Anyone Still Using Bronica?

[halfaman]

I didn't have any problem with GS-1 body or lenses after close to a hundred rolls, my pain in the axx are the film backs. I have bought four 120 backs and only one is still working... Now looking for the fith one. Neverthless, I am so satisfied with the photos I am taking that I don't see myself moving away from this camera in a long time. RB67/RZ67 are n

On the other hand, the SQ-A darkslide detection in the film backs is the worst safety lock I have ever seen. The slide must be perfectly inserted, otherwise the camera doesn't detect it and let you shoot (yes, I had one completely blank roll because of this).

 

[Hassasin]

This

Camera technician here...

1. Was the camera serviced periodically?

2. Did you attempt to bring it to an actually GOOD camera technician like Frank Marshman?

I understand your concern, however the GS-1 was the third electronic system they designed, after the ETR and SQ. I have enough experience with the ETRS and Si and I must say the electronics are reliable, but the mechanicals need periodic service. Still, the Pentax 6x7 line -which I also own and service- requires even more frequent service (i'd say once every year or two years), so the ETRS/Si models thus fare better than the 6x7, a camera ofthen thought as "reliable".

Of course with an electromechanical shutter you will need to have the system well cleaned and lubricated so it fires.

Funny enough the Bronica Motor Drive E (for the ETR) also brings you electromechanical shutter release to the ETR series and... guess what... if the mechanism' lubricants dry up, it stops working, and it will not fire (using the motor drive shutter release button).

This was discussed before, the big difference between GS-1 and other Bronica formats is the in body electromagnet going weak ( my understanding is this particular design is not employed in other bodies ). It stops triggering in-lens shutter. It's a common problem. It first starts with some lenses, then it's all bust. I've looked at this with hopes it can be addressed, and it can be ... with another body. And it used be standard replacement at Bronica service when it was still available. They messed up on that, possibly under-specked electromagnet that could not stand up to normal use, to me inexcusable, as GS-1 is a great camera in all respects. I even like it with the huge rotating prism.

 

[Hassasin]

That's good,

I didn't have any problem with GS-1 body or lenses after close to a hundred rolls, my pain in the axx are the film backs. I have bought four 120 backs and only one is still working... Now looking for the fith one. Neverthless, I am so satisfied with the photos I am taking that I don't see myself moving away from this camera in a long time. RB67/RZ67 are n

On the other hand, the SQ-A darkslide detection in the film backs is the worst safety lock I have ever seen. The slide must be perfectly inserted, otherwise the camera doesn't detect it and let you shoot (yes, I had one completely blank roll because of this).

There are still working bodies, whatever affects the electromagnet I referred to. I've been burned so am not taking it out as as sole camera. And due to size, it just stays close to home.

 

[halfaman]

This



This was discussed before, the big difference between GS-1 and other Bronica formats is the in body electromagnet going weak ( my understanding is this particular design is not employed in other bodies ). It stops triggering in-lens shutter. It's a common problem. It first starts with some lenses, then it's all bust. I've looked at this with hopes it can be addressed, and it can be ... with another body. And it used be standard replacement at Bronica service when it was still available. They messed up on that, possibly under-specked electromagnet that could not stand up to normal use, to me inexcusable, as GS-1 is a great camera in all respects. I even like it with the huge rotating prism.

Something went wrong with GS-1 system definitely, because I think it is the only one that Bronica never did more iterations. Perhaps sales were lower than expected compared to SQ and ETR, that were developed much further.

 

[Tony-S]

Something went wrong with GS-1 system definitely, because I think it is the only one that Bronica never did more iterations. Perhaps sales were lower than expected compared to SQ and ETR, that were developed much further.

One of the issues was the emergence of digital SLRs a few years after the GS-1 came to market. That marked the beginning of the end of film camera development.

 

[pbromaghin]

I need to get down there one of these days. How often is the festival? Do you recall which Bronica she uses?

It’s held annually over Independence Day weekend. She had an inoperative camera, same model as she uses, with her. I don’t know Bronicas well enough to say which model it was.

 

[halfaman]

One of the issues was the emergence of digital SLRs a few years after the GS-1 came to market. That marked the beginning of the end of film camera development.

According to all sources I read, the GS-1 was introduced in 1983 and discontinued in 2002. It was the last SLR system developed by Bronica, but just 3 years after the SQ release and still with a couple of decades ahead before the digital disruption.

 

[flavio81]

On the other hand, the SQ-A darkslide detection in the film backs is the worst safety lock I have ever seen. The slide must be perfectly inserted, otherwise the camera doesn't detect it and let you shoot (yes, I had one completely blank roll because of this).

Maybe there's some need for service? On my ETR cameras this lock has worked always perfectly. You need to remove the slide quite a bit to be able to shoot.

This was discussed before, the big difference between GS-1 and other Bronica formats is the in body electromagnet going weak ( my understanding is this particular design is not employed in other bodies ). It stops triggering in-lens shutter. It's a common problem.

We must be very careful because it might be just a case of cleaning and lubrication. And, if weak magnet is the case, such solenoid magnets can be remagnetized as well (for example M. Vettore documented how to remagnetize the solenoid magnet inside ETR and SQ lenses).

They messed up on that, possibly under-specked electromagnet that could not stand up to normal use, to me inexcusable,

Wait until you see how resilient or reliable are the Pentax 6x7 film advance gears... And , again, in the mind of the people the 6x7 is a reliable field-camera worthy of taking on a safari.

