Zenzanon-PG 100mm f/3.5
Zenza Bronica · Bronica GS · 1983
Also known as: Zenzanon-PG 100mm f/3.5 · Zenzanon PG 100mm F3.5 · Zenzanon-PG 100/3.5 · Bronica PG 100mm f3.5 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PG 100mm · Bronica GS-1 100mm f/3.5 · Bronica GS 100mm F3.5 · ゼンザノン PG 100mm F3.5 · ゼンザブロニカ PG 100mm · ゼンザノンPG 100mm · ブロニカ GS-1 100mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PG 100mm f/3.5 (1983–2002) | Bronica GS | 1983–2002 | — | About 15,000 (camera-wiki), against about 22,500 bodies |
- Construction (6 elements in 4 groups), closest focus and filter thread are from カメラ年鑑'84 p.256 as quoted by Japanese Wikipedia, and agree with camera-wiki and Tamron Japan. Length, diameter and weight (67.5 × 87mm, 630g) are Tamron Japan's and camera-wiki's shared figures; F3.5–22 is Tamron Japan's aperture range and 48° the angle of view on Tamron USA's page.
- The 6-in-4 count is a classic four-group normal; no source names the design type, and it is left unnamed here.
- Production: camera-wiki's about 15,000, unsourced on that page, is the largest run of any PG lens and about two lenses for every three bodies.
- A dealer's description giving the 80mm and 100mm as 'f/3.25' is a misreading; every maker's document says f/3.5.
How to tell them apart
- ZENZANON-PG on the front ring: PG is the GS-1 designation, as PS is the SQ's and PE the ETR's, and the four-claw GS bayonet fits no other Bronica body (camera-wiki)
- No shutter-speed ring: the Seiko #0 shutter inside is set from the dial on the body (Tamron Japan)
- The shortest and lightest PG lens after the 150mm, 67.5mm long and 630g on the 87mm barrel with a 72mm filter (Tamron Japan); f/3.5, the fastest aperture in the line, shared only with the late 80mm
- Zenzanon-PG 100mm f/3.5 (1983–2002): The standard lens, supplied in both Japanese sets, and the only version: in the launch list of 1983 and made until June 2002 with no recorded change.
Specifications
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5–f/22
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 16s–1/500 plus T and B, timed from the GS-1 body; mechanical fallback of about 1/500 without a battery (Tamron Japan)
- Min. focus
- 0.75 m
- Dimensions
- 87 × 67.5 mm
- Weight
- 630 g
- Filter
- 72 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1983–2002
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- $1,532 (Tamron USA list, April 1996); $1,736 (Tamron USA, 2004). In Japan sold in the GS-1 sets: ¥276,000 with body, 6×7 back and waist-level finder, ¥357,000 with AE prism and Speed Grip (Tamron Japan, c.2001) (today $3,060)
What reviewers say
- Ross Jukes, rossjukesphoto.co.uk (blog) — The lens on his camera most of the time, with the 50mm or 65mm as occasional substitutes; the 6×7 negative it draws is 'crisp and clear' and, with the right technique, he thinks it can rival modern digital, though he writes about the system's lenses as a group rather than this one.
- Laidric Stevenson, Emulsive (March 2016, updated 2021) (blog) — The lens that came with his sub-$500 KEH outfit and one of the two fastest in the system; he gives no separate verdict on it but would put 'any of my Bronica PG lenses up against any Mamiya RZ lens'.
- Adrian Cowderoy, adriancowderoy.com (December 2011) (blog) — One of his three lenses since 1988, also used behind the PG 2× converter; lens quality 'has been a joy' over 23 years, with sample images linked rather than described.
History
The standard lens of the GS-1, supplied with the body in both of Tamron’s Japanese sets and, at about 15,000 made against 22,500 bodies, the lens most GS-1s still carry. Six elements in four groups cover 48° on 6×7, which on this format is a little longer than a 50mm on 35mm, and focus to 0.75m; at 67.5mm long and 630g on the 87mm barrel it is the second-smallest and lightest PG lens, and its f/3.5 was the fastest aperture Bronica offered for the camera until the 80mm matched it in 1997. The Seiko #0 shutter inside gives 16 seconds to 1/500 and flash synchronisation at every speed.
It was also the cheapest lens in the line as long as the line existed: $1,532 on Tamron’s April 1996 list and $1,736 in 2004, when the newer 80mm undercut it. Nothing in the record separates an early lens from a late one, and no source names the design type behind the 6-in-4 layout.
Every reviewer of the camera used it and none reviewed it on its own. Ross Jukes keeps it on the body most of the time and credits the 6×7 negative with detail and shallow depth of field that can stand beside digital; Laidric Stevenson’s came in his first outfit and he rates the PG lenses as a group against the Mamiya RZ’s; Adrian Cowderoy has used his, sometimes behind the 2× converter, since 1988. A kakaku.com reviewer gives the lenses’ sharpness and rendering five stars while wishing there were more of them. Used, Stevenson puts most PG lenses at $70 to $300, and Jukes sometimes finds them under £150.
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-PG 100mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- ZENZA BRONICA ゼンザブロニカ レンズ ZENZANON-PG 100mm F3.5 中判カメラ ゼンザノン
- 【完動良品】BRONICA ZENZANON-PG 100mm F3.5 （GS1）ブロニカ #418
- 【中古】ZENZA BRONICA ゼンザブロニカ ZENZANON-PG 100mm f/3.5
- 【1】動作確認なし ジャンク扱い ZENZA BRONICA GS-1 中判フィルムカメラ ZENZANON-PG 100mm F3.5 ゼンザブロニカ
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