Considering buying a Bronica ETRsi outfit - your opinion wanted

[Zisis Kardianos]

Hi, I'm a new member in the forum and hopefully I will become a stable member after buying the ETRsi outfit that I'm considering.
I would appreciate your opinion on the price for the particular - imo complete - outfit that I'm looking and which includes the following items.

ETRsi body
Zenzanon-E II 2.8/75mm no.7971573 with hood and both caps
Zenzanon MC 2,8/50mm no.15226896 with hood and both caps
Tele-converter-E no. 5607195 with both caps
Motor winder no.9303242
AE-II Finder no. 648533 with caps
Speed grip
Two 120 magazines no.8120647 and no. 8333751
One 220 magazine no.8337939
Focusing screen-EI
Strap
Manuals and boxes

All in near mint condition as you can see in the photo and in excellent working order (according to the seller)
The asking price is 800€ (850$ / 680GBP) it ships from EU (I live in Greece) so no import taxes and it includes free, fully insured shipping.
In your opinion is the 800€ a fair average price for this set, too expensive or a bargain?

My second question is if you think this camera (with the metered prism on, winder and grip) is flexible and quick enough for street/travel/event photography (I know is heavy but not as heavy as the Pentax67 or the Mamiya RZ).
I now shoot digital with a mirrorless Fuji (X-T1) but I want to move up to medium format film for the sake of higher quality big prints (12x18in), the colour palette of specific fims and my intention to shoot more urban/landscape photography but without dropping street.
My first choice was/is a Mamiya 7 with the 65mm lens, but that combo is far more expensive and harder to find in mint condition.

 

[TheToadMen]

Hi, welcome to APUG!

The Bronica cameras and lenses are great. You'll like it, although it's quite different from your Fuji X-T1.
Maybe not the perfect camera system for "quick enough for street/travel/event photography" (whatever that is)? That will depends on the subjects you're gonna shoot. Not fast sports, I hope, but regular street photography is certainly possible.

About the price, to me it is a bit high, but then it's a nice complete set in good condition. But do you need all the extras? If money is no problem, go! Otherwise get a nice camera with the 75 mm, a film back and rapid winder for around € 300. Here is an example:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/Bronica-ETRS...-lens-Fast-Winder-Fully-Working-/292065346149

Maybe you can make the seller an offer for €600 and buy at €650?

 

[mgb74]

Price is very location specific (as well as condition specific), so I would comment except to say that it seems a bit high as a package price by US standards. The 220 back is worth very little and the motorized grip is only worth much IF you need it. Same for the teleconverter.

Some other comments:

• The speed grip is so fast (2 winds with your thumb) that you might find the motorized grip unnecessary.
• The AE finder is much bulkier than the non-metered prism and somewhat bulkier than the meter prism. I don't know how good the AE function is on the Bronica.
• The 150mm lens is so inexpensive that I see little use for a teleconverter.
• With the crank winder and waist level finder (which isn't in the package) you would have a very compact package.

I like toadmen's suggestion, but I'd opt for the 50mm for the street.

 

[hashtagquack]

Looks a bit pricey to me.... 200 GBP or so should get you started with a 75mm PE lens, speed grip, prism and single back. Additional film backs are cheap, as are the additional lenses... Motordrives, teleconverters wouldnt be necessary IMO and agree with earlier comments about just purchasing a nice 150MM or other long lens for portraits.

re: waistlevel finder, while it does make the system far lighter and compact I guarantee the day you take one out that you will only find compositions requiring a portrait orientation
Re: AE meter, Accurate enough for general purpose but I would rather rely on my handheld meter. Leaving it in aperture priority will drain the battery...

 

[skysh4rk]

While I think image quality is perfectly fine, I find it hard to recommend the ETR series unless you know for certain that you will only want to use the prism (or only shoot landscape orientation) and are set on 6x4.5. I think that the SQ series represents a much better purchase for most users, as it can do everything the ETR cameras can do for similar money (it has virtually all the same lenses and accessories), but it's often smaller and lighter in real-world usage because it doesn't need the grip or prism for verticals.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

My second question is if you think this camera (with the metered prism on, winder and grip) is flexible and quick enough for street/travel/event photography (I know is heavy but not as heavy as the Pentax67 or the Mamiya RZ).
I now shoot digital with a mirrorless Fuji (X-T1) but I want to move up to medium format film for the sake of higher quality big prints (12x18in), the colour palette of specific fims and my intention to shoot more urban/landscape photography but without dropping street.

