Bronica S2A question

Frank Miller · Aug 2, 2019

I'm looking at getting a MF SLR.

One thing that I do NOT like about my Rolleiflex TLR is the inability to do really good close-up stuff. I mean, you can... but it's a pain.

I read that the helicoid focus on the early Bronicas allows closer than average minimum focus distances.

Can any of you verify this? And how close is close?

Anything else good/bad I should know about these cameras?

Thanks!

BAC1967 · Aug 2, 2019

I don't know about the S2A but you can get extension tubes for the ETRSi and get really close. I actually prefer doing it with my Rolleiflex using a Rondo closeup attachment. It has the prism for the viewing lens for parallax correction.

Eric Rose · Aug 2, 2019

I use to have a bellows uint for my S2A. It even had tilt! For flowers etc I used closeup filters, much easier. One more thing before you spring for an S2A, the cameras are bricks but the magazines are known to have spacing issues that are next to impossible to fix. Bronica went with cheap metal when making gears.

If it were me I would stay away from buying an S2A or S2.

As they say YMMV

eric

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 2, 2019

That Bronica Type II bellows with tilt & shift was excellent for closeup work.

Frank Miller · Aug 2, 2019

Thanks for the feedback!

Maybe I just need to spring for a couple Rolleinars and just be happy.... It may ultimately prove to be the cheapest solution, even though the units themselves seem awfully spendy for what they are....

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 2, 2019

The issue with the backs is that the older ones had brass gearing that was easily stripped. The later ones had stainless steel gearing that was very reliable. I had 5 backs when I had my S2A kit.

BAC1967 · Aug 2, 2019

Frank Miller said:
Thanks for the feedback!

Maybe I just need to spring for a couple Rolleinars and just be happy.... It may ultimately prove to be the cheapest solution, even though the units themselves seem awfully spendy for what they are....

Even the non Rollei brands can do well. I have a Rondo brand that does pretty good.

More here: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=60348236@N07&sort=date-taken-desc&text=rondo&view_all=1

Randy the Rooster by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Johnny-Ocho by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Frank Miller · Aug 2, 2019

For better or worse, I got a Bay III Rolleiflex and it doesn't look like there were many aftermarket filters for that.

LOVE the dog photo! Thanks for sharing!

BAC1967 · Aug 2, 2019

Frank Miller said:
For better or worse, I got a Bay III Rolleiflex and it doesn't look like there were many aftermarket filters for that.

LOVE the dog photo! Thanks for sharing!

Definitely a lot more available in Bay 1. My Rondo lens works just as well on my Baby Rolleiflex as it does on my Automat.

abruzzi · Aug 2, 2019

Medium format closeup, I’m guessing the easiest are the mamiya RB/RZ cameras or the Cxxx TLRs because they both have built in bellows. Also there are some Rollei SLRs that have built in bellows as well.

Patrick Robert James · Aug 2, 2019

The bellow unit Eric mentioned gets you super close. The helical for the 75mm gets you under two feet. Of course you can use a close up filter to get even closer. The difference is you can actually see what you are getting with the Bronica, or any other SLR. If you put a 50mm on the Bronica you can get even closer. I've never measured though so i couldn't tell you exactly how close, but it is close.

If you get a S2 or S2a I have a bellows here that doesn't fit my EC-TL...

MattKing · Aug 3, 2019

Closeups are really straightforward with the 80mm f/4 macro lens for my Mamiya 645, and that lens is relatively inexpensive.
It was a good addition for me, because my "standard" lens for that camera is the 55mm f/2.8, which pairs well with the 110mm f/2.8.

GRHazelton · Aug 3, 2019

The Pentax 645n has an excellent 120mm macro lens available, 1 to 1 continuous from infinity. Extension tubes are also out there, as is a right angle finder. TTL exposure and flash. And for landscapes, its 35mm is also excellent. Sadly lens prices have jumped since they also fit the digital versions.

Gimenosaiz · Aug 3, 2019

Hi!

I have used a extension tube C-A with my S2A and ECTL. I love the results.
ECTL + Zenza 75/2.8

S2A + Zenza 150/3.5

By the way, the Zenza 50/2.8 has a ridiculous minimum focus distance:

ç

Ah, no problems with the backs of my S2A.

Good luck

Pentode · Aug 3, 2019

The S2a was a big step up from the S2 (steel gearing vs. brass - the S2 advance was known to strip). I never had trouble with the 4 or 5 backs I had for my S2a, but they were later ones and I also didn't put a lot of mileage on mine.

