Zenzanon-S 105mm f/3.5 (SQ)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica SQ · 1980
Also known as: Zenzanon-S 105mm f/3.5 · Zenzanon S 105mm F3.5 · Bronica SQ 105mm f/3.5 · Bronica Zenzanon-S 105mm F3.5 · Zenza Bronica Zenzanon-S 105mm · Bronica SQ-A 105mm f3.5 · ZENZANON-S 1:3.5 f=105mm · ゼンザノン S 105mm F3.5 · ゼンザブロニカ ゼンザノンS 105mm F3.5 · ブロニカ SQ 105mm F3.5
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenzanon-S 105mm f/3.5 (1980–) | Bronica SQ | 1980 | — | — |
- Construction (6 elements in 4 groups), 0.85 m closest focus and the 67 mm screw-in filter are given by Japanese Wikipedia from the 1982 Camera Nenkan (p.222) and repeated in camera-wiki's SQ lens table; the 60 mm length and 540 g are camera-wiki's figures only. No source read gives the blade count, the minimum aperture or a list price.
- Years. The SQ went on sale in August 1980 (Japanese Wikipedia, citing クラシックカメラ専科 No.57; camera-wiki) and the lens is in the 1982 yearbook; whether it was in the launch set is not stated by either source. Its end is undocumented: Tamron USA's SQ-Ai price list of 15 April 1996 carries only one S lens, the 500mm f/8, and no 105 of any kind, so it had gone from the US range by then. Tamron Japan's SQ-Basic page (© 2001) still lists 'S40/50/80/105/150/200/250/500mm' among lenses the body accepts.
- Shutter and aperture ring are system values: Tamron Japan's SQ-Basic specification gives the Seiko #0 electronically controlled shutter, 8 s–1/500 with no intermediate speeds, a mechanical shutter of about 1/500, and an aperture ring in equal steps with half-stop clicks; camera-wiki adds T on every lens and the 16 s and bulb settings of the SQ-Ai.
How to tell them apart
- An SQ lens carries its own leaf shutter and the system's four-claw bayonet (Tamron Japan), which no other Bronica mount takes: the Zenzanon 105mm f/3.5 made for the 6×4.5 ETR bodies and the leaf-shutter Nikkor-Q 105mm f/3.5 of the focal-plane S bodies are different lenses on different mounts
- The aperture ring clicks at half stops and the lens has a T setting that holds the shutter open without battery power (Tamron Japan; Emulsive on the SQ-Ai)
Zenzanon-S 105mm f/3.5 (1980–):
- Engraved ZENZANON-S; the only 105 mm Bronica made for the SQ mount, so a 105 that carries the SQ's four-claw bayonet and a leaf shutter is this lens
- 60 mm long, 540 g, 67 mm filter thread (camera-wiki table) — a millimetre shorter and 50 g lighter than the Zenzanon-S 150mm f/3.5 it sits beside
- Zenzanon-S 105mm f/3.5 (1980–): The only version. No Zenzanon-PS 105 followed it: when the PS line was drawn up the slot between the 80 and the 150 went to the 110 mm macro and the 135 mm f/4 instead, and the 105 had left the US price list by April 1996. Tamron's Japanese page for the SQ-Basic of 2001 still names the S 105 among the lenses that body accepts.
Specifications
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronic leaf in the lens, 8 s–1/500 and T (16 s and B with the SQ-Ai body), mechanical 1/500 without power
- Min. focus
- 0.85 m
- Dimensions
- 60 mm long
- Weight
- 540 g
- Filter
- 67 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1980
- 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-S 105mm f/3.5 is the short telephoto of the first lens line for Bronica’s SQ, the leaf-shutter 6×6 single-lens reflex that replaced the focal-plane EC series in August 1980. Every SQ lens carries its own electronically timed Seiko #0 shutter, running from 8 seconds to 1/500 with a mechanical 1/500 when the battery is flat, and mounts by a four-claw bayonet that no other Bronica system shares. The 105 is a six-element lens in four groups focusing to 0.85 m, 60 mm long, 540 g, with a 67 mm filter thread — the thread almost every SQ lens between 65 and 250 mm uses.
It is the one SQ focal length that never got a second generation. When Bronica reworked the range as Zenzanon-PS, the place between the 80 mm standard and the 150 went to a 110 mm macro and a 135 mm f/4, and by Tamron USA’s price list of April 1996 the only S lens still on sale was the 500mm f/8. The 105 therefore belongs to the SQ and SQ-A years. It remained usable on every later body: Tamron’s Japanese page for the manual-only SQ-Basic of 1996 lists the S 105 among the lenses that camera accepts, and the SQ-Ai takes it with the same restrictions as any S lens.
No published review of this lens was found; what exists is forum talk and dealer copy. A user of the later PS line writes that the PS lenses are supposed to have slightly better optics and coating than the S, which is received opinion rather than a test. The hood Bronica sold for it in 1996 was the screw-in BQ1403, shared with the PS 110 and 150, and the S-18 and S-36 automatic extension tubes and the Automatic Bellows S cover closer work than its 0.85 m. The blade count, minimum aperture and original price have not been found in any source read for this page.
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-S 105mm f/3.5 (SQ)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- 【返品保証】 ゼンザブロニカ Zenza Bronica ZENZANON-S 105mm F3.5 ケース付き レンズ e20894
- 【良品】ZENZA BRONICA Zenzanon-S 105mm F3.5 SQ SQ-A SQ-Ai用 中判レンズ #508
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