Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Zenzanon-PG 250mm f/5.6

Zenza Bronica · Bronica GS · 1983

Also known as: Zenzanon-PG 250mm f/5.6 · Zenzanon PG 250mm F5.6 · Zenzanon-PG 250/5.6 · Bronica PG 250mm f5.6 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PG 250mm · Bronica GS-1 250mm f/5.6 · Bronica GS 250mm F5.6 · ゼンザノン PG 250mm F5.6 · ゼンザブロニカ PG 250mm · ゼンザノンPG 250mm · ブロニカ GS-1 250mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Zenzanon-PG 250mm f/5.6 (1983–2002) Bronica GS 1983–2002 — About 4,000 (camera-wiki)
  1. Construction (6 elements in 5 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 (142.0 × 87mm, 1,200g) are Tamron Japan's and camera-wiki's shared figures; F5.6–32 is Tamron Japan's aperture range.
  2. The production figure of about 4,000 is camera-wiki's and is not sourced on that page; it outnumbers the 200mm's 3,000.
  3. Laidric Stevenson, who does not own one, mentions having read 'less-than-glowing' reports of its sharpness; no such report has been found and read for this page, so the remark is recorded as hearsay.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 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 longest regular PG lens: 142mm long and 1,200g on the 87mm barrel, with the 82mm filter it shares with the 200mm (Tamron Japan)

Specifications

Construction
6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/5.6–f/32
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
3 m
Dimensions
87 × 142 mm
Weight
1200 g
Filter
82 mm
Years manufactured
1983–2002
Country
Japan
Original price
$2,265 (Tamron USA list, April 1996); $2,567 (Tamron USA, 2004) (today $4,530)

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 longest lens in the regular GS-1 line, in the launch list of 1983, and the one that strains the system’s claim to lightness: 142mm long and 1,200g, nearly twice the standard lens, on the same 87mm barrel and the 82mm filter it shares with the 200mm. Six elements in five groups, the same count as the 200, focus to 3m and stop to f/32 behind the Seiko #0 shutter.

It cost what the 50mm and the 110mm Macro cost, $2,265 in April 1996 and $2,567 in 2004, and about 4,000 were made, more than the 200mm. Nothing in the sources separates an early lens from a late one.

None of the GS-1 reviewers read for this page owns one. Laidric Stevenson passes on having seen less than glowing reports of its sharpness without naming them, and none has been found; the lens is otherwise unreviewed.

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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-PG 250mm f/5.6? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

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.

Related: Zenzanon-PG 200mm f/4.5 · Zenzanon-PG 500mm f/8 · Zenzanon-PS 250mm f/5.6 (SQ)

Sources (6)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.