Bronica ETR 250mm vs 100-220mm for landscape photography

L_E_Miller · Feb 8, 2023

Going to Death Valley next month and want to do telephoto landscapes. I'm struggling to find very many recent opinions about either of these lenses. BH has a 100-220 in stock so I was able to go put my hands on it so that was nice -- It's definitely on the bigger side but not too different than carrying a 70-200 2.8 around.

The objective comparison is obvious. The 250mm is longer and cheaper (half the price), but less versatile. The 100-220 is brighter, but only marginally.

I get that these are kind of uncommon/unpopular lenses for the system but I'd love any feedback anyone has about either.

Thank you!

Sirius Glass · Feb 8, 2023

The 250mm will give you the longest reach while the short zoom lenses will allow you to crop with the viewfinder. The choice is up to you, but for myself I prefer to crop before I take the photograph. Consider buying both and promise to keep the expenses down for a few months after the vacation [my choice if I were you, since Death Valley is not around the corner and your chances of visiting again are small.]

Remember to got to Zabriskie Point and Ubehebe Crater.

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/upload/2022-Winter-Visitor-Guide-compressed.pdf

Check for closures do to the recent rain.

abruzzi · Feb 8, 2023

I have the 100-220, and it's an excellent lens, but weighs a ton. If you have a tripod to match and don't mind the weight, I'd say go for it. Find yourself a 1.4x PE teleconverter and you'll also have a 300mm as well. There are also Schneider zooms for the ETR series, but I've never owned one. One is a 125-250mm ƒ5.6, KEH has one for sale now, and Schneider is high on my list of great lens makers, but I've never heard anything on these and am hesitant to take a $350 gamble.

L_E_Miller · Feb 8, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
The 250mm will give you the longest reach while the short zoom lenses will allow you to crop with the viewfinder. The choice is up to you, but for myself I prefer to crop before I take the photograph. Consider buying both and promise to keep the expenses down for a few months after the vacation [my choice if I were you, since Death Valley is not around the corner and your chances of visiting again are small.]

Remember to got to Zabriskie Point and Ubehebe Crater.

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/upload/2022-Winter-Visitor-Guide-compressed.pdf

Check for closures do to the recent rain.

Buying both definite isn't in the cards. Or carrying both!

L_E_Miller · Feb 8, 2023

abruzzi said:
I have the 100-220, and it's an excellent lens, but weighs a ton. If you have a tripod to match and don't mind the weight, I'd say go for it. Find yourself a 1.4x PE teleconverter and you'll also have a 300mm as well. There are also Schneider zooms for the ETR series, but I've never owned one. One is a 125-250mm ƒ5.6, KEH has one for sale now, and Schneider is high on my list of great lens makers, but I've never heard anything on these and am hesitant to take a $350 gamble.

I didn't consider the TC. That's a great point. Maybe I'll just get the TC to use with my 150. Thanks for the idea!

If you do get the 125-250mm please let us know about it. I also have seen little information about it.

reddesert · Feb 8, 2023

The longer lenses for Bronica systems don't seem to be in as much demand and can be inexpensive (actually I think this is true for other MF systems as well, possibly because the long focal lengths are less useful for the lens-adapter users). Anyway KEH has a 200/4.5 in EX for $135 right now, for example. Were it me I would probably rather carry a short lens and a long lens than a huge lens like the zoom (which I have never seen in the flesh).

Another issue IMO is that the Bronica long lenses are relatively slow due to the #0 shutter restriction. Fine to use by themselves, but once you put a teleconverter on them they may be a little too slow.

L_E_Miller · Feb 9, 2023

reddesert said:
The longer lenses for Bronica systems don't seem to be in as much demand and can be inexpensive (actually I think this is true for other MF systems as well, possibly because the long focal lengths are less useful for the lens-adapter users). Anyway KEH has a 200/4.5 in EX for $135 right now, for example. Were it me I would probably rather carry a short lens and a long lens than a huge lens like the zoom (which I have never seen in the flesh).

Another issue IMO is that the Bronica long lenses are relatively slow due to the #0 shutter restriction. Fine to use by themselves, but once you put a teleconverter on them they may be a little too slow.

Slow is ok for landscape but now I'm wondering if it might be difficult to focus with the split prism with the 2X TC. The 150mm is f/3.5 so that shouldn't be too bad I guess but I have no experience with it

M-88 · Feb 9, 2023

Focusing can always be done via a matt area of the focusing screeh, should the split image go dark. Not the most convenient way, not the fastest way either, but it's still an options.

jtk · Feb 9, 2023

4X5 and, if you want, roll back. Lots of incredible Nikon lenses. Might even be lighter than Bronica.

abruzzi · Feb 9, 2023

I would definitly not use a 2x teleconverter since you'll lose two stops of light and on a f3.5 lens the split prism will almost certainly go dark. the 1.4x loses one stop of light. You can test the sensitivity of the split prism by stopping the lens close to one or two stops down. Round 3.5 to 4 for simplicity, one stop lost would be f5.6 two stops would be f8. So stop down, then pull the stop down lever on the lens, and look to see if the split prism goes black.

My original ETRSi didn't have any focusing aids on the glass, so I learned a technique where you overshoot focus--near, far, near, far, etc--and each time you try to over shoot a little less. That still how I shoot my GS-1 since I don't have a split prims on that one.

L_E_Miller · Feb 9, 2023

abruzzi said:
I would definitly not use a 2x teleconverter since you'll lose two stops of light and on a f3.5 lens the split prism will almost certainly go dark. the 1.4x loses one stop of light. You can test the sensitivity of the split prism by stopping the lens close to one or two stops down. Round 3.5 to 4 for simplicity, one stop lost would be f5.6 two stops would be f8. So stop down, then pull the stop down lever on the lens, and look to see if the split prism goes black.

