Zenzanon-PG 500mm f/8
Zenza Bronica Β· Bronica GS Β· 1983
Also known as: Zenzanon-PG 500mm f/8 Β· Zenzanon PG 500mm F8 Β· Zenzanon-PG 500/8 Β· Bronica PG 500mm f8 Β· Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PG 500mm Β· Bronica GS-1 500mm f/8 Β· Bronica GS 500mm F8 Β· γΌγ³γΆγγ³ PG 500mm F8 Β· γΌγ³γΆγγγγ« PG 500mm Β· γΌγ³γΆγγ³PG 500mm Β· γγγγ« GS-1 500mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PG 500mm f/8 (1983β2002, special order) | Bronica GS | 1983β2002 | β | About 300 (camera-wiki); made to special order only |
- Construction (11 elements in 10 groups with two anomalous-dispersion elements), 8.0m and 122mm are from γγγγ§γγ·γ§γγ«δΈε€γ«γ‘γ© p.116 as quoted by Japanese Wikipedia, and agree with camera-wiki and Tamron Japan. Tamron Japan gives F8β64 and 139 Γ 307.5mm, i.e. 139mm diameter and 307.5mm length; camera-wiki's table repeats the 307.5mm length but carries the 87mm diameter of the smaller lenses, which cannot hold a 122mm filter and is read as a copying error.
- Weight: 3,760g on camera-wiki and Tamron USA's page; 3,750g in Tamron Japan's table. The 10g is within rounding and the larger, twice-given figure is used.
- Glass: Japanese Wikipedia's η°εΈΈδ½ε±ζηδ½εζ£γ¬γ©γΉγ2ζε«γ is the maker's wording as quoted in a Japanese reference; Tamron USA's English page says fluorite. The two are not the same material, and which is right is not settled here.
- Price: the April 1996 list gives $13,879 including an aluminium case, the 2004 page $15,711; both are around six times the price of any other PG lens. Laidric Stevenson names it with the 80mm as the two PG lenses that cost real money used.
How to tell them apart
- ZENZANON-PG on the front ring: PG is the GS-1 designation, 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)
- By far the largest PG lens: 307.5mm long, 139mm across, 122mm filter, about 3.75kg, supplied with an aluminium case (Tamron Japan; Tamron USA)
- Zenzanon-PG 500mm f/8 (1983β2002, special order): Announced with the system in 1983 and supplied to order throughout its life (camera-wiki). Japanese Wikipedia's figures for it come from γγγγ§γγ·γ§γγ«δΈε€γ«γ‘γ© rather than the 1984 yearbook. The same optical specification was offered in the SQ mount as the Zenzanon-PS 500mm f/8; whether the glass is shared is not stated by any source read.
Specifications
- Formula
- 11 elements in 10 groups, two of them of anomalous low-refraction, low-dispersion glass (γγγγ§γγ·γ§γγ«δΈε€γ«γ‘γ© p.116 via Japanese Wikipedia); Tamron USA's copy calls the glass fluorite
- Construction
- 11 elements / 10 groups
- Aperture range
- f/8βf/64
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 16sβ1/500 plus T and B, timed from the GS-1 body; mechanical fallback of about 1/500 without a battery (Tamron Japan)
- Min. focus
- 8 m
- Dimensions
- 139 Γ 307.5 mm
- Weight
- 3760 g
- Filter
- 122 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1983β2002
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- $13,879 with aluminium case (Tamron USA list, April 1996); $15,711 (Tamron USA, 2004) (today $27,750)
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet β this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The long end of the GS-1 system and a different kind of object from the rest of it: 307.5mm long, 139mm across, a 122mm filter and about 3.75kg, with eleven elements in ten groups of which two are of anomalous-dispersion glass, by the Japanese reference Japanese Wikipedia quotes, or fluorite, by Tamronβs American copy. It focuses to 8m and stops down to f/64, the smallest aperture in the line, behind the same Seiko #0 shutter as the 100mm, timed by the body from 16 seconds to 1/500.
Bronica announced it with the camera in 1983, with a 350mm that never appeared, and built it only to order; camera-wiki counts about 300. Tamronβs April 1996 list priced it at $13,879 with its aluminium case, and the 2004 page at $15,711, six times any other PG lens. The SQ system had a 500mm f/8 to the same specification as the Zenzanon-PS, and no source read says whether the two share their glass.
None of the GS-1 reviewers owns one. Laidric Stevenson names it with the late 80mm as the two lenses that break the $70-to-$300 pattern of used PG prices, and that is the whole of its published record outside the makerβs tables.
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 β but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted β shot with a Zenzanon-PG 500mm f/8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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