Zenzanon MC 150mm f/4 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1976 · 6 elements in 6 groups (design name not published)
Also known as: Bronica Zenzanon MC 150mm f/4 · Bronica ETR 150mm f4 MC · Zenzanon MC 150mm F4 ETRS · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon MC 150mm F4 · ZENZANON MC 1:4 f=150mm · Bronica ETRS 150mm F4 · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン MC 150mm F4 · ゼンザノン MC 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 MC 150mm f/4 (1976–c.1980) | Bronica ETR | 1976 | — | — |
- Elements and groups, angle of view (26°30'), aperture range f/4–f/22, closest focus, filter size, length and weight are from the lens table in the 1976 ETR instruction manual (butkus.org). Japanese Wikipedia gives the same 6 groups and 6 elements, 1.5 m and 62 mm for the old (旧) 150mm f/4.
- Naming: the 1976 manual calls every launch lens 'Zenzanon E', while the lenses themselves are engraved ZENZANON MC; the name Zenzanon-E was later used on the barrels of the revised c.1980–81 lenses. The figures here are the 6-group, 6-element lens's, whatever it was called; the 5-group, 5-element 150mm f/4 that Japanese Wikipedia lists as the new lens is a different optical formula.
- Bob Monaghan's Bronica ETR page records a Modern Photography test of the 150mm f/4 MC; the figures were not retrieved for this page. The end of production is unpublished; the manual gives no price.
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)
- Tell it from the 150mm f/3.5 by the 1:4 on the front ring; from the 5-element Zenzanon-E 150mm f/4 by the MC engraving and by the formula where a source gives it
- Not the Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 or Komura 150mm f/3.5 for the focal-plane 6×6 Bronicas, which have no shutter, nor the Zenzanon-S/PS 150 mm lenses of the SQ with their larger bayonet
Zenzanon MC 150mm f/4 (1976–c.1980):
- Front ring engraved ZENZANON MC with 1:4 f=150mm; the 1976 ETR manual calls the same lens 'Zenzanon E 150mm F4', a name that does not appear on the barrel (ETR manual; Japanese Wikipedia's 旧レンズ entry)
- Six elements in six groups, 86 mm long, 605 g, closest focus 1.5 m, 62 mm filter (ETR manual 1976)
- Zenzanon MC 150mm f/4 (1976–c.1980): The launch telephoto of the ETR, listed in the 1976 manual with the 40, 50, 75 and 250 mm. Japanese Wikipedia lists it as the old lens (旧レンズ, 6群6枚) against a new 5-group, 5-element 150mm f/4 of a different formula; the 150mm f/3.5 that followed made both obsolete. No end date is published.
Specifications
- Formula
- 6 elements in 6 groups (design name not published)
- Construction
- 6 elements / 6 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4–f/22
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 leaf shutter in the lens, 8s–1/500 and T, mechanical 1/500 without battery; speed set on the body
- Min. focus
- 1.5 m
- Dimensions
- 86 mm long
- Weight
- 605 g
- Filter
- 62 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1976
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated (engraved MC)
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 MC 150mm f/4 was the telephoto Bronica launched the ETR with in March 1976, one of five lenses in the first instruction manual alongside the 40mm f/4, 50mm f/2.8, 75mm f/2.8 and 250mm f/5.6. The manual’s table gives six elements in six groups, a 26°30’ angle of view, f/4 to f/22, closest focus at 1.5 m, a 62 mm filter, a length of 86 mm and a weight of 605 g. It carries the ETR system’s Seiko #0 leaf shutter, timed from the body between 8 s and 1/500 with T, running mechanically at 1/500 without a battery, and like every ETR lens it can only be mounted or removed with the body and lens both cocked.
Its name is less settled than its glass. The 1976 manual calls all the launch lenses “Zenzanon E”, while the barrels read ZENZANON MC; the Zenzanon-E name was later engraved on the revised lenses of about 1980–81. Japanese Wikipedia keeps both 150mm f/4 lenses under the E name and separates them by formula, the old lens with six groups and six elements and a new lens with five groups and five elements, a different optical formula. Both were overtaken by the 150mm f/3.5, which became the ETR’s standard portrait telephoto and continued as the Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 until the end of the system.
Bob Monaghan’s Bronica ETR page records that Modern Photography tested the 150mm f/4 MC, and in a Photrio thread on the ETRS system a user calls the 150 the exception among the older lenses, worth buying even outside the PE series. No dedicated review has been found. Left open: the end of production, a price, the blade count and the Modern Photography figures.
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 150mm f/4 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Zenza Bronica 150mm f4 Zenzanon MC Lens for ETR ETRS ETRsi [EXC]
- 【訳あり品】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica ZENZANON MC 150mm F4 中判レンズ e3084
- 【返品保証】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica ZENZANON MC 150mm F4 中判レンズ e18308
- 【返品保証】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica ZENZANON MC 150mm F4 レンズ e19691
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