Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1988 · 6 elements in 4 groups (design name not published)
Also known as: Bronica Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 · Bronica ETR 135mm f4 · Zenzanon PE 135mm F4 ETRSi · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PE 135mm F4 · ZENZANON-PE 1:4 f=135mm · Bronica ETRS 135mm F4 PE · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン PE 135mm F4 · ゼンザノンPE 135mm F4 · ブロニカ ETR 135mm F4 · ゼンザブロニカ ETRSi 135mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 (c.1988–2004) | Bronica ETR | 1988–2004 | — | — |
- Elements and groups, weight and the 2004 list price are from Tamron USA's Bronica product page for the lens as captured in 2004; Japanese Wikipedia gives the same 4 groups and 6 elements with a 1.0 m closest focus and a 62 mm screw-in attachment, and Tamron Japan's ETRSi data page lists the PE 135 as 4-6.
- No launch date for the lens has been published. The Zenzanon-PE line began with the ETRSi in 1988, and the 135 mm appears in no MC or E list (the 1976 ETR manual, camera-wiki, Japanese Wikipedia), so 1988 is the earliest it can date from and is the figure used here; 2004 is the year of the last Tamron USA price list, not a documented end of production.
- Diaphragm blade count, minimum aperture, length and diameter are not given by any source reached.
How to tell them apart
- An ETR-mount lens: the four-claw Bronica ETR bayonet with its own Seiko #0 leaf shutter, which can only be mounted and removed with body and lens both cocked, their pins on the green dot (ETR manual)
- Not the Zenzanon-PS 135mm f/4 for the 6×6 SQ bodies, which has the larger SQ bayonet and is engraved PS, nor the Zenzanon-RF 135mm f/4.5 of the RF645 rangefinder; Bronica's focal-plane 6×6 Nikkor-Q 135mm f/3.5 and Komura 135mm f/2.3 have no shutter at all
Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 (c.1988–2004):
- Front ring engraved ZENZANON-PE with 1:4 f=135mm; the PE lenses are the only ETR lenses whose aperture ring clicks in half stops (Tamron ETRSi data; camera-wiki)
- 62 mm filter thread, the size of almost every ETR prime (Japanese Wikipedia: φ62mm ねじ込み)
- Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 (c.1988–2004): The only version. Japanese Wikipedia, camera-wiki and Tamron's lists know no MC or E 135 mm for the ETR: the focal length arrived with the PE line and stayed in it until the last Tamron USA price list of 2004.
Specifications
- Formula
- 6 elements in 4 groups (design name not published)
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled leaf shutter in the lens, 8s–1/500 and T (B on the ETRSi), mechanical 1/500 without battery; speed set on the body
- Min. focus
- 1 m
- Weight
- 750 g
- Filter
- 62 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1988–2004
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated
- Original price
- US$1,715 (2004) (today $2,850)
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 Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 is the short telephoto of Bronica’s last ETR lens generation, a 6×4.5 lens that frames roughly as an 80 mm does on 35 mm film. It has six elements in four groups, focuses to 1.0 m, takes 62 mm filters like nearly every other ETR prime, and weighs 750 g, the figures Tamron USA published on its Bronica product page in 2004 and Japanese Wikipedia repeats. Like every ETR lens it carries its own Seiko #0 leaf shutter, electronically timed from 8 s to 1/500 with T, and B on the ETRSi; the speed is set on the body, the shutter runs mechanically at 1/500 without a battery, and the lens goes on and comes off only with body and lens both cocked.
There was no MC or E 135 mm. The 1976 ETR manual lists five lenses, from 40 to 250 mm, with a 150mm f/4 as the only short telephoto; camera-wiki and Japanese Wikipedia know the 135 only as a PE lens, with the half-stop aperture clicks that distinguish the PE series. The Zenzanon-PE line began with the ETRSi in 1988, which is the earliest the 135 can date from; no launch date has been published. It was still listed in 2004 at US$1,715, below the PE 150mm f/3.5 at $1,811, and sat between the 105 mm macro and the 150 in a range that by then ran from a 30 mm fisheye to a 500 mm.
No review of this lens on its own has been found. Reader comments on a 35mmc review of the ETRS put the 135 and 150 among the inexpensive ETR lenses on the used market and the 180 among the dear ones. Left open: the number of diaphragm blades, the minimum aperture, the length and diameter, and the launch date.
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 Zenzanon-PE 135mm f/4 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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