Something went wrong with GS-1 system definitely, because I think it is the only one that Bronica never did more iterations. Perhaps sales were lower than expected compared to SQ and ETR, that were developed much further.

Sales, probably.

ETR was released in 1976 and SQ in 80 or so. The GS-1 came much later (1983), and by the time the GS-1 was released, the 6x7 market was already dominated by the Pentax 6x7 system (introduced late 1960s) and the Mamiya RB system (introduced 1970). So the main competitors already had at least 13 years advantage.

It also didn't help that the Mamiya RZ67, also an electronic 6x7 camera, was already on the market (1982). This means that Mamiya had a huge array of available lenses -- in fact up to four generations of lenses, the early ones, the NB ones, the C ones and then the RZ67 lenses -- from fisheye to extreme telephoto. The GS-1 was released with only 6 lenses: 50, 65, 100, 150, 200 and 250mm lenses, the GS-1 had TTL flash but this feature could be used only with one specific, small, battery-powered flash branded Bronica (!).

So perhaps it had a very tough market to break in.

And as a person who has owned 3 Mamiya RB67 pro-S cameras and four Pentax 6x7/67 cameras, I can sort of understand. Because if I want portability and lighter weight, there is the Pentax which also has very fast lenses overall (90/2.8, 105/2.4, 150/2.8 etc) and extreme teles. And if I want to work on a studio, the RB67 has the rotating back which is a major advantage.

The GS-1 tried to be a handholdable 6x7 SLR that could also be perfect for the studio but I think the lack of rotating back hit it. And this is a no-win situation: if they added a rotating back, the camera would have to be a much bigger camera, negating the "light", "handholdable" advantage.

The ETR is much smaller and lighter so it wins in this regard over the competition, and in 1976 the ETR was miles ahead of the Mamiya 645 cameras (their only competition, the Pentax 645 didn't even exist.) In the same way than the Mamiya RB67, when introduced, was a great leap forward over the Hasselblad 500C or C/M, and thus could quickly get market share.

 

[MattKing]

According to all sources I read, the GS-1 was introduced in 1983 and discontinued in 2002. It was the last SLR system developed by Bronica, but just 3 years after the SQ release and still with a couple of decades ahead before the digital disruption.

I expect that it was more to do with the transition in wedding photography that was beginning about that time.
Due most likely to the combination of improvements in film and improvements in camera technology, as well as changes in the preferences in the marketplace, there was a real movement away from medium format film and toward using 35mm film for weddings.
When I was photographing weddings, on medium format film, I might end up with 144 shots - 12 rolls with 12 exposures each. When the "trendy" photographers moved to 35mm film, the shot totals went way up.
I was at my niece's wedding on Saturday. I was chatting with the wedding photographer that my niece and her now husband hired.
So much has changed, not least of which is that the photographer and her second shooter were women.
And they both were using different systems - one Canon, the other Nikon.
And they were both in tennis shoes and "dressy casual" clothing.
And they were able to do so much in what I would have described as totally insufficient light.
And most of all, that the photographer expected to end up with about 4,000 images in total from the day.
With no need or intention or expectation of selling any prints - everything will be distributed digitally.
I was watching them as they literally were dancing while they photographed from the middle of the dance floor, as everyone around them were joyfully and exuberantly dancing around them. Nome of that would have been possible with anything like a GS-1.

 

[Tony-S]

According to all sources I read, the GS-1 was introduced in 1983 and discontinued in 2002. It was the last SLR system developed by Bronica, but just 3 years after the SQ release and still with a couple of decades ahead before the digital disruption.

Right. I confused the GS-1 with the RF645. My bad.

 

[reddesert]

I didn't have any problem with GS-1 body or lenses after close to a hundred rolls, my pain in the axx are the film backs. I have bought four 120 backs and only one is still working... Now looking for the fith one. Neverthless, I am so satisfied with the photos I am taking that I don't see myself moving away from this camera in a long time. RB67/RZ67 are n

On the other hand, the SQ-A darkslide detection in the film backs is the worst safety lock I have ever seen. The slide must be perfectly inserted, otherwise the camera doesn't detect it and let you shoot (yes, I had one completely blank roll because of this).

I had a Bronica GS back that was jammed - couldn't turn the wind knob at the top of the back. I took off the bottom cover to inspect the mechanism. There is a pin at center bottom that inserts/retracts to communicate with the body, and I thought the lock mechanism had probably slipped out of alignment and was failing to release. Before I knew it, the lock had released, so I put it back together and it works (I haven't tested it recently). I was thinking about posting some pictures to document it for others' reference, but postponed since I don't quite know what happened. But, it was not too hard to get that bottom cover off and inspect. IIRC, most of the screws that hold it on are accessed from inside the film chamber.

 

[reddesert]

We must be very careful because it might be just a case of cleaning and lubrication. And, if weak magnet is the case, such solenoid magnets can be remagnetized as well (for example M. Vettore documented how to remagnetize the solenoid magnet inside ETR and SQ lenses).

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/bronica-gs1-failure-rate.203539/

The most well known electromagnet is in the lens. The GS shutter release is an electrical switch. I don't have a GS-1 repair manual to see how the mirror and the lever that releases the lens shutter are moved. I think they are mechanically charged when you wind the knob, but I don't know how the shutter release triggers the release of the mechanical motion.