Bronica ETRS - rotary finder?

abruzzi · Jan 7, 2020

Witold said:
As far as build and function goes, it is well made, solid, rotary reflex part moves with confident resistance,

A questions I had was if the resistance was such that it confidently held position?

Also, (and admittedly I never really thought about this, does it work in in between positions (i.e. a 45 degree angle) or does it only really work well at 0, 90 and 270 degrees?

choiliefan · Jan 7, 2020

I have one with a partially de-silvered first prism.
It has three detents but does, as per wiltold, hold any position well.
I've thought about removing the revolving prism and trying it out as a sports finder as it's pretty much worthless in its present condition.

abruzzi · Jan 7, 2020

Since this is the thread where the power grip came up (as a tangent) I thought I'd report back on the EI II grip;

Size is great. The grip part is a little bit fatter than the manual winder. weight is fine because it only uses a single lithium battery (2CR5, and reports I've seen claim 100 rolls on a single battery. I already had some 2CR5s because my Pentax PZ1p uses the same battery)
during the winding, you can feel a slight torque twist while the motor turns the film advance.
Every now and again, in my testing, it didn't automatically advance the film. I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong, or if my grip was slightly faulty. Either way, its not a big deal--there is a "advance" button on the top rear. If the winder doesn't do it automatically, pushing that button triggers the advance.
while I'm not sold on the grip/prism approach to using the cameras (I love the minimalist approach to using the WLF with no grip) I can confidently say that I prefer this power winder to the regular manual grip.*
I don't think any power winder is worth US$200+ (we're not shooting Hasselblads after all ) but for the price I paid (US$120), if you're shooting with a prism and want a grip, this is well worth it.

* My complaint with the manual grip is the advance lever--it requires something like 1.5 strokes, and for me, it is in an awkward position.

RedSun · Jan 7, 2020

For ETR system, a hand grip + AE III is a killer combination for people coming from the 35mm system. The 1.5 stokes never bothers me and I hardly notice it. It is personal preference to get manual or motor grip.

A lot people prefer WLF for the light weight and fine focus with bad eyesight. (We all get old and older.) But if you add the separate light meter, it does not really save weight and time. It also makes it harder to mount the camera on a tripod since the camera has to be mounted low.

Deleted member 88956 · Jan 7, 2020

abruzzi said:
A questions I had was if the resistance was such that it confidently held position?

Also, (and admittedly I never really thought about this, does it work in in between positions (i.e. a 45 degree angle) or does it only really work well at 0, 90 and 270 degrees?

Detents for 3 main positions, you need to move it with some conviction, and holds position well, at detents and anywhere else. As you move around you will of course get some vignetted view in intermediate locations, but view is live at all times at any point from one end to the other.

Deleted member 88956 · Jan 7, 2020

abruzzi said:
Since this is the thread where the power grip came up (as a tangent) I thought I'd report back on the EI II grip;

Size is great. The grip part is a little bit fatter than the manual winder. weight is fine because it only uses a single lithium battery (2CR5, and reports I've seen claim 100 rolls on a single battery. I already had some 2CR5s because my Pentax PZ1p uses the same battery)

during the winding, you can feel a slight torque twist while the motor turns the film advance.

Every now and again, in my testing, it didn't automatically advance the film. I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong, or if my grip was slightly faulty. Either way, its not a big deal--there is a "advance" button on the top rear. If the winder doesn't do it automatically, pushing that button triggers the advance.

while I'm not sold on the grip/prism approach to using the cameras (I love the minimalist approach to using the WLF with no grip) I can confidently say that I prefer this power winder to the regular manual grip.*

I don't think any power winder is worth US$200+ (we're not shooting Hasselblads after all ) but for the price I paid (US$120), if you're shooting with a prism and want a grip, this is well worth it.

* My complaint with the manual grip is the advance lever--it requires something like 1.5 strokes, and for me, it is in an awkward position.

