ETRS Cable release help!

Hello all, I recently acquired a Bronica ETRS and was looking for some help with a couple of things.

The first and main thing being how to attached and where to buy a cable release for it. And especially if it will work with one. I know theres no specific B setting, 8secs being the longest exposure setting. Is there any way of changing this?

Also could someone Advise the best way of attaching a flash, would it be the speed grip? Also would I just need the a normal flash cable.

Be gentle with me and my simple questions, I'm new to medium format!

It takes a standard cable release. The socket is located on the left side of the body, near the bottom. To take long exposures on the ETRS requires moving the A/T (Auto/Time) switch, which is located on the lens, to T.
First the camera is wound to cock the shutter. The A/T switch lock screw is backed out until it stops, then the switch is moved. Once triggered (at any shutter speed setting on the body), the shutter will stay open until the switch is moved back to A.

The Speed Grip is a good way to attach a flash, and will take a hot shoe type flash without needing a cable. Any kind of flash bracket that fits will work, if used with a cable to the PC flash socket on the camera.

That's brilliant, thank you for your help lxdude. I was absolutely convinced for some reason that I needed something slightly more complex than the standard cable so it's a great relief.

Do you have an ETRS yourself? if so are there any 'must haves' in terms of kit?

Must haves depends on what you have and what type of photography you do. The average basic kit of the body, 75mm lens, lens hood, waist level finder and 120 back plus a hand held meter will get you going fine. If you want one that feels and handles similar to a 35mm slr, then a non-metered, prism, or AEII or AEIII metered prism and the speed grip gets you there. A tripod really can kick it up a notch.

If you are doing closeup or macro photography the then extension tubes or auto-bellows are a must unless you can live with the 100 or 105 lenses. Talking of lenses depending on your type of photography you may find the 40 or 50mm lenses are a better standard lens having a larger field of view and something in the 100 through 180 range for portraits.

I find I use my 40mm lens more than the other lenses (40, 50, 75, 105, 250) as I tend to like a somewhat wider view than the 75 provides. A number here prefer the 50mm feeling it is slightly sharper than the 40. When I was younger my motor drive and speedgrip plus the AEII metered prism were standard fair until I decided to lighten the load and went back to the waist level finder, and droped the motor drive and speed grip. I would suggest at least the non-metered prism as standard fair along with the waist level finder but, I am used to a hand held meter.

The basic things to add to a basic kit that are used or, at least I use often are basics such as clear filters, circular polarizer (non-circular can be used), filters such as star, softening, colors for b&w, ND and others.

I also have the 2x converter so I can reach 500mm with my 250 lens. This plus the AEII plus motor drive makes for a good wildlife system.

When I got my system, I got the 35mm back and got out of my 35mm slr system so I could have both formats with 1 camera and not have duplicates. Back then a basic ETRS with WL, 75mm and 120 back was $2k. The ETRS was a bargain but not inexpensive. The only 35mm I've consistently used since was a Leica rangefinder. You can add a short zoom and long focal length zoom and shift lens, a 30mm lens, and so on and so forth; the sky is the limit but, at today's price it can be all done on a beer budget.

BTW you don' have to switch it back to A to reset it.. just cock the body n it will reset the shutter. Put a lens cap over the lens when your time is up so the reset will not effect the image.

My favorite all around town lens is the 150mm.

Must haves... speed focus lever, and the grip.


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paul ron said:

BTW you don' have to switch it back to A to reset it.. just cock the body n it will reset the shutter. Put a lens cap over the lens when your time is up so the reset will not effect the image.
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No, it will not reset the shutter. The shutter will remain open until the switch is set back to A, no matter what else is done. The camera will reset everything else- light baffle, mirror and diaphragm. If a lens cap is put over the lens it will keep out light while the camera is being wound, but effectively the shutter will be: the light baffle behind the mirror to open, and the lens cap to close.

BTW, for a manual for the ETRS, go to butkus.org. Throw him a few bucks if you download to help keep him going.

Holy moly You're right!

you have to move the lever back to A inorder to reset the shutter... and I've been doing it all wrong for 30 years although it seemed to work. Old habbits I guess from using the RB67 in T mode.

Thank you guys so so much for your help...IT's all brilliant advice.

