Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 125–250mm f/5.6 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1976 · Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon zoom, 17 elements in 14 groups¹
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Zenzanon-E Variogon 125-250mm f/5.6 · Zenzanon E 125-250mm F5.6 · Bronica Variogon 125-250mm f/5.6 · Schneider Variogon 125-250mm f5.6 Bronica ETR · Bronica ETR 125-250mm zoom · Zenzanon-E 125-250/5.6 · ゼンザノンE バリオゴン 125-250mm F5.6 · ブロニカ バリオゴン 125-250mm F5.6 · ゼンザブロニカ 125-250mm F5.6 ズーム
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 125–250mm f/5.6 | Bronica ETR | 1976 | — | — |
- Elements, groups, 2.5 m closest focus and the 93 mm filter are from Japanese Wikipedia's ゼンザブロニカ lens table; the brochure transcription on the medfmt ETR page gives the same 14-group/17-element construction and the 1,650 g weight. Schneider-Kreuznach is named as the optical maker by both.
- The 0.76 m close focus in the macro setting is reported in the same Japanese Wikipedia entry and has not been checked against a second source.
- The 1976 date rests on one piece of evidence: the title of Christopher Williams's 2009 photograph of a sectioned example, which gives Schneider serial 12 899 638 and a production window of July to December 1976. That is the date of the Schneider optical block, from Schneider's serial sequence, and need not be the date Bronica put the lens on sale; it is also a single source, so the page carries the flag. No Bronica document consulted dates the lens, and it did not continue into the PE catalogue of 1988 onward.
- The shutter is the Seiko #0 electronically timed leaf shutter common to every ETR lens: 8 s to 1/500 plus T, with B on the ETRSi and a mechanical 1/500 without battery, speed set on the body (camera-wiki.org for the body's shutter range; Japanese Wikipedia for the lens-shutter arrangement).
How to tell them apart
- Zoom Zenzanon-E with Variogon on the ring; the longest ETR lens short of the 500mm and, at 1,650 g by the brochure, the heaviest zoom in the system
- The only ETR lens of any kind at 125mm: a 125 engraved on a Bronica ETR lens is this zoom
- 93 mm filter thread, shared only with the 70–140 Variogon
Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 125–250mm f/5.6:
- Name ring carries ZENZANON-E and VARIOGON together with Schneider-Kreuznach's name; no MC or PE version of this lens exists
- 93 mm front thread, shared only with the 70–140 Variogon; the PE zooms take 95 mm
- Schneider serial number on the lens, in Schneider's own sequence, not Bronica's
- Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 125–250mm f/5.6: The single version. Japanese Wikipedia lists it among the Zenzanon-E lenses as a Schneider-Kreuznach OEM product and the Bronica E-lens brochure gives the same construction. A sectioned example photographed by Christopher Williams carries Schneider serial 12 899 638, which the artwork's title places in production between July and December 1976 — the ETR's own first year.
Specifications
- Formula
- Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon zoom, 17 elements in 14 groups¹
- Construction
- 17 elements / 14 groups
- Aperture range
- f/5.6
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter, 8s–1/500 + T (B on the ETRSi), mechanical 1/500 without battery; speed set on the body
- Min. focus
- 2.5 m
- Weight
- 1650 g
- Filter
- 93 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1976
- Country
- Japan
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 125–250mm f/5.6 is the long zoom of the ETR system and, with its 70–140 sibling, one of two lenses Bronica bought in from Schneider-Kreuznach rather than designed at home. Japanese Wikipedia and the Bronica E-lens brochure both name Schneider as the maker, and the ring carries Schneider’s Variogon name next to Zenzanon-E. Bronica supplied the Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter and the ETR bayonet, so it behaves like every other ETR lens: the body times the shutter from 8 seconds to 1/500 plus T, a mechanical 1/500 works without a battery, and the lens mounts only with the shutter cocked. The construction is 17 elements in 14 groups, closest focus 2.5 m with a macro setting to 0.76 m, filters 93 mm, and the brochure puts it at 1,650 g, the heaviest zoom Bronica ever listed for the ETR.
Nothing from Bronica dates it, but one unusual record does. Christopher Williams’s 2009 photograph of a sectioned example is titled with the lens’s Schneider serial, 12 899 638, and a production window of July to December 1976, the ETR’s own first year. That is a date for the Schneider optical block, worked from Schneider’s serial sequence, and does not say when Bronica put the finished lens on sale; the lens appears in the record under the Zenzanon-E name of the early 1980s and not in the 1976 MC catalogue. With no second source for the date, the page carries the single-source flag. The lens did not continue into the Zenzanon-PE range of 1988 onward, which replaced it with Bronica’s own 100–220.
It is also the only ETR lens of any kind at 125mm: no prime exists at that length, so a 125 on an ETR lens means this zoom. No published review was found. For a buyer, the practical facts are its weight, which calls for a tripod collar it does not have, and a 93 mm front thread shared with nothing but the 70–140. Check both rings for stiff grease, run the shutter through the slow speeds on a body with a good battery, and treat a lens that will not mount as one whose shutter has been tripped off the camera.
Open points: Bronica’s launch and discontinuation years, the minimum aperture, blade count, length and diameter, a list price, and any review.
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.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 125–250mm f/5.6 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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