I would stick with 35mm for street work. Much more freedom and flexibility and speed. Plus much lower costs, approaching $0.00 if you use the Fuji.

By the way, you will not see any improvement in quality/sharpness moving from the Fuji to 645. What you will see is a much more beautiful optical space, more three dimensional and visually pleasing, with less visual compression from foreground to background.

I shoot both Hassy film and Canon 35mm D and there is no difference in print quality.

One other consideration is "who will repair that Bronica?"

 

[wiltw]

The Bronica was a fine system, which plummeted in value after Tamron discontinued the line a few years after purchasing the company. $3000 basic systems with excellent retention of value on the used market plummeted to $300 on the used market after discontinuation.
Another lens, a teleconvertor, speed grip, and a motor winder certainly add value, but I have not attempted to track used prices in today's market for those items, over and above the basic system.

 

[TheToadMen]

One other consideration is "who will repair that Bronica?"

No problem overhere. There is still an official repair man.

 

[skysh4rk]

One other consideration is "who will repair that Bronica?"

On a few separate occasions in 2013 and 2014, I had Miles Whitehead here in the UK repair some of my erstwhile SQ equipment, including bodies and lenses.

 

[moto-uno]

^ The price is high , but a motor winder on medium format today ? Tele-converters work , but they are a nuisance (try them , you'll see).
The 220 back, why ? As has been said before , they are quite a robust camera and a replacement body goes for a couple of pro-packs of
slide film, repair remarks are a non issue . And yes I have owned them for years (plus a few other types and sizes) and keep returning to
them for most everything I like to photograph , I am a fan of Bronica . Cheers Peter

 

[skysh4rk]

they are quite a robust camera and a replacement body goes for a couple of pro-packs of
slide film, repair remarks are a non issue .

This is a pretty fair point. Bodies, lenses, and accessories are very reasonable to replace for the Bronica systems.

That said, my repairs here in the UK were still cheaper than the cost of even those quite reasonable replacement bodies and lenses. I get the impression repair costs are much higher in North America though.

 

[Zisis Kardianos]

Hi, welcome to APUG!
Maybe not the perfect camera system for "quick enough for street/travel/event photography" (whatever that is)? That will depends on the subjects you're gonna shoot. Not fast sports, I hope, but regular street photography is certainly possible.

Just to clarify on the point of what I shoot, basically I mostly do - and enjoy - good old street photography (working on self-assigned projects or just freewheeling). Those interested follow the link in my profile to my website.
When I travel, I try to make short photo-essays about the place I'm in which I later publish in self-published zines or submit to various travel magazines (they often get published though not as much as a few years ago).
By "events" I meant, anything from horse-races to concerts, gallery receptions and carnivals. Anything except weddings and sports. (think of Larry Fink kind of subject or my favorite photographer, the now deceased Lars Tunbjörk. (both were medium format shooters (Fink mostly 6x6, perhaps a Mamiya 6 with handheld flash and Tunbjörk definitely Mamiya 7).
Occasionlly I'm hired to do location shooting for newlyweds, foreign couples who are spending their honeymoon in the island (Zakynthos, Greece) where I live.
You won't be far from truth if you say that my work is all over the place.
And to make it even more complicated, I'm considering the medium format for all -or some- of these plus a more deliberate approach to shooting landscape photography.

Thank you all so much, everyone, for your thoughts and your sound advice.
If I do go ahead with the ETRS, I will definitely try to lower the price of the outfit or look to buy a smaller set.
Or I'll just wait a bit longer for the unlikely event that a Mamiya 7 will fall out of the sky )
Meanwhile my Canon 5D and my Fujifilm will do the work.

 

[bernard_L]

Had a look at your photo site. Very nice work!
Uncertain Cities: this would be (have been) hard to do with the Bronica.
Off season: maybe that is the kind of images you have in mind for the Bronica?
Congratulations again!

 

[paul ron]

its a wonderful camera. ill bet you wont be disappointed at all once you get to using it.

its fine for street shooting, its my walk around camera for years.... but i use to carry an rb67 which in comparrison is a vw car.

the lenses are all great glass. sharp and fast for their format.

the winder is really needed for stability and ease of advancing film. ive never used the motorized grip but im sure it beats the pants off the manual winder.

one accessory i found makes it all perfect... get the focusing levers for all your lenses. it makes focusing much faster when doing street action. i set my lever so i can focus with my left hand, index n middle fingers as i compose n fire with the right. when you see it available, grab at least one.

Dead Link Removed


dont sweat price... its all dependant on location n local market. when you add in taxes n shipping it all balances out to about the same for what you are getting. main thing is condition.