Being offered with a Bronica S for 130€. Is it worth it?

[zanxion72]

I am being offered a Bronica S for 130€. Is it really worth it? What should I look for before buying it? How can I verify that it works? I have never had a Bronica before, it is just GAS again.

 

[hoffy]

The first question is what are you getting with it?

 

[zanxion72]

It is being offered with one film back, a Nikkor 85mm 2.8 lens and its case. Is it worth it?

 

[trythis]

The way I decide on this sorta thing is to look at ebay sold items in similar condition. If the lowest sold price is 10 % lower than the item in question I pass on it unless I really want one or am willing to pay an education fee to try it for a while.

 

[mweintraub]

I heard that the S2 models had issues that were fixed with the S2a, how is the "S"?

 

[Kyon Thinh]

Only S2A is worth if you like mechanical camera, S and S2 is unreliable, especially if you dont know about the gear transport condition.
130 EUR also not cheap.

 

[zanxion72]

I will pass on it then. Thank you for the advice. It looks nice, but had absolutely no idea.

 

[Kyle M.]

I've personally owned 2 Bronica S2's and they were far from unreliable, and the Nikkor lenses are very sharp. The S2 gets a bad rap because of the brass gears in the advance mechanism, both of mine were heavily used by several previous owners and still worked great. The S is just a cheaper version of the S2 without a removable back. For what it's worth I've seen several sell through dealers for over twice the price your looking at. If it's in good working condition that is indeed a good price.

 

[zanxion72]

I will get a look at it tomorrow. What should I look for to make sure it works? Does the shutter operate without the lens so that I can see it flipping at different speeds?

 

[Kyle M.]

The S does in fact have a removable back like the later S2 and S2a, I must have been thinking of the C. Fortunately this makes things easier, remove the back by pushing in on the darkslide and pulling it off. You can now wind and fire the shutter, if the speeds seem good and the aperture is stopping down you should be good aside from possible light leaks. You cannot wind and fire the shutter with the back attached and no film loaded, the advance knob will just spin freely. My first S2 had a light leak through the dark slide slot, I was able to disassemble the back and replace the spring loaded seal. My second S2 was leak free.

 

[one90guy]

I have the Bronica EC, fantastic camera system but awful heavy for me. Tried the SQ-A, had two but both had problems but really like the 6x6 negative.

 

[Kyon Thinh]

I've personally owned 2 Bronica S2's and they were far from unreliable, and the Nikkor lenses are very sharp. The S2 gets a bad rap because of the brass gears in the advance mechanism, both of mine were heavily used by several previous owners and still worked great. The S is just a cheaper version of the S2 without a removable back. For what it's worth I've seen several sell through dealers for over twice the price your looking at. If it's in good working condition that is indeed a good price.

Yeah and I had 2 S2A, 1 S2. The S2 stopped working even though I am gentle to it, it just simply broke, transport gear broke, viewfinder cover defected, speed setting brroke, all at the same time. S2A still works well.
My S2A is 100 EUR, my EC TL with 50 and 75 Zenzanon, 2 backs are 150 EUR, so 130 for S is just simply expensive.

 

[Kyle M.]

I wish I could get an ECTL that cheap here and the states I can't find a good one under $500, S', S2's, and S2A's go for $250-$450. So I was basing prices off that, I have no idea what the market is like in europe.

 

[Steve Smith]

I have no idea what the market is like in europe.

At the start of this year, I bought an S2 with the standard Nikkor lens for £225 (US $378).


Steve.