Zenzanon-E 150mm f/4 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1980 · 5 elements in 5 groups (design name not published)
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Bronica Zenzanon-E 150mm f/4 · Bronica ETR 150mm f4 E · Zenzanon E 150mm F4 ETRS · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-E 150mm F4 · ZENZANON-E 1:4 f=150mm · Bronica ETRS 150mm F4 · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン E 150mm F4 · ゼンザノンE 150mm F4 ETR · ブロニカ ETR 150mm F4 · ゼンザブロニカ ETRS 150mm F4
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-E 150mm f/4, new lens (c.1980) | Bronica ETR | 1980 | — | — |
- Elements and groups are from Japanese Wikipedia alone, which lists two 150mm f/4 lenses under the Zenzanon E name: the old lens with 6 groups and 6 elements (the 1976 MC lens) and this new lens with 5 groups and 5 elements, and gives nothing else for it. The 62 mm filter is the size of the old 150 and of every other ETR 150 mm; it is assumed here, not recorded for this lens.
- Date: no source dates the lens. The Zenzanon-E revisions of the ETR range appeared around 1980–81, so 1980 is used as the first year; the end is unknown, the 150mm f/3.5 having become the system's 150 mm by the time of the Zenzanon-E brochure.
- The Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 has the same 5-group, 5-element count. The two may share a formula with different aperture ratings, or be different designs; nothing reached says which, and the single-source badge applies.
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)
- The E engraving and the 1:4 maximum aperture together name it: MC on the ring is the six-element 1976 lens, 1:3.5 is the f/3.5 family
- Not the Zenzanon-S/PS 150 mm lenses of the SQ, which have the larger 6×6 bayonet, nor the shutterless Zenzanon or Komura 150mm f/3.5 for the focal-plane Bronicas
Zenzanon-E 150mm f/4, new lens (c.1980):
- Front ring engraved ZENZANON-E with 1:4 f=150mm, against ZENZANON MC on the 1976 six-element lens (the Zenzanon-E name belongs to the revised lenses of c.1980–81)
- Zenzanon-E 150mm f/4, new lens (c.1980): Japanese Wikipedia's only entry for it reads 新レンズ、5群5枚 — new lens, five groups, five elements — with no closest focus, weight or date. Lenses marked Zenzanon-E 150mm F4 are offered on the used market. Whether this is a fresh design or the five-element formula of the 150mm f/3.5 re-rated to f/4 is not settled by any source reached.
Specifications
- Formula
- 5 elements in 5 groups (design name not published)
- Construction
- 5 elements / 5 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled leaf shutter in the lens, 8s–1/500 and T, mechanical 1/500 without battery; speed set on the body
- Filter
- 62 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1980
- Country
- Japan
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-E 150mm f/4 is the least documented of the ETR’s 150 mm lenses. Japanese Wikipedia lists two 150mm f/4 lenses under the Zenzanon E name: the old lens, the six-element, six-group telephoto of the ETR’s 1976 launch that is engraved ZENZANON MC, and a new lens of five groups and five elements, for which it gives nothing else, not a closest focus, a weight or a date. Lenses engraved Zenzanon-E 150mm F4 do turn up on the used market, so the entry is not a phantom; the Zenzanon-E name belongs to the revised ETR lenses of about 1980–81, which carried the electronically timed Seiko #0 shutter, and 1980 is the earliest year that fits. Neither camera-wiki’s ETR list nor Monaghan’s page names it.
What the five-element lens is remains open. The Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5, which took over as the system’s 150 mm and continued as the PE 150mm f/3.5 until 2004, also has five elements in five groups, and the f/4 may be that design sold at a smaller maximum aperture, or an earlier and different five-element computation; no source reached settles it, and the single-source badge stands until one does. It fits every ETR body, from the 1976 ETR to the ETRSi, with the speed set on the body and the lens mounted only when both are cocked.
No review or test of the lens has been found. Left open: nearly everything beyond the element count, including closest focus, weight, aperture range, price and dates.
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-E 150mm f/4 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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