Lenses for Bronica SQAi and ETRSi

brianentz · Apr 8, 2020

I have a full compliment of lenses for my beloved ETRSi and am thinking or dreaming of getting an SQAi as well. I'm told that the PS lenses I have will work as well on the SQAi , but I see some lenses listed on Ebay as PS lenses for the SQAi. Presumably they will not work on both?

The film backs will of course be different, but am I wrong to think that the PS lenses I have for my ETRSi will work on a SQAi body?

jimjm · Apr 8, 2020

I don't believe they are compatible at all. PS lenses fit the SQ Bodies, and PE are for the ETR bodies. I have an SQ-A and SQ-Ai with various S and PS lenses, but have never used the ETR system, so I can't speak from experience.

The ETR system used the early MC lenses, later EII and finally the PