Zenzanon-PG 65mm f/4
Zenza Bronica · Bronica GS · 1983
Also known as: Zenzanon-PG 65mm f/4 · Zenzanon PG 65mm F4 · Zenzanon-PG 65/4 · Bronica PG 65mm f4 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-PG 65mm · Bronica GS-1 65mm f/4 · Bronica GS 65mm F4 · ゼンザノン PG 65mm F4 · ゼンザブロニカ PG 65mm · ゼンザノンPG 65mm · ブロニカ GS-1 65mm
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-PG 65mm f/4 (1983–2002) | Bronica GS | 1983–2002 | — | About 6,000 (camera-wiki) |
- Construction (9 elements in 7 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 (71.0 × 87mm, 715g) are Tamron Japan's and camera-wiki's shared figures; F4–22 is Tamron Japan's aperture range and 68.5° the angle of view on Tamron USA's page.
- The production figure of about 6,000 is camera-wiki's and is not sourced on that page.
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)
- 72mm filter thread on the standard 87mm PG barrel, 71mm long: the shortest of the 72mm lenses after the 150mm and 100mm (Tamron Japan)
- Zenzanon-PG 65mm f/4 (1983–2002): The only version, in the launch list of 1983 (camera-wiki; カメラ年鑑'84 via Japanese Wikipedia) and made until June 2002. No revision is recorded.
Specifications
- Construction
- 9 elements / 7 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4–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
- 0.6 m
- Dimensions
- 87 × 71 mm
- Weight
- 715 g
- Filter
- 72 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1983–2002
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- $2,020 (Tamron USA list, April 1996); $2,289 (Tamron USA, 2004) (today $4,040)
What reviewers say
- Adrian Cowderoy, adriancowderoy.com (December 2011) (blog) — One of three lenses carried across Europe and America since 1988 and, with the 150mm, the pair he keeps when travelling light; the lens quality 'has been a joy', though he describes no single lens in detail.
- revdocjim, Chemical Cameras (c.2010–11) (blog) — Part of the author's 50/65/100/150/200 kit, with no separate verdict on it; a commenter names the 65mm as their favourite of the PG lenses.
History
The moderate wide-angle of the system, in the launch list of 1983 beside the 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250. Nine elements in seven groups give 68.5° on 6×7, about what a 32mm gives on 35mm, focusing to 0.6m behind a 72mm filter on the 87mm barrel that every PG lens but the 50 and the 500 shares; at 71mm long and 715g it is among the lighter lenses of the line. The Seiko #0 shutter inside runs from 16 seconds to 1/500 under the body’s control.
Tamron listed it at $2,020 in April 1996, the same as the 150mm, and at $2,289 in 2004. camera-wiki’s count of about 6,000 matches the 50mm. Nothing in the sources separates an early lens from a late one.
Among the reviewers it is the lens that gets carried. Adrian Cowderoy, whose GS-1 dates from 1988, takes only the 65mm and 150mm when he travels light; Laidric Stevenson has one in his four-lens kit and Ross Jukes reaches for one when the 100mm is too long; a commenter on Chemical Cameras names it as the best of the PG lenses. None of them describes its drawing, and no test of it on its own has been found.
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 65mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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