Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 (ETR)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1988 · 6 elements in 5 groups (design name not published)
Also known as: Bronica Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 · Bronica ETR 150mm f3.5 PE · Zenzanon PE 150mm F3.5 ETRSi · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PE 150mm F3.5 · ZENZANON-PE 1:3.5 f=150mm · Bronica ETRS 150mm F3.5 PE · Bronica ETRSi 150mm PE · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン PE 150mm F3.5 · ゼンザノンPE 150mm F3.5 · ブロニカ ETR 150mm F3.5 PE · ゼンザブロニカ ETRSi 150mm F3.5
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 (c.1988–2004) | Bronica ETR | 1988–2004 | — | — |
- Elements and groups, weight and the 2004 list price are from Tamron USA's Bronica product page for the lens as captured in 2004; Japanese Wikipedia gives the same 5 groups and 6 elements with a 1.5 m closest focus and a 62 mm screw-in attachment, and Tamron Japan's ETRSi data page lists the PE 150 as 5-6.
- Formula change from the E lens: Japanese Wikipedia gives the Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 as 5 groups / 5 elements and the PE as 5 groups / 6 elements, and the Zenzanon-E brochure (via Monaghan) gives 626 g for the E against Tamron's 635 g for the PE. One element was added; whether anything else was recomputed is not published.
- No launch date for the lens is published; 1988, the start of the PE line with the ETRSi, is used as the first year, and 2004 is the year of the last Tamron USA price list, not a documented end of production. Minimum aperture, blade count, length and diameter are not given by any source reached.
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)
- PE on the front ring and half-stop aperture clicks separate it from the MC and E 150mm f/3.5; 1:3.5 separates it from the two 150mm f/4 lenses
- Not the Zenzanon-PS 150mm f/4 or Zenzanon-S 150mm f/3.5 of the 6×6 SQ, whose bayonet is larger and whose ring reads PS or S, nor the Zenzanon-PG 150mm f/4 of the GS-1
Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 (c.1988–2004):
- Front ring engraved ZENZANON-PE with 1:3.5 f=150mm; the PE lenses are the only ETR lenses whose aperture ring clicks in half stops (camera-wiki; Tamron ETRSi data)
- Six elements in five groups, 635 g, closest focus 1.5 m, 62 mm filter (Tamron USA product page 2004; Japanese Wikipedia 5群6枚)
- Zenzanon-PE 150mm f/3.5 (c.1988–2004): The only PE version, from the PE line's start with the ETRSi in 1988 to the last Tamron USA list of 2004. Against the five-element Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 it added one element, 635 g against 626 g, and the half-stop clicks and new coating of the PE series.
Specifications
- Formula
- 6 elements in 5 groups (design name not published)
- Construction
- 6 elements / 5 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronically controlled leaf shutter in the lens, 8s–1/500 and T (B on the ETRSi), mechanical 1/500 without battery; speed set on the body
- Min. focus
- 1.5 m
- Weight
- 635 g
- Filter
- 62 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1988–2004
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Multicoated
- Original price
- US$1,811 (2004) (today $3,010)
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 150mm f/3.5 is the last form of the ETR’s portrait telephoto, a 6×4.5 lens framing roughly as a 90 mm does on 35 mm film. Tamron USA’s product page of 2004 gives six elements in five groups, 635 g and a list price of US$1,811; Japanese Wikipedia gives the same 5群6枚, a closest focus of 1.5 m and a 62 mm screw-in filter. Against the Zenzanon-E 150mm f/3.5 it replaced, which Bronica’s own brochure put at five elements in five groups and 626 g, it gained one element, nine grams, the half-stop aperture clicks that mark every PE lens, and the PE series’ coating. Like every ETR lens it has its own Seiko #0 leaf shutter, electronically timed from the body between 8 s and 1/500 with T and, on the ETRSi, B; the shutter runs mechanically at 1/500 without a battery, and the lens mounts only with body and lens both cocked.
The PE line began with the ETRSi in 1988, and no separate launch date for the 150 is published. It fits every ETR body back to the 1976 ETR. In 2004 it was priced above the PE 135mm f/4 at $1,715 and below the PE 180mm f/4.5 at $2,108; on the used market, a reader of 35mmc’s ETRS review notes, the 150 is among the cheap ETR lenses while the 180 is dear.
No review of the lens on its own has been found. Andy’s ETRS review on 35mmc calls the 150 and 250 mm primes great for portraiture, and a Photrio thread on the ETRS system holds that most PE lenses from 30 to 250 mm are very good and the 150 good in every generation. Left open: the minimum aperture, blade count, length and diameter, and the launch date.
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 150mm f/3.5 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Zenza Bronica ETRSi Medium Format Film Camera, prism, 150mm f3.5 lens kit
- [23817Z4]★超極上美観★ZANZA BRONICA ZENZANON-PE 150mm F3.5 フィルター付き
- ゼンザブロニカ ZENZA BRONICA ZENZANON-PE 150mm F3.5 #2171@a RO5937
- 極美品 ZENZANON-PE 150mm f3.5 ETRマウントレンズ
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