Zenzanon MC / E 75mm f/2.8 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1976
Also known as: Bronica ETR 75mm f/2.8 · Bronica ETRS 75mm F2.8 · Zenzanon MC 75mm f/2.8 · Zenzanon MC 75mm F2.8 · Zenzanon-E 75mm f/2.8 · Zenzanon E 75mm F2.8 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon MC 75mm 2.8 · Bronica 75mm f/2.8 MC lens for ETR · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン MC 75mm F2.8 · ゼンザノン E 75mm F2.8 · ブロニカ ETR 75mm F2.8
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon MC 75mm f/2.8 (1976) | Bronica ETR | 1976 | — | — |
| Zenzanon-E 75mm f/2.8 (c.1980–81 rebadge) | Bronica ETR | — | — | — |
- Element and group count, angle of view, aperture range, 60 cm closest focus, 58 mm filter, 54.3 mm length and 417 g are from the 1976 ETR instruction manual at butkus.org, which names the lens Zenzanon E 75mm F2.8; the manual's table also prints 1.2 lb against 417 g, an arithmetic slip (417 g is about 0.92 lb). Japanese Wikipedia, citing カメラ・レンズ白書 1979 p.380, gives the same 4群5枚, 0.6 m and φ58 for the old lens.
- Naming: the lenses sold with the ETR in 1976 are engraved ZENZANON MC, while the 1976 manual and the 1979 white paper call them Zenzanon E. The Zenzanon-E engraving of the c.1980–81 lenses is therefore the same name catching up with the glass; nothing optical changed. camera-wiki lists an MC and an EII 75 but no plain E.
- End of production is not published. The E II of 6 elements in 4 groups is listed in カメラ年鑑'82 (Japanese Wikipedia), so the 5-element lens was superseded by about 1982.
- Aperture blade count is not given by any source found.
How to tell them apart
- The only ETR 75 with a 58 mm filter thread: the E II and PE take 62 mm (1976 manual; Japanese Wikipedia)
- Whole-stop aperture clicks; the PE lenses added half stops (camera-wiki)
- A Bronica four-claw ETR bayonet with a Seiko #0 leaf shutter inside the lens; it mounts only with the shutter cocked and fits nothing but the ETR, ETR-C, ETRS, ETRC and ETRSi. Not the Zenzanon-S 80mm f/2.8 of the 6×6 SQ or the 75mm f/2.8 Zenzanon of the focal-plane Bronica S2/EC, which have no shutter
Zenzanon MC 75mm f/2.8 (1976):
- Engraved ZENZANON MC; the 1976 ETR manual and the 1979 カメラ・レンズ白書 call the same lens the Zenzanon E (butkus.org manual; Japanese Wikipedia)
- 58 mm filter thread — every later ETR 75 takes 62 mm (1976 manual; Japanese Wikipedia)
- 54.3 mm long, 417 g, f/2.8–22 in whole stops, 50° angle of view (1976 manual)
Zenzanon-E 75mm f/2.8 (c.1980–81 rebadge):
- Engraved Zenzanon-E, with the same 5-element, 4-group formula, 58 mm filter and 417 g as the MC lens (Japanese Wikipedia, citing カメラ・レンズ白書 1979; the E-series brochure E810588 reproduced by Monaghan)
- Zenzanon MC 75mm f/2.8 (1976): The standard lens the ETR was launched with in March 1976, sold with the ETR, ETR-C and the early ETRS. Robert Monaghan's medium-format pages collect forum advice to avoid this first 75 for flare and prefer the E II or PE.
- Zenzanon-E 75mm f/2.8 (c.1980–81 rebadge): A badge change, not a redesign: Japanese Wikipedia records the new E lens as sharing its 4-group, 5-element formula with the old one, and the E-series brochure repeats the 1976 figures. The 6-element Zenzanon-E II that followed is a different lens.
Specifications
- Formula
- 5 elements in 4 groups (1976 ETR manual; カメラ・レンズ白書 1979); design type not published
- Construction
- 5 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled between-lens leaf shutter, 8s–1/500 and T (B from the ETRSi body), mechanical 1/500 without a battery; speeds set on the body
- Min. focus
- 0.6 m
- Dimensions
- 54.3 mm long
- Weight
- 417 g
- Filter
- 58 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1976
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated — the MC of the engraving
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 75mm f/2.8 was the standard lens of the Zenza Bronica ETR, the leaf-shutter 6×4.5 SLR of March 1976, and the first of three optically different 75s sold for the ETR bayonet over the system’s 28 years. The 1976 instruction manual lists it as the Zenzanon E 75mm F2.8: five elements in four groups, 50° across the 42.5 × 55.1 mm frame (about a 46 mm lens on 35 mm film), f/2.8 to f/22, focusing to 60 cm, a 58 mm filter thread, 54.3 mm long and 417 g. The lens itself is engraved ZENZANON MC, and that is the name sellers use; the manual and the 1979 カメラ・レンズ白書 call the same glass the Zenzanon E, so the Zenzanon-E engraving of the lenses sold from about 1980 marks a badge catching up with its documentation rather than a new design. Japanese Wikipedia records the new E 75 as sharing its 4-group, 5-element formula with the old one, and the E-series brochure repeats the 1976 figures.
Like every ETR lens it carries its own Seiko #0 electronically controlled between-lens shutter, timed by the body from 8 s to 1/500 with T, and running mechanically at 1/500 when the battery is flat; the lens mounts only with the shutter cocked. The apertures click in whole stops. The 58 mm filter thread is the quickest way to tell this lens from the later 75s, which take 62 mm; the E II of about 1982 added a sixth element, and the Zenzanon-PE of the ETRSi era changed the formula again to six elements in five groups and added half-stop clicks.
No review of this generation on its own was found. What there is comes second-hand: Robert Monaghan’s Bronica ETR page, which reproduces a Modern Photography test of the MC 75, collects forum advice to pass over the first 75 because of flare and to look for the E II or PE instead. It was the kit lens of the ETR, ETR-C and early ETRS, so it is the commonest ETR lens; whether its coatings and flare suit a particular photographer is best judged against the later lenses, which cost little more.
Left open: the diaphragm blade count, the year the Zenzanon-E badge appeared and the year the 5-element lens gave way to the E II, and any serial-number information, none of which the sources found supply.
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 75mm f/2.8 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Bronica 75mm f2.8 Zenzanon MC - serviced October 2026
- Bronica ETR-C w/ WLVF 120 Back & 75mm f/2.8 B#B5504050 L#7721597
- 期間限定セール ゼンザブロニカ ZENZABRONICA 交換レンズ E旧型 75mm F2.8 ZENZANON MC【中古】
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