250mm f/5.6 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS Fisheye 35mm f/3.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 50-100mm f/4-5.6 Aspherical (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 500mm f/8 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 65mm f/4 (SQ) · Zenzanon-PS 80mm f/2.8 (SQ) · Zenzanon-S 105mm f/3.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-S 150mm f/3.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-S 200mm f/4.5 (SQ) · Zenzanon-S 250mm f/5.6 (SQ) · Zenzanon-S 500mm f/8 (SQ) · Zenzanon-S 80mm f/2.8 (SQ) · Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 (SQ) · Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 75-150mm f/4.5 (SQ)

Sources (5)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.