Bronica S2A questions

[lxdude]

Hello George,

Your post shows you know a lot about Bronicas! I have an S2 with 3 really good lenses. I'm wondering if the S2 focussing ring assembly that accepts the lenses themselves will fit onto a Bronica SQ or ETR body. Thanks! Geoff Ferguson

No. There is no commonality between the leaf shutter models and the focal-plane shutter models.

And welcome, Geoff.

 

[Alan Gales]

Hello George,

Your post shows you know a lot about Bronicas! I have an S2 with 3 really good lenses. I'm wondering if the S2 focussing ring assembly that accepts the lenses themselves will fit onto a Bronica SQ or ETR body. Thanks! Geoff Ferguson

I'm not George but to answer your question, no. You cannot use the helical focusing ring from an early Bronica on an SQ or ETR series camera. There was a leaf shutter lens made for the early Bronica's but the rest of the lenses relied upon the focal plane shutter in the cameras. The SQ and ETR series cameras used leaf shutter lenses and did not have focal plane shutters.

I read once where a fellow owned both an early Bronica and an SQ series camera because he liked the "look" of both lines of lenses.

 

[geostog]

Hello George,

Your post shows you know a lot about Bronicas! I have an S2 with 3 really good lenses. I'm wondering if the S2 focussing ring assembly that accepts the lenses themselves will fit onto a Bronica SQ or ETR body. Thanks! Geoff Ferguson

I don't know that much, most of what I know comes from replies of more experienced members here.

As others already answered your question, you can not attach S2 lenses on a SQ or on an ETR. But you can still enjoy you S2 and its great lenses. Just be careful when winding, as gears are not as strong as on a S2A.

 

[geostog]

Back with some more questions

Hello again. I've been playing with my camera and I think I'm in love.

I recently purchased a Nikkor-O 50mm 2.8. Has a fungus spot inside but does not seem to affect any images. So I am happy with it, considering I bought it for 15 dollars only.

I have been thinking about other lenses on my Bronica. Tried enlarging lenses, my Rodagon 80mm and my Componon 105mm. I placed them in front of the helicoid on the enlarger's lensboard. I haven't actually shot any picture on film, as I feared that my hand would not be stable to hold the lens.
Member Trask mentioned an adapter to M42, but it's quite expensive. So I came up with an idea. Could it be possible to use multiple step-up and step-down ring filters to get to M42 or even M39. The total cost of a series of these rings would be about 6-7 dollars, significantly less that one adapter. But the main question is one. Will the filter rings screw on the M57 mount of the helicoid? That means, is it possible for a 42mm filter to fit on a M42 mount? (or equally a 39mm to M39) Any member that has a M42 camera-lens or M39 camera-lens with 42mm and 39mm filter can try it and write here if it is possible.

Also, I though that if such a "modification" is possible, then why not, a large format lens to be used. Combining it the the leaf shutter of those lenses, it would be a very interesting experiment. What would be your thoughts on that?

p.s. Do you have any idea judging if the fungus inside my Nikkor is affecting image quality? I mean in regular shooting conditions I can not tell that there is a spot of fungus. But is that enough?

 

[Neil Poulsen]

I owned an S2a for decades and got some excellent images from it. Lenses are reasonable, in fact, downright cheap. And yes, the ground glass is dark. You can consider having Koh's camera install a more recent, brighter screen. As to the mirror slap, I always used the S2a on a tripod.

I think probably worse than the mirror slap when these focal plane cameras are used off a tripod is the 1/40th second flash sync. That means it takes that amount of time for the slit to pass the length of the 2 1/4" format. As I say, I always used it on a tripod for images that didn't include movement.

A warning on film backs, there are two types. The earlier ones had a black cloth that was pulled along with the darkslide when it was inserted and removed. The cloth is a light shield. Avoid these backs, because the cloth can get stuck half way when photographing and cover half the negative. The darkslides on later backs were light tight enough that the cloth wasn't needed. You can tell the earlier ones, if you see a photo of the underside. There's a black clip that fits over the end of the darkslide, and it can be seen even when the darkslide is fully inserted. One indicator is to get only those backs that are good for 220 and 120. Even those can have a black cloth, but not as many. Or if on EBay, you can ask.

There are still accessories and lenses available. I always searched "Bronica" in the search field at the top of EBay. You have to sift through all the later Bronica stuff.

 

[Neil Poulsen]

A couple more points.

One of the neat things about the Bronica is that, you can use alternative lenses on it, if you can figure a way to attach them. There's threading on the barrel of the bayonet of the camera that might accept the right sized filter. Go from there. Wider angles might not be possible, because they would need to be sufficiently retro-focused to work. You might also need close-up attachments for longer focal length lenses. On a related topic, the bellows closeup attachment can be used with alternative lenses and still focus at infinity.

If you decide to change 50mm lenses, Bronica made multi-coated 50mm and 40mm lenses that didn't exhibit as much flare. (f2.8 and f4 respectively.) They're pretty rare.

 

[Alan Gales]

If you don't see any degradation of image quality in a print and the fungus is dead then I wouldn't worry about it.

If the fungus is alive it will grow and eventually etch your lens if it isn't removed. An etched lens reduces contrast.

 

[geostog]

@Neil: I've been looking for Zenzanon lenses and I have to admit they are hard to find, especially the wide angle ones.
I could give bellows a try. If I have a chance of getting one of course.
I am now thinking of 3D printing some caps with a hole or with a M42 or M39 mount. It's easy to find companies to print for you but the tough is to make the 3D model.

@Alan: From some prints only I can see no effect on image quality. Maybe I should take some more controlled shots to determine if there is actually a spot or not.
I don't really think there is risk of the fungus being alive. It's just a spot, not really dense, but its there.