At the moment I have the waist level view-finder and the non-metered prism. Just one back which I plan to rectify so I can swap out my films. The standard 75mm lens with hood and a tripod. I always find with my 35mm systems that I stick with the nicest 50mm lenses so I understand I'm probably not that far away with the 75mm? is that correct? I've also ordered a cable release so that I can really get the most out of the tripod. I'd like to get the speed grip too but at the moment it's lower down the list of priorities.

I know it would probably help me out if I made it as similar as possible to the 35mm slr's but I get the impression I wouldn't be as careful as I should be unless I have an almost completely different set up.

I was in love with it the second that I looked down on the waist level viewfinder. I'm so damn proud to own one!

I found butkus' manual, what a hero. I'll definitely be paying him his dues.

Thanks again and if there's anything else you fancy throwing my way as far as info goes then I'm glad to here all of it.

Quinn

The 75mm is close to a 50mm used on a 35mm system.

But you might want to consider a moderate wide angle instead.

The 35mm aspect ratio is very rectangular (3:2 or 6:4) whereas the ETRS uses an aspect ratio that is closer to square (5:4). You may find that something slightly wider will appeal to you as a result.

In my case, I like using a 55mm lens with my Mamiya 645.

You are right, the 75mm on the ETRS is equiv to a 50mm on a 35mm camera. If you get a chance try the 50mm to try and it does much better for me as I tend to prefer something in the 35-40mm range with 35mm. Different perspective but seems to really do well with mf.

MattKing said:

The 35mm aspect ratio is very rectangular (3:2 or 6:4) whereas the ETRS uses an aspect ratio that is closer to square (5:4).

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4:3, actually.

Long exposure

Can anyone explain to a newbie as to why you have a cable release for an ETRS. If you have to switch the a/t tab on the lens. I thought the idea of a cable release was so not to touch the camera during long exposures, am I missing something. I can start my exposure with a cable but not finish, confused.

Thanks.

You only have to move the A/T switch to T (time) for long exposures, beyond the shutter speed range of the camera. The switch is moved before exposure, and when the shutter release is pressed, the shutter will open and stay open until the A/T switch is moved back to A. To avoid any vibration affecting the shot, a lens cap can be carefully put on, or something opaque can be held over the front of the lens while moving the switch back to A.
The range on the shutter dial goes to 8 seconds, but there is a B (bulb) setting on the ETRSi only. The only way to manually take exposures beyond 8 seconds on the older models is to use the A/T switch. The B setting on the ETRSi uses battery power the whole time the shutter is open, so Bronica recommends not using B for more than 1 minute.

lxdude said:

You only have to move the A/T switch to T (time) for long exposures, beyond the shutter speed range of the camera. The switch is moved before exposure, and when the shutter release is pressed, the shutter will open and stay open until the A/T switch is moved back to A. To avoid any vibration affecting the shot, a lens cap can be carefully put on, or something opaque can be held over the front of the lens while moving the switch back to A.
The range on the shutter dial goes to 8 seconds, but there is a B (bulb) setting on the ETRSi only. The only way to manually take exposures beyond 8 seconds on the older models is to use the A/T switch. The B setting on the ETRSi uses battery power the whole time the shutter is open, so Bronica recommends not using B for more than 1 minute.

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Thankyou lxdude for your kind response, so just to clarify, I switch to T then use my cable release to open shutter, place cap over lens whilst resetting tab back to A, (closes blades). Also does the ETRS use battery power for leaving the shutter open for long exposures?

Thanks again.

Other than the fully mechanical 1/500th, the ETRS has battery powered shutter speeds to 8 seconds. The A/T switch is mechanical; the battery is not used to hold open the shutter with the switch set to T. So on T, the shutter can be open as long as desired without depleting the battery.

bronc said:

Can anyone explain to a newbie as to why you have a cable release for an ETRS. If you have to switch the a/t tab on the lens.

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Only use the "a/v tab" on exposures of over 8 seconds. If you have an exposure of something like 1/4 of a second use a tripod, mirror lock up (on the ETRSi), and a cable release. How slow of a shutter speed can you use without MLU and/or a cable release? That can be controversial. (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

I'd make one gear suggestion if you're taking long exposures and have a little extra cash- replace the camera body with an ETRSi. It's fairly inexpensive at KEH, and you get both bulb mode and mirror lock-up, the two things you won't find on the standard ETRS. I made this change a little while back and it's made a pretty big difference for me. Edit - I just looked at KEH and they don't have any ETRSi bodies right now except for one special edition, which carries a much heftier price tag. Keep checking with them if you're interested.