Zenzanon-PE 200mm f/4.5 (ETR)

Zenza Bronica · Bronica ETR · 1988

Also known as: Zenzanon-PE 200mm f/4.5 · Zenzanon PE 200mm F4.5 · Bronica PE 200mm f4.5 · Bronica ETRSi 200mm f/4.5 PE · Bronica ETR-Si 200mm F4.5 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon PE 200mm f/4.5 ETR · ゼンザブロニカゼンザノン PE 200mm F4.5 · ゼンザノン PE 200mm F4.5 · ブロニカ ETRSi 200mm F4.5

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Zenzanon-PE 200mm f/4.5	Bronica ETR	1988–2004	—	—

Construction, angle of view, aperture range, closest focus, filter size, 109 × 82 mm and 775 g are from Tamron's ETRSi lens table (tamron.co.jp) and Tamron USA's 2004 product page, which agree in every figure; Japanese Wikipedia, citing プロフェッショナル中判カメラ p.112, gives the same 5 groups / 6 elements, 2.0 m and 62 mm.
Formula change. The MC/E 200 that preceded it is a 5-element, 5-group lens in Bronica's brochure E810588 and in Camera Yearbook '82; the PE adds a sixth element in the same five groups, and 55 g. No source describes the recomputation beyond the counts.
Years. The PE series arrived with the ETRSi, released December 1988 (Japanese Wikipedia); no source dates the PE 200 itself, so 1988 is the series date. It was still on Tamron USA's list in 2004; Japanese Wikipedia says the remaining Bronica lines were withdrawn one by one before the RF645 ended on 20 October 2005.
Blades and a yen list price were not found; the fields are left empty.

How to tell them apart (expand)

ZENZANON-PE on the name ring and half-stop aperture clicks: the MC and E 200s click in full stops and lack the PE's AE-prism coupling
A 62 mm front thread on a barrel 82 mm across, with its own Seiko #0 leaf shutter and the four-claw ETR bayonet; the lens mounts only with the shutter cocked
Not the Zenzanon-PS 200mm f/4.5 for the SQ bodies or the Zenzanon-PG 200mm f/4.5 for the GS-1, which carry those suffixes and other bayonets

Zenzanon-PE 200mm f/4.5:

Engraved ZENZANON-PE 1:4.5 f=200mm; aperture ring with half-stop detents from f/4.5 to f/32
Takes lens hood E, the hood Tamron lists for the PE 135 to 250 mm lenses; 82 mm across and 109 mm long

Zenzanon-PE 200mm f/4.5: The only version. Tamron's Japanese and American ETRSi pages agree on 5 groups / 6 elements, 20.2°, f/4.5–32 with half-stop detents, 2 m, 62 mm, 109 × 82 mm and 775 g. Tamron USA listed it in 2004 at $1,835 and called it a moderate telephoto for portraiture and landscape, compact enough for hand-held press, sports and wildlife work.

Specifications

Construction: 6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range: f/4.5–f/32
Shutter: Seiko #0 electronically controlled between-lens leaf shutter, 8s–1/500 plus T and B (B on an ETRSi body); mechanical 1/500 without battery; the speed is set on the body
Min. focus: 2 m
Dimensions: 82 × 109 mm
Weight: 775 g
Filter: 62 mm
Years manufactured: 1988–2004
Country: Japan
Coating: PE multicoating; Tamron USA: 'PE coatings reduce internal flare'
Original price: US$1,835 list (Tamron USA, 2004) (today $3,050)

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 200mm f/4.5 is the last of three 200 mm lenses for Bronica’s 6×4.5 ETR bodies, the PE replacing the MC and E lenses when the ETRSi arrived in December 1988. Tamron’s specification for the ETRSi gives it six elements in five groups, a 20.2° angle of view, f/4.5 to f/32 in half-stop clicks, closest focus at 2 m, a 62 mm filter thread, 109 mm in length by 82 mm across and 775 g. The earlier E lens had five elements in five groups and weighed 720 g, so the PE is a recomputed design with one more element, not a recoated barrel; no source says more about what the extra glass does.

The PE series brought the ETR line three things, as a long-time user summarised them on the medfmt page in 2001: half-stop aperture detents that talk to the AE-II and AE-III metering prisms, improved optics, and an easier T setting. Tamron’s own copy for the 200 calls it a moderate telephoto for portraiture and landscape, compact enough to be used hand-held for press, sports and wildlife. Like every ETR lens it carries the shutter itself, an electronically timed Seiko #0 running from 8 s to 1/500 with the speed set on the body, T on the lens, B on an ETRSi, and a mechanical 1/500 when the battery is dead; the lens can only be mounted with the shutter cocked.

Nobody appears to have reviewed it on its own. The nearest things are forum opinions from 1998 on the medfmt page: one user who rented a PE 250 and shot an MC 200 could not see a difference between generations, while another held that the P-series lenses, reformulated on MTF theory, were higher in contrast and resolution than the MC, E and E-II lenses before them and had tested well against Zeiss lenses for Hasselblad in the British photo press of the time. Neither is a measurement.

It was expensive new. Tamron USA listed it at $1,835 in 2004, when the ETRSi system was in its last years, against $2,001 for the PE 250; Japanese Wikipedia records the Bronica lines being withdrawn one by one before the last, the RF645, ended in October 2005. Used, it is the version to prefer for metered-prism owners because of the half-stop coupling, and recent dealer and auction prices run from under a hundred to a few hundred dollars depending on condition. Check that the Seiko shutter cocks, fires at all speeds and stays open on T, and that the half-stop clicks are crisp.

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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 200mm f/4.5 (ETR)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

[美品] Zenza Bronica Zenzanon PE 200mm f/4.5 — from ¥22,000 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-11-02 · likely pe

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.