Bronica SQ Questions

Hi all, I've looked a posts on these forums for a while and figure it's time to join since I have a few questions that I'm having difficulty finding answers to.

I've recently gotten a Bronica ETR, SQ A and SQ AM at some good prices from family and friends of friends. I'm still making sure everything is working properly, but so far it all seems good.

My questions are...
1) What battery should I be using, I've seen posts saying that lithium batteries don't work well (I'm currently using one and don't seem to have issues) and others saying you need to stack button batteries...

2) Getting a CLA... I'm finding nothing specific to Bronica cameras (Other than KOH and they no longer provide service) and those places that seem to work on them have prices at almost $400. I've seen you can get Hasselblads done for well under $200. Is this just a case of people don't really work on them and I should just run it until it breaks then replace or get a brand with more repair and maintenance options?

Thanks in advance for taking a minute to read and reply!

-T.J.

For service, I would definitely reach out to Mr. Park at Camera Service Pro here in Atlanta. They never worked on my Bronica kit, but they've done some solid and very affordable repairs on my Hasselblad gear and Canon DSLR. Very pleased with their work.

I owned a Bronica for 20+ years but finally threw in the towel a few years ago. If I had know Mr. Park was available I may have stuck with it. It's a good system but tends to need more TLC than Hassy.

At some point in their history the "official" Bronica recommendations for batteries were:
#1: Silver Oxide
#2: Alkaline
#3: Lithium - not recommended

Given that these go back circa 20 years, I think some of the problem with lithium may have been inconsistency in specs and performance between different brands, etc. at the time. I've been using alkaline PX28 flavor batteries in my SQ-A without complaint. Believe it or not, they seem to be widely available in non-photo stores like Ace Hardware, as they are used in some invisible fencing dog collars!

I use a separate meter and do not have any of the metering viewfinders. I do recall some talk of battery drain problems related to metered finders, perhaps only when they are defective, but as I do mostly landscape or architectural stuff with the Bronica gear, slow, on a tripod, etc., handheld metering is not a problem.

As to service, I've not yet had any done, other than replacing some light seals myself. I have one body that has acted up, but I just put it aside and bought a couple more (SQ-A) bodies that so far appear to work. The bodies were around $100, which I doubt would cover much tech time.

I've just put a top end lithium battery in my SQ-B and it seems to work well, although we've had a mild winter here this year in the past I've had problems with Alkaline batteries in cold weather.

I've been using one 6v silver-oxide in my SQ-A since I got it over 15 years ago, each one usually lasts for years. I usually use the waist-level or 45D prism finder, rarely the metered finder. I also use a separate hand-held meter.
The bodies themselves are pretty simple and seem robust, I've never had one problem with the SQ-A. I have 4 backs and not one has shown any signs of light leaks or film advance issues, although some have reported light-leak problems, these may be fixable yourself.
Many of these were heavily used as professional working cameras before the digital age, so I've seen some with a lot of wear & tear, but perfectly functional. I've also had good luck with lenses, given that they have the built-in electronic shutter and rely on electrical contact with the body in the lens mount. This also seems to be a pretty reliable design.

I have an ETRSi, ETRS, and GS-1 and I use a 28L lithium battery in all of them and never had an issue. The silver versions, made with different names like 4SR44 are getting harder to find, but if I could reliably find them, I’d switch. (I ordered a bunch from an eBay seller, and all but one of the ones sent were actually alkaline, so I returned the alkaline, and kept the single silver they sent me.).

technically, you could take four of the button cell SR44 which are still easily available, stack them, then use a bit of tape or if you want to get clever, shrink tubing to hold them together.

Thanks all for responses. I feel more confident in the lithium batteries at this point and the reliability in general of the cameras. It's much appreciated!

ParkerSmithPhoto said:

For service, I would definitely reach out to Mr. Park at Camera Service Pro here in Atlanta. They never worked on my Bronica kit, but they've done some solid and very affordable repairs on my Hasselblad gear and Canon DSLR. Very pleased with their work.

I owned a Bronica for 20+ years but finally threw in the towel a few years ago. If I had know Mr. Park was available I may have stuck with it. It's a good system but tends to need more TLC than Hassy.

Click to expand...

Thanks Parker, I'll have to send them an email or give a call. I was initially looking at a Hassy but I got these cameras so cheap it would have been crazy to say no. May still have to get a Hassy in the future though.

DWThomas said:

Given that these go back circa 20 years, I think some of the problem with lithium may have been inconsistency in specs and performance between different brands, etc. at the time. I've been using alkaline PX28 flavor batteries in my SQ-A without complaint. Believe it or not, they seem to be widely available in non-photo stores like Ace Hardware, as they are used in some invisible fencing dog collars!

Click to expand...

I think you may be right about the batteries being of lesser quality then, and I thought about getting an Alkaline but the Lithium were cheaper! I did find an article at Battery University where they show the discharge curves for an Alkaline and Lithium. The lithium has more capacity and keeps a lower internal resistance which should mean it allows for full current draw until it's dead, I'm a lot less worried about things after seeing those graphs.

I've been using both Silver Oxide and Lithium-ion batteries on my GS-1 without issues.

My understanding was that Bronica recommended Silver Oxide batteries because they handled the peak currents better, due to the way the electromagnets in the lens draw current. That and the AE prism's circuit. However, the PG-lenses were all newer, and may not have the same peak current draw as the earlier non-P lenses on the SQ and ETR. By comparison, Hasselblad 2000-series can use a half dead lithium-ion battery because the shutter electromagnets are triggered by a charge pulse stored in a capacitor (as opposed to Bronica lenses where the electromagnet is directly driven off the battery).

In the Seiko shutters on the Bronica, the electromagnet holds the shutter open as long as there is current on it. If the electromagnet is not able to hold the shutter open at the start of exposure (where the current peak is greatest), then it closes at a fixed mechanical 1/500th sec. The use of lithium ion batteries in the early days resulted in the occasional under-exposed frames (when the electromagnet failed to hold the shutter open), and hence the recommendation.

I have not noticed any excess under-exposed frames when I've used Lithium-Ion batteries on my GS-1 - at least none that I couldn't attribute to my own failings.