Zenzanon 300mm f/4.5
Zenza Bronica · Bronica S · 1972 · Telephoto, 6 elements in 5 groups
Also known as: Zenzanon 300mm f/4.5 · Zenzanon 300mm F4.5 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon 300mm F4.5 · Bronica Zenzanon 300mm f4.5 S2A · Zenzanon 1:4.5 f=300mm · Bronica 300mm f4.5 Zenzanon EC-TL · ゼンザノン 300mm F4.5 · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノン 300mm F4.5 · ZENZANON 300mm F4.5 ブロニカ S2
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon 1:4.5 f=300mm, large bayonet with built-in helicoid | Bronica S (large bayonet, C and later) | — | — | — |
- Construction (6 elements in 5 groups), closest focus (4 m), filter (82 mm), weight (1.8 kg) and the large-bayonet mount are from Sam Seiden's lens list as reproduced by Robert Monaghan; Japanese Wikipedia gives 5群6枚; English Wikipedia's table gives 6e/5g, f/4.5–32, 4.04 m (13 ft 3 in), 82 mm, 1,800 g, mount L. camera-wiki: '300mm f4.5 Auto-Zenzanon ... uses large bayonet mount'.
- Maker: Norita Kogaku per Japanese Wikipedia ('ノリタ光学のOEM'); no other source names a maker, and the lens carries the Zenza Bronica name only. Norita is also the maker Japanese Wikipedia gives for the early 5/4 Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5.
- Years and price: no source gives either. The EC's 1972 specification sheet lists a 300 mm among the large-bayonet lenses; whether that entry is this lens or the Nikkor-P·C 300mm f/5.6 is not stated, so the year is the earliest documented appearance of a large-bayonet 300, not a date for the Zenzanon.
How to tell them apart
- The one Zenzanon for the focal-plane bodies with its own focusing helicoid, a built-in hood and a tripod collar: a large lens of about 1.8 kg with an 82 mm front, against 67 mm on every other Zenzanon for the mount
- Large bayonet at the rear, the outer ring of the body exposed when the focusing unit is lifted off; it will not go on the small bayonet or on the old large bayonet of the Z/D and S
- Reads ZENZANON 1:4.5 f=300mm; the Nikkor-P·C 300mm f/5.6 for the same bodies is slower and carries the Nikon name, and the Komura 300mm f/5 is a head for the Komura Unihelicoid
- Fits the C, C2, S2, S2A, EC, EC-TL and EC-TL II
Zenzanon 1:4.5 f=300mm, large bayonet with built-in helicoid:
- Mounts directly on the body's large (outer) bayonet with the focusing unit removed; focuses with its own helicoid, unlike every Zenzanon from 40 to 200 mm (Seiden via Monaghan; camera-wiki)
- Built-in lens hood and a rotating tripod collar; 82 mm filter; about 1.8 kg; stops down to f/32 (Seiden; English Wikipedia)
- Zenzanon 1:4.5 f=300mm, large bayonet with built-in helicoid: The only version. It takes the new large bayonet of the C and later bodies, so it does not fit the Z/D or S, whose focusing tube is built into the body and whose large bayonet is a different, earlier standard (Japanese Wikipedia; Seiden). No source dates it: the year shown is the EC's, whose specification sheet lists a 300 mm on the large bayonet, and is not a documented release date.
Specifications
- Formula
- Telephoto, 6 elements in 5 groups
- Construction
- 6 elements / 5 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4.5–f/32
- Min. focus
- 4 m
- Weight
- 1800 g
- Filter
- 82 mm
- Country
- Japan
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 300mm f/4.5 is the long lens Zenza Bronica sold under its own name for the focal-plane 6×6 bodies, and the only Zenzanon for them that focuses itself. Every Zenzanon from 40 to 200 mm goes on the small bayonet at the front of the body’s focusing unit and has no helicoid; the 300 is too long for that arrangement, so it mounts directly on the large outer bayonet exposed when the focusing unit is lifted off, as the Nikkor-Q 105mm leaf-shutter lens and the long Tele-Nikkor heads do, and carries its own focusing helicoid, a built-in hood and a rotating tripod collar. It is a six-element, five-group telephoto of about 1.8 kg with an 82 mm front, focusing to 4 m and stopping down to f/32. Japanese Wikipedia attributes it to Norita Kogaku, which also built the early Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 and the compact 40 and 50 mm Zenzanons; the lens itself carries only the Bronica name.
Because it uses the large bayonet it fits only the C of December 1964 and the bodies after it, the C2, S2, S2A, EC, EC-TL and EC-TL II. The Z/D and S have a focusing tube built into the body and an earlier, incompatible large bayonet, and Seiden’s adapter goes the other way, letting old-bayonet lenses onto S2-type bodies. No source dates the lens or gives a price: the EC’s specification sheet of 1972 lists a 300 mm among the large-bayonet lenses, but does not say whether it means this lens or the slower Nikkor-P·C 300mm f/5.6. No review has been found.
When buying, check that the rear is the large bayonet and that the helicoid turns freely through its range, since nothing on the body can take over focusing for it; the built-in hood and collar should both be present, and the 82 mm filter size is unique among the Zenzanons for the mount.
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 300mm f/4.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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