Zenzanon 100mm f/2.8
Zenza Bronica · Bronica S · 1966 · 6 elements in 4 groups
Also known as: Zenzanon 100mm f/2.8 · Zenzanon 100mm F2.8 · Zenzanon MC 100mm F2.8 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon 100mm F2.8 S2 · Bronica Zenzanon 100mm f2.8 EC-TL · Zenzanon 1:2.8 f=100mm · ゼンザノン 100mm F2.8 · ゼンザノン MC 100mm F2.8 · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン 100mm F2.8 S2 · ZENZANON 100mm F2.8 ブロニカ
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon 1:2.8 f=100mm, single-coated | Bronica S | — | — | — |
| Zenzanon MC 1:2.8 f=100mm, multicoated | Bronica S | — | — | — |
- Construction: 4 groups/6 elements per Japanese Wikipedia; Sam Seiden's list as reproduced by Robert Monaghan gives 6e/4g, 98 cm closest focus, 67 mm and 360 g; English Wikipedia's table gives 6e/4g, f/2.8–22, 0.91 m (3 ft), 67 mm and 360 g. The closest focus shown is Seiden's 0.98 m; English Wikipedia's 0.91 m is a rounded 3 ft.
- Maker: Tokyo Kogaku (Topcon). Japanese Wikipedia states it as OEM fact ('東京光学（現トプコン）のOEM'); shiura.com says it is said to be Topcon-made ('東京光学（トプコン）の製造と言われており'); English Wikipedia hedges to 'possibly manufactured by Tokyo Optical (Topcon)'. The lens carries the Zenza Bronica name only.
- Years: no source dates the lens. Robert Monaghan's lens history places the Zenzanon 100mm f/2.8 among the lenses available from 1966 on, which is the year shown; a 100 mm small-bayonet lens already appears on a 1965 S2 specification sheet, so it may be a year older. The MC version is undated; the ¥43,000 price is from the EC-TL catalogue of c.1975–77 (shiura.com), hence the separate price year. No end date is recorded; it was still listed on the EC-TL.
- Handling warning: Bronica cautioned that the lens could damage the mirror if mounted with the focusing mount set at infinity, a point Seiden stresses particularly for the EC bodies (Monaghan).
How to tell them apart
- Engraved ZENZANON 1:2.8 f=100mm, with or without MC; no shutter, an open rear with the small bayonet and 57 mm thread, 67 mm filter, about 360 g
- The only 100 mm Bronica sold under its own name for the focal-plane bodies; the Komura 100mm f/2.8 and 100mm f/2 for the same mount carry the Komura name, and the leaf-shutter Zenzanon-PG 100mm f/3.5 is a GS-1 lens
- Fits the Z/D, S, C, C2, S2, S2A, EC, EC-TL and EC-TL II through the body's focusing mount; set the mount away from infinity before fitting it, especially on an EC (Seiden via Monaghan)
Zenzanon 1:2.8 f=100mm, single-coated:
- Nameplate without the MC marking; Sam Seiden's list (via Monaghan) records the lens in this form
Zenzanon MC 1:2.8 f=100mm, multicoated:
- MC on the nameplate; the version Japanese Wikipedia lists, with Tokyo Kogaku as maker
- Zenzanon 1:2.8 f=100mm, single-coated: The earlier form, listed by Sam Seiden without MC. No source dates the change to multicoating or describes any other difference between the two.
- Zenzanon MC 1:2.8 f=100mm, multicoated: The multicoated form, which Japanese Wikipedia lists as ゼンザノン100mmF2.8MC and the one the EC-TL catalogue of c.1975 priced at ¥43,000 (shiura.com). Same 4-group, 6-element design.
Specifications
- Formula
- 6 elements in 4 groups
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Min. focus
- 0.98 m
- Weight
- 360 g
- Filter
- 67 mm
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥43,000 (EC-TL catalogue, c.1975) (today ¥88,000)
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 100mm f/2.8 is the longest-lived and, by shiura.com’s account, the most popular of the lenses Zenza Bronica sold under its own name for the focal-plane 6×6 bodies: a six-element, four-group short telephoto of about 360 g, with a 67 mm front, focusing through the body’s mount to just under a metre and stopping down to f/22. It was made for Bronica by Tokyo Kogaku, the Topcon company; Japanese Wikipedia states the OEM relationship plainly, shiura.com reports it as what is said, and English Wikipedia as a possibility. The lens carries only the Zenza Bronica name.
It is also the hardest of the Zenzanons to date. Robert Monaghan’s lens history lists it among the lenses available from 1966 on, while a 100 mm small-bayonet lens already appears on the S2’s specification sheet of 1965, so it may have arrived with that camera. It outlasted every other own-brand lens: the EC-TL catalogue of about 1975 still priced it at ¥43,000, level with the 80mm f/2.4 and above the 75mm f/2.8. Two forms exist. Sam Seiden’s list records a plain Zenzanon 100mm f/2.8 without the MC marking, and Japanese Wikipedia lists the multicoated ゼンザノン100mmF2.8MC; no source dates the change or notes any other difference.
Shiura.com calls it very popular today, and the owners who write about it on forums describe it as sharp and contrasty, some preferring its 100 mm to the Nikkor 75 as a normal lens; no formal review has been found. One caution from the period, recorded by Seiden: Bronica warned that the lens could damage the mirror if mounted with the focusing mount set at infinity, particularly on the EC bodies, so the mount should be racked out before it is fitted. It fits every focal-plane Bronica from the Z/D to the EC-TL II.
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 100mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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