Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 (SQ)
Zenza Bronica · Bronica SQ · 1982 · Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon, 17 elements in 14 groups
Also known as: Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 · Zoom Zenzanon-S 140-280mm F5.6 · Schneider Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 Bronica · Bronica SQ 140-280mm f/5.6 · Zenza Bronica Variogon 140-280/5.6 · Bronica Zenzanon S 140-280mm · ズームゼンザノンS バリオゴン 140-280mm F5.6 · ゼンザノンS 140-280mm F5.6 · ブロニカ SQ バリオゴン 140-280mm · シュナイダー バリオゴン 140-280mm ブロニカ
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 | Bronica SQ | — | — | — |
- Construction (seventeen elements in fourteen groups), 2.5 m closest focus, the 93 mm screw-in filter, the macro mechanism with its 0.76 m working distance and the Schneider-Kreuznach origin are from Japanese Wikipedia, which cites the 1982 edition of the Camera Nenkan, p.223. camera-wiki's SQ table gives the same construction, focus and filter and adds the 221 mm length and 2,000 g weight.
- Years: 1982 is the yearbook in which the lens is recorded, not a launch date; the SQ itself dates from August 1980, and no source consulted says when the Variogon was added or withdrawn. It is absent from Tamron USA's April 1996 SQ price list, so it had left the catalogue by then.
- Minimum aperture, blade count, list price and the place of manufacture are not given by any source consulted. The Variogon name and Schneider-Kreuznach credit are Japanese Wikipedia's; whether the lens was assembled in Germany or in Japan is not stated.
- The SQ system has no 140mm prime; a seller's '140' for the SQ is this zoom. Schneider supplied the same pairing to the 6×4.5 ETR as the Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 70-140mm f/4.5 and 125-250mm f/5.6, different lenses in a different mount.
How to tell them apart
- Variogon and Schneider-Kreuznach on the ring beside the Zenzanon-S name; no other SQ lens carries a German maker's name
- 93 mm filter thread, shared only with the Variogon 75-150; 221 mm long, between the PS 250 and the S 500 in length (camera-wiki)
- SQ bayonet with the lens-mounted leaf shutter; the Zoom Zenzanon-E Variogon 125-250mm f/5.6 is the ETR counterpart and does not fit
Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6:
- Name ring carries both Zenzanon-S and the Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon name; a Schneider lens built for Bronica's SQ mount (Japanese Wikipedia)
- Seventeen elements in fourteen groups, 2.5 m closest focus, 93 mm screw-in filter, and a macro mechanism that takes the working distance down to 0.76 m (Japanese Wikipedia, citing the 1982 Camera Nenkan); 221 mm long and 2,000 g (camera-wiki)
- Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter in the lens and the four-claw SQ bayonet; longer and heavier than the 75-150 Variogon by 69 mm and 200 g
- Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6: The longer of the two Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon zooms sold under the Zenzanon-S name for the SQ in its early years, covering the telephoto range from the 150 prime to beyond the 250. It is in the 1982 Camera Nenkan; neither its first nor its last year is documented, and it is absent from Tamron USA's April 1996 price list.
Specifications
- Formula
- Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon, 17 elements in 14 groups
- Construction
- 17 elements / 14 groups
- Aperture range
- f/5.6
- Shutter
- Seiko #0 electronic leaf shutter in the lens, speeds set by the body; mechanical 1/500 without battery power
- Min. focus
- 2.5 m
- Dimensions
- 221 mm long
- Weight
- 2000 g
- Filter
- 93 mm
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 Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 is the longer of the two Schneider-Kreuznach zooms built for Bronica’s SQ bayonet and sold under the Zenzanon-S name in the system’s early years. The 1982 Camera Nenkan, as reported by Japanese Wikipedia, gives seventeen elements in fourteen groups, a constant f/5.6, a closest focus of 2.5 m with a macro mechanism that brings the working distance down to 0.76 m, and a 93 mm screw-in filter; camera-wiki adds 221 mm of length and 2,000 g. On 6×6 the range runs from a portrait telephoto to a long one, about 76 to 150mm on 35mm film, covering the ground of the 150, 200 and 250 primes in one barrel. The Seiko #0 leaf shutter is in the lens and timed by the body, with a mechanical 1/500 when the battery is flat.
Schneider’s Variogons served several leaf-shutter medium-format systems of the period, and Bronica took them for both of its lines: this lens and the 75-150mm f/4.5 for the SQ, and the 70-140 and 125-250 for the 6×4.5 ETR. The arrangement belongs to the Zenzanon-S era; no PS version followed, and Bronica’s only zoom of its own for the SQ, the 50-100mm f/4-5.6 Aspherical, came at the end of the system’s life and at the other end of the range. Neither the Variogon’s first nor its last year is documented: it is in the 1982 yearbook and absent from Tamron USA’s April 1996 price list. The SQ system has no 140mm prime, so a ‘140’ offered for the SQ is this zoom.
No published review was found in English or Japanese, and the lens is rare on the used market. At 2,000 g it is the second-heaviest SQ lens after the PS 500, and the two-touch zoom and macro mechanism give a buyer more to check than on a prime: the shutter at every speed and at the mechanical 1/500, both rings and the macro engagement for stiffness, and seventeen elements for haze and separation. The 93 mm filter is shared only with the 75-150.
Open points: the launch and withdrawal years, the minimum aperture and blade count, a list price in any currency, and where the lens was assembled.
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 Zoom Zenzanon-S Variogon 140-280mm f/5.6 (SQ)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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