I am with speed grip as stroking it gives me additional kick, but I have enough of power winding with Pentax 645, which I've adored for all the years I've had it and still do. ETRSi is sort of a new discovery for me after P645 when it comes to pure 645 format..

abruzzi · Jan 7, 2020

Yeah, I don't mind manually advancing film--almost every other camera I own is a manual advance. My issue with the Speed Grip E is that the actual position of the advance with respect to the position of my thumb is awkward, and when I used it I always found myself transferring the weight of the camera to my left hand, releasing my right hand from the grip, sliding my hand up so my thumb could confidently catch the advance, then stroking the advance twice, then sliding my right hand back down the grip, gripping it and transferring the weight of the camera back to my right hand. It was very clunky and cumbersome, but advancing the film without moving my right hand was worse.

Personally I still prefer the WLF and no grip over any grip, but the prism and grip provides some flexibility over the WLF alone.

Deleted member 88956 · Jan 7, 2020

abruzzi said:
Yeah, I don't mind manually advancing film--almost every other camera I own is a manual advance. My issue with the Speed Grip E is that the actual position of the advance with respect to the position of my thumb is awkward, and when I used it I always found myself transferring the weight of the camera to my left hand, releasing my right hand from the grip, sliding my hand up so my thumb could confidently catch the advance, then stroking the advance twice, then sliding my right hand back down the grip, gripping it and transferring the weight of the camera back to my right hand. It was very clunky and cumbersome, but advancing the film without moving my right hand was worse.

Personally I still prefer the WLF and no grip over any grip, but the prism and grip provides some flexibility over the WLF alone.

I too like the WLF with crank, even prefer, but speed grip fits me fine and I'm no big hand species.

wiltw · Jan 7, 2020

Just took these shots for the thread.

is an ETRSi with Speedgrip and AE-III meter prism
is an ETRSi with Speedgrip and rotary finder in Landscape orientation
is an ETRSi with Speedgrip and rotary finder in Portrait orientation

The offset of the eyepiece of the rotary finder makes it very usable even with the Speedgrip (or any generation of the Motor Winder and even the Motor Drive) mounted.

For the OP to also consider, there is an accessory L finder that slides onto the eyepiece of the non-metered eye-level finder, but it does not slide onto the AE-III meter prism
https://www.ebay.com/i/264497459189...gj51dsb93D4ZpuHX5-9Ge-AnNXQmpHnsaAgwAEALw_wcB

Methinks the rotary finder is simply less popular than using an eye-level finder, so fewer were made/sold, not that it is a poor design. The rotary eyepiece has click stops for 0 and 90 degrees, but a sufficiently tight rotary motion to hold its position easily even at odd angles, although the corners of the focus screen are clipped when the rotary finder is at odd angles. The rotary finder weighs 15.5oz, compared to the AE-III weighing 12.3oz.

Deleted member 88956 · Jan 7, 2020

wiltw said:
...

For the OP to also consider, there is an accessory L finder that slides onto the eyepiece of the non-metered eye-level finder, but it does not slide onto the AE-III meter prism
https://www.ebay.com/i/264497459189...gj51dsb93D4ZpuHX5-9Ge-AnNXQmpHnsaAgwAEALw_wcB

Thanks for the link, I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere. But as I've used right angle finder it is far away from Rotary finder. Good to know they have it though.

macfred · Jan 7, 2020

wiltw said:
Just took these shots for the thread...

Thank you for sharing these pictures - looking great and makes me lusting for the rotary finder.

Edited the post because of human failure ...

wiltw · Jan 7, 2020

macfred said:
Not the Speedgrip but the Motor Winder Ei (II)

I have the Motor Winder Ei, and the Motor Drive as well...the handle of both is very similar in profile to the Speedgrip, so I fail to understand what the problem would be with the Winder Ei-II

macfred · Jan 7, 2020

wiltw said:
I have the Motor Winder Ei, and the Motor Drive as well...the handle of both is very similar in profile to the Speedgrip, so I fail to understand what the problem would be with the Winder Ei-II

I apologize - I forgot my glasses ... On first sight I thought the grip on your pictures is a motorized grip. Then I saw it's the Speedgrip - I edited my post but -obviously- not complete. Sorry for this !

Bronica ETRS - rotary finder?

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