My original ETRSi didn't have any focusing aids on the glass, so I learned a technique where you overshoot focus--near, far, near, far, etc--and each time you try to over shoot a little less. That still how I shoot my GS-1 since I don't have a split prims on that one.

This is a real pro-tip. Yes it blacks out at f/8 and the matte is basically useless too. But I could probably focus to infinitely for this application ( vast desert landscapes )

abruzzi · Feb 9, 2023

if it doesn't blackout at 5.6 then the 1.4 may be useful. The other thing you can do , rather than just pegging it at infinity is to make up a chart of the hyperfocal distance at each aperture (I'm not sure how the teleconvertor affects all of that, but make sure you take it into account) and use the distance scale on the lens to focus just past that distance. That would allow you to get as much in focus as possible.

mshchem · Feb 9, 2023

The zoom is an amazing lens, weights about the same as a microwave oven. . I had one and managed to unload it before the crash. Paid 2K sold for $1600

There's a couple on the bay, from Jaoan, mint, with nylon case, delivered to USA for $410. For that it would be fun to just buy to look at. Tamron designed these zooms.

I got rid of all my Bronica SQ-Ai and ETRSi stuff, wonderful cameras.

L_E_Miller · Feb 11, 2023

mshchem said:
The zoom is an amazing lens, weights about the same as a microwave oven. . I had one and managed to unload it before the crash. Paid 2K sold for $1600

There's a couple on the bay, from Jaoan, mint, with nylon case, delivered to USA for $410. For that it would be fun to just buy to look at. Tamron designed these zooms.

I got rid of all my Bronica SQ-Ai and ETRSi stuff, wonderful cameras.

I got to handle the 100-220 at BH Photo! It's a chunker but its not toooo bad for operating mostly out of my car...

mshchem · Feb 12, 2023

L_E_Miller said:
I got to handle the 100-220 at BH Photo! It's a chunker but its not toooo bad for operating mostly out of my car...

It's an amazing piece of equipment. Constant aperture throughout the zoom range.

Manfrotto makes a clip that you can mount a tripod head on, the clip is a clamp that you can attach to a automobile side window, partially rolled down. Obviously you need to not hit the window switch, up or down.

L_E_Miller · Feb 16, 2023

abruzzi said:
if it doesn't blackout at 5.6 then the 1.4 may be useful. The other thing you can do , rather than just pegging it at infinity is to make up a chart of the hyperfocal distance at each aperture (I'm not sure how the teleconvertor affects all of that, but make sure you take it into account) and use the distance scale on the lens to focus just past that distance. That would allow you to get as much in focus as possible.

I got a deal on a PE 2X TC and I'm happy to report the split prism is not blacked out.

abruzzi · Feb 16, 2023

L_E_Miller said:
I got a deal on a PE 2X TC and I'm happy to report the split prism is not blacked out.

nice. This is on the 150mm ƒ3.5? Thats effectivly ƒ7.1.

I'm looking for a teleconvertor for a Bronica EC-TL. The lenses I have up to 150mm are nice and compact, but everything larger is huge. I don't use TCs all that often, but they can be useful when you have limited space and weight.

L_E_Miller · Feb 16, 2023

abruzzi said:
nice. This is on the 150mm ƒ3.5? Thats effectivly ƒ7.1.

I'm looking for a teleconvertor for a Bronica EC-TL. The lenses I have up to 150mm are nice and compact, but everything larger is huge. I don't use TCs all that often, but they can be useful when you have limited space and weight.

Yup on the 150 f3.5 The matte is useless but the split prism is fine. So I will do a test roll next and see what the image quality is like but I may have found a nice compromise here!

wiltw · Feb 16, 2023

250mm on ETR is similar to using 141mm on 135 format, in terms of the vertical (short dimension) area captured within the frame will be IDENTICAL
(this measurement nullifies the difference in aspect ratio captured by the two formats...5:4 vs 3:2)

I own both 250mm PE and 2X Teleconvertor PE. The combination projects 8" in front of the ETRS body (when focused at Infinity). I use the focusing screen with combination split image rangefinder with microprism surround ring in the ETRSi body for focusing all my lenses. With the 250mm+TC, half of the split-image area darkens, but it is possible to see thru the darkened part to be able to align the two halves of the image in some situations (pole against background sky), but even when you cannot see well enough with the focus aid the entire focusing screen is plenty easy to focus.

L_E_Miller · Feb 22, 2023

Got my test roll back for the 150 + 2X PE shot on XP2 (handheld). Not bad!

Thanks for the help everyone

abruzzi · Feb 22, 2023

nice! I'm glad it worked out. The ETR series are great, underrated cameras.

L_E_Miller · Feb 22, 2023

abruzzi said:
nice! I'm glad it worked out. The ETR series are great, underrated cameras.

Yes, I am enjoying it quite a bit. I will follow in a few weeks with my shots from Death Valley. Thanks again

L_E_Miller · May 30, 2023

150mm with 2X TC and Ektar 100. Two frames focus stacked

neilt3 · May 31, 2023

Nice view .
I look forward to seeing more.
I have the ETRSi myself with lenses from the fisheye up to 500mm along with a couple of zooms , the teleconverters and bellows etc .
It's a really nice system .
I've recently got a Sunpak ringflash that works TTL, I've only recently found out more than just metze made a TTL module for Bronica .
I've not developing the negatives yet , but should be interesting.

Bronica ETR 250mm vs 100-220mm for landscape photography

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