Zenzanon MC / E 150mm f/3.5 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1980 · 5 elements in 5 groups (design name not published)
Also known as: Bronica Zenzanon MC 150mm f/3.5 · Bronica Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 · Bronica ETR 150mm f3.5 · Zenzanon MC 150mm F3.5 ETRS · Zenzanon E 150mm F3.5 ETRSi · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon MC 150mm F3.5 · ZENZANON MC 1:3.5 f=150mm · ZENZANON-E 1:3.5 f=150mm · Bronica ETRS 150mm F3.5 MC · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン MC 150mm F3.5 · ゼンザノン E 150mm F3.5 · ブロニカ ETR 150mm F3.5 · ゼンザブロニカ ETRS 150mm F3.5
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon MC 150mm f/3.5 (late 1970s) | Bronica ETR | — | — | — |
| Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 (c.1980–81 to c.1988) | Bronica ETR | 1980 | — | — |
- Elements and groups, weight, closest focus and filter size are the Zenzanon-E lens's: 5 groups / 5 elements and 626 g from Bronica's Zenzanon-E brochure E810588 as reproduced on Bob Monaghan's ETR page, and 5群5枚, 1.5 m, φ62mm screw-in from Japanese Wikipedia, which adds that the lens is EII相当, the equivalent of the E II revisions. No source gives the MC lens's formula or weight; it is assumed to be the same lens with the earlier engraving.
- Dates: the 150mm f/3.5 is absent from the 1976 ETR manual, so the MC version dates from between 1976 and the Zenzanon-E revisions of about 1980–81; 1980 stands for that range, no launch year being published. The E version was superseded by the PE 150mm f/3.5 when the PE line arrived with the ETRSi in 1988; no end date is published.
- Minimum aperture, blade count, length and diameter are not given by any source reached. The Tamron-era figures (6 elements, 635 g, 1/2-stop clicks) belong to the PE lens.
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)
- 1:3.5 on the front ring separates it from both 150mm f/4 lenses; MC or E on the ring, with full-stop aperture clicks, separates it from the PE 150mm f/3.5 with its half-stop clicks (camera-wiki)
- Not the Zenzanon-S 150mm f/3.5 of the 6×6 SQ, whose bayonet is larger and whose ring reads S, nor the shutterless Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 and Komura 150mm f/3.5 for the focal-plane Bronicas
Zenzanon MC 150mm f/3.5 (late 1970s):
- Front ring engraved ZENZANON MC with 1:3.5 f=150mm (camera-wiki's '150mm f3.5 MC'; dealer and auction listings)
Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 (c.1980–81 to c.1988):
- Front ring engraved ZENZANON-E with 1:3.5 f=150mm; Japanese Wikipedia rates it as equivalent to the E II revisions (EII相当) though the barrel reads E
- Five elements in five groups, 626 g, closest focus 1.5 m, 62 mm filter (Zenzanon-E brochure E810588 via Monaghan; Japanese Wikipedia)
- Zenzanon MC 150mm f/3.5 (late 1970s): The MC-engraved 150mm f/3.5 is well attested by camera-wiki and by dealer stock, but no source publishes its formula. It is not in the 1976 ETR manual, whose 150 mm is the six-element f/4, so it dates from after the launch. It is placed here on the assumption that it shares the five-element design of the Zenzanon-E lens; a source confirming or denying that would settle it.
- Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 (c.1980–81 to c.1988): The Zenzanon-E brochure gives 5 groups / 5 elements and 626 g; Japanese Wikipedia gives the same count, 1.5 m and a 62 mm screw-in attachment, and calls it EII相当. It was replaced by the Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5, which added a sixth element.
Specifications
- Formula
- 5 elements in 5 groups (design name not published)
- Construction
- 5 elements / 5 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 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
- 1.5 m
- Weight
- 626 g
- Filter
- 62 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1980
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated
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 150mm f/3.5 is the ETR’s portrait telephoto, framing on 6×4.5 roughly as a 90 mm does on 35 mm film, and it outlived every other ETR 150: the five-element lens of this page became the six-element Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 that Tamron was still listing in 2004. It was not there at the start. The 1976 ETR manual’s only 150 mm is the six-element f/4, so the f/3.5 arrived later, first with the ZENZANON MC engraving of the original lenses and then, with the Zenzanon-E revisions of about 1980–81, as the Zenzanon-E 150mm F3.5. Bronica’s Zenzanon-E brochure gives it five elements in five groups and 626 g; Japanese Wikipedia adds a 1.5 m closest focus and a 62 mm screw-in filter and rates the E lens as equivalent to the E II redesigns, though the barrel reads E.
Whether the MC lens shares that formula is not recorded anywhere reached: camera-wiki lists a “150mm f3.5 MC” without data, dealers stock it, and the assumption here is that it is the same five-element lens with the earlier badge. Like every ETR lens it carries its own Seiko #0 leaf shutter, timed from the body between 8 s and 1/500 with T, and B on the ETRSi, running mechanically at 1/500 without a battery; it mounts only with body and lens both cocked, and its aperture ring clicks in full stops, where the PE lenses click in halves. The E lens gave way to the PE 150mm f/3.5 when the PE line arrived with the ETRSi in 1988.
No review of the lens on its own has been found. Andy’s ETRS review on 35mmc calls the 150 and 250 mm primes great for portraiture, and readers of it count the 150 among the inexpensive ETR lenses and call the 75 and 150 sharp and crisp; a Photrio user on the ETRS system singles the 150 out as the one lens worth buying in the older series rather than waiting for a PE. Left open: the MC lens’s formula and weight, the minimum aperture and blade count, dates and prices.
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 MC / E 150mm f/3.5 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Bronica 150mm f/3.5 Zenzanon MC L#15425471
- 【返品保証】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica ZENZANON MC 150mm F3.5 中判レンズ e12374
- 【訳あり品】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica Zenzanon MC 150mm F3.5 C-A,B,C,Dリングセット 中判レンズ e17462
- 【返品保証】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica ZENZANON MC 150mm F3.5 レンズ e18473
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