That camera didn't really suit my style of shooting so I ended up selling it off years ago (at a loss, sadly) but I will attest to the solidity of that body and the high quality of the Nikkor lenses. I never did any close-up work with it, so I can't speak to that. I will say that if you're easily startled that mirror will give you a heart attack. I think it's the loudest camera I ever used. It also weighed about as much as I did.

papagene · Aug 3, 2019

I can get as close as about 1.5 feet from the subject with the 75mm f2.8 Nikkor. It may not be in the macro range, but that is quite close compared to my Fuji GW670 II which only gets as close as about 3.5 feet. Of my three back, the only one that has any problems is the one that must have been dropped at some point in its past, as it has a dent in it. I just use the insert as an extra.

Alan Gales · Aug 3, 2019

This isn't scientific or anything, just a casual observation. I was sitting at my table one day with my Bronica EC and Mamiya RZ67 (I no longer own either camera). I focused both on the writing on a cereal box and was surprised at how close the Bronica focussed with it's helical focussing ring. It wasn't as good as the Mamiya but pretty darn good. The Mamiya's are well known for their close focussing with their bellows focussing. They even have a scale on them to tell you how much to increase your exposure for macro. There were macro bellows extensions for the early Bronica 75mm lenses and there are extension tubes made for the Mamiyas.

The S2a's and EC's were very nice cameras and are very inexpensive today but they are really getting long in the tooth. You may want to consider a later model RB67. It's a heavier camera but of course macro is usually done on a tripod.

macfred · Aug 3, 2019

The Rollei SL66 series cameras can go very close with their bellow focussing
https://www.sl66.com/
https://www.sl66.com/pg/sl66_closeup.shtml

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 3, 2019

Another thing about the early Bronica system, is that it has a dual lens mount system—Bronica bayonet and screw mount—so that press photographers could easily adapt their press and 4x5” lenses to the Bronica system. Frank Marshman made me a Canon FD-Bronica bayonet adapter, so I could use macro lenses for Canon on the Bronica. They obviously didn’t focus to infinity, but for macro work, they didn’t have to, and they could cover the format when used in the macro range.

Cholentpot · Aug 3, 2019

I use a S2.

It's heavy and it seems that the flash sync does not work across the board for this build after all these years. That makes it about 80% useless to me because it's a studio camera at it's heart. I can't use it with my lights so it gathers dust on the shelf and I put a few rolls through it a year in the summer.

Eric S · Jan 10, 2021

Cholentpot said:
... it seems that the flash sync does not work across the board for this build after all these years. That makes it about 80% useless to me ...

I know it's been a long while since you made this comment, but could you elaborate? do you mean the sync port fails often? Or that the sync speed is only 1/40th and you prefer to have a faster shutter than this?

Cholentpot · Jan 10, 2021

Eric S said:
I know it's been a long while since you made this comment, but could you elaborate? do you mean the sync port fails often? Or that the sync speed is only 1/40th and you prefer to have a faster shutter than this?

Sync port fails, flash does not sync when it does work.

Neil Poulsen · Jan 22, 2021

From the responses, the Bronica apparently doesn't do a bad a job of close focusing. I had a complete Bronica S2A kit for decades. I really liked that system, but I finally had to sell it as I became more near-sighted. (No diopter corrections availabie.) Lens extensions were available for macro focusing. In fact, there was an accessory made one could use to reverse mount the 75mm f2.8 to improve sharpness for macro photography.

There were two bellows systems, deluxe and not so deluxe. (The "deluxe" bellows was capable of some view camera movements.) Probably true of both bellows systems, it was necessary to remove the focusing helical to mount the bellows system. Probably unlike any other camera system, this enabled the Bronica to focus at infinity with the bellows extension installed!

These are really old systems. I wouldn't get any camera except the S2a, for reasons mentioned above. Avoid the EC as well. (In my view.) While nice for their electronic shutter timing, their mirror system used strings that could stretch in time. So, accurate focusing could be finicky.

I used my Bronica on a tripod for still photography. Like the Rollie SL66 cameras, their focal plane shutter limited them to a 1/40th flash sync. Sure, one could dial in a 1/500 sec shutter speed. But, the wrong kind of movement could result in unsharp photos or distortion of the image. I used mine at one of my son's soccer games, and I was really disappointed with the results. But mounted on a tripod for stills, I always obtained very sharp images.

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