Zenzanon-PE Aspherical 45–90mm f/4–5.6 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1997
Also known as: Zenzanon-PE 45-90mm f/4-5.6 Aspherical · Zenzanon PE 45-90mm F4-5.6 · Bronica PE 45-90mm f/4-5.6 · Bronica ETRSi 45-90mm zoom · Zenzanon-PE 45-90/4-5.6 · Bronica 45-90mm Aspherical PE · ゼンザノンPE 45-90mm F4-5.6 · ゼンザノン PE アスフェリカル 45-90mm · ブロニカ ETRSi 45-90mm ズーム
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PE Aspherical 45–90mm f/4–5.6 | Bronica ETR | 1997–2004 | — | — |
- Release date, construction (11 elements in 10 groups including a large aspherical element), 0.5 m closest focus at 90mm for 1:4.3, 95 mm filter and the Tamron design credit are from Japanese Wikipedia's ゼンザブロニカ lens table. Tamron's own Bronica pages give the same 10-group/11-element construction, 1.0 m closest focus at 45mm, and two hybrid aspherical elements.
- Weight: Tamron's Japanese ETRSi data page gives 1,015 g; Tamron USA's page and dealer listings copied from it print 510 g. The Japanese figure is used, the US one reading as a dropped digit for a lens of this construction and front diameter. Stronger: Tamron Japan.
- US$2,059 is the list price on Tamron USA's product page as archived in 2004, the last year of ETR production, not a launch price. No yen list price was found.
- The shutter is the Seiko #0 electronically timed leaf shutter common to every ETR lens: 8 s to 1/500 plus T, B on the ETRSi, 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). 2004 as the last year follows camera-wiki.org's ETRSi production table.
How to tell them apart
- Zenzanon-PE Aspherical on the ring: the only ETR lens marked Aspherical without IF, and the only ETR zoom marked f/4-5.6
- 95 mm filter thread, about 1 kg, closest focus 1.0 m at 45mm and 0.5 m at 90mm²
- Angle of view 81° to 46°, a 27–52mm equivalent on 35mm film
Zenzanon-PE Aspherical 45–90mm f/4–5.6:
- Name ring reads ZENZANON-PE 1:4-5.6 f=45-90mm ASPHERICAL; the only version, the only variable-aperture lens in the ETR line and the only ETR zoom reaching below 70mm
- 95 mm front thread, shared with the PE 100–220 and the E 500mm
- Half-stop click aperture ring and PE multicoating as on every Zenzanon-PE
- Zenzanon-PE Aspherical 45–90mm f/4–5.6: The single version, released in December 1997 by Japanese Wikipedia with the design credited to Tamron, which absorbed Bronica in July 1998 and kept the ETR in production until 2004. Tamron's Bronica pages carried it to the end of the line at US$2,059 list.
Specifications
- Formula
- Zoom with two hybrid aspherical elements, 11 elements in 10 groups¹
- Construction
- 11 elements / 10 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4
- 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
- 0.5 m
- Weight
- 1015 g
- Filter
- 95 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1997–2004
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- PE-series multicoating
- Original price
- US$2,059 (2004 list) (today $3,420)
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 45–90mm f/4–5.6 is the wide zoom of the ETR system and a late one: Japanese Wikipedia dates its release to December 1997, seven months before Tamron absorbed Bronica, and credits the design to Tamron. It was the first ETR zoom to reach below 70mm, covering 81° to 46°, a 27–52mm equivalent on 35mm film, and the only lens in the line with a variable maximum aperture. Tamron’s own pages describe 11 elements in 10 groups with two hybrid aspherical elements, closest focus of 1.0 m at the wide end and 0.5 m at 90mm for 1:4.3, a 95 mm filter thread shared with the 100–220, and a weight of 1,015 g, which Tamron USA’s page misprinted as 510 g. The shutter is the Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter of every ETR lens, timed by the body from 8 seconds to 1/500 plus T, B on the ETRSi, with a mechanical 1/500 for a dead battery.
It is a Zenzanon-PE through and through, with the half-stop aperture clicks and multicoating of the 1988 generation, and it sold until the ETR line ended in 2004, when Tamron USA still listed it at US$2,059. Together with the 100–220 it replaced the Schneider-built Variogons of the E years, which Bronica had bought in because it had no zoom design of its own; the PE zooms were designed in-house at Tamron, the first Bronica zooms that were.
No published review was found. What can be said from the specifications is that it weighs about a kilogram with a 95 mm front, which on an ETRSi with prism and grip is a front-heavy outfit, and that its 0.5 m close focus at the long end is nearer than any ETR prime except the macros. The f/5.6 at 90mm costs a stop against the 75mm and 105mm primes. When buying, run the zoom and focus rings through their travel, check that the shutter fires cleanly at the slow speeds, confirm the lens arrives cocked, and count on paying for a 95 mm filter.
Open points: the minimum aperture and blade count, length and diameter, a yen 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 Zenzanon-PE Aspherical 45–90mm f/4–5.6 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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