Zenzanon-PE Fisheye 30mm f/3.5 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1988 · Diagonal (full-frame) fisheye, 11 elements in 8 groups
Also known as: Zenzanon-PE Fisheye 30mm f/3.5 · Zenzanon PE 30mm F3.5 Fisheye · Zenzanon-PE 30mm f/3.5 · Bronica ETR 30mm f/3.5 fisheye · Bronica ETRSi Fisheye 30mm F3.5 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PE Fisheye 30mm · Fisheye Zenzanon-PE 1:3.5 f=30mm · ゼンザノン PE 30mm F3.5 フィッシュアイ · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン PE フィッシュアイ 30mm F3.5 · ブロニカ ETR 30mm F3.5 魚眼
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PE Fisheye 30mm f/3.5 | Bronica ETR | 1988–2004 | — | — |
- Construction (11 elements in 8 groups), 900 g, 0.27 m and the US$4,199 list price are from Tamron USA's Bronica product page for the lens as archived in 2004. Japanese Wikipedia, citing プロフェッショナル中判カメラ p.112, gives the same 8群11枚, 0.27 m and φ32.5 mm screw-in attachment, and calls it a diagonal fisheye.
- Closest focus is disputed between Tamron's own pages: the live Tamron Japan ETRSi lens table prints 0.35 m for the fisheye, the same figure as the row beneath it for the PE 40mm, while Tamron USA (2004), Tamron Japan's archived English table and Japanese Wikipedia all give 0.27 m. Stronger: 0.27 m, on three sources against one.
- Dimensions 84.5 mm long by 95 mm across and the f/3.5–22 aperture range are from the live Tamron Japan ETRSi table (column 全長×最大径). The number of diaphragm blades is not given by any source consulted.
- Dates: no source consulted gives an introduction date. The PE line began with the ETRSi of December 1988 (Japanese Wikipedia), which is the earliest the lens can be; 1988 is used as the first year on that basis, not from a document naming the lens. It was still on Tamron USA's price list in 2004, the year Tamron's Bronica production wound down.
How to tell them apart
- The only fisheye for the Bronica ETR bayonet: 180° across the diagonal of the 42.5 × 55.1 mm frame, a domed front element under a fixed four-petal hood, and a rear 32.5 mm filter thread in place of a front one
- Not the Zenzanon-PS Fisheye 35mm f/3.5, which is the 6×6 fisheye for the Bronica SQ bayonet and reads 35mm on the ring; nothing of either fits the other mount
- Carries its own Seiko #0 leaf shutter like every ETR lens: the lens can only be mounted or removed with the shutter cocked
Zenzanon-PE Fisheye 30mm f/3.5:
- Front ring reads ZENZANON-PE with the fisheye designation; the only ETR lens with a 30 mm focal length
- Bulbous front element under a fixed petal hood; filters screw into a 32.5 mm thread at the rear of the lens, not the front
- PE-generation barrel with half-stop aperture clicks, f/3.5 to f/22
- Zenzanon-PE Fisheye 30mm f/3.5: The only generation. No MC or Zenzanon-E fisheye is listed in the 1976 manual, the 1979 and 1982 Japanese camera annuals cited by Japanese Wikipedia, or on camera-wiki, which lists the 30mm f/3.5 only as PE.
Specifications
- Formula
- Diagonal (full-frame) fisheye, 11 elements in 8 groups
- Construction
- 11 elements / 8 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5–f/22
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled between-lens leaf shutter, 8s–1/500 and T (B from the ETRSi), 1/500 mechanically without a battery; the speed is set on the body
- Min. focus
- 0.27 m
- Dimensions
- 95 × 84.5 mm
- Weight
- 900 g
- Filter
- 32.5 mm, 32.5 mm screw-in at the rear of the lens; no front thread (built-in petal hood)
- Years manufactured
- 1988–2004
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated (PE generation)
- Original price
- US$4,199 list (Tamron USA, 2004) (today $6,970)
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 Fisheye 30mm f/3.5 is the one fisheye made for the Bronica ETR, the 6×4.5 leaf-shutter SLR line that ran from the ETR of March 1976 to the ETRSi of December 1988 and ended with Tamron’s withdrawal in 2004. It is a diagonal fisheye, covering 180° corner to corner of the 42.5 × 55.1 mm frame, with eleven elements in eight groups, a domed front element under a fixed petal hood, and a 32.5 mm filter thread at the rear because the front cannot take one. It focuses to 0.27 m, stops down to f/22 in half-stop clicks like the other PE lenses, and weighs 900 g at 95 mm across and 84.5 mm long.
It exists only as a PE lens. The 1976 instruction manual’s lens table, the 1979 and 1982 Japanese camera annuals that Japanese Wikipedia draws on for the earlier Zenzanon-E lenses, and camera-wiki’s list all know no MC or E fisheye for the ETR, so the lens belongs to the generation that arrived with the ETRSi, with the new multicoating and half-stop aperture ring that mark the PE barrels. When exactly it was introduced is not recorded in any source consulted; it was still on Tamron USA’s price list in 2004 at US$4,199, more than twice the US$1,987 asked for the PE 40mm f/4. Tamron’s own figures disagree on one point: the live Japanese table prints a closest focus of 0.35 m, the same figure as the 40 mm in the row beneath it, where Tamron’s American and archived English tables and the Japanese reference book give 0.27 m.
Like every ETR lens it carries its own Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter, 8 s to 1/500 and T (B on the ETRSi), with 1/500 available mechanically when the body has no battery; the speed is set on the body and the lens can only be mounted or removed with the shutter cocked. Its nearest relative is the Zenzanon-PS Fisheye 35mm f/3.5 for the 6×6 Bronica SQ, a different lens on a different bayonet. No published review of the 30 mm has been found; the lens is scarce enough on the used market that dealer listings, not tests, are what a search turns up.
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 Fisheye 30mm f/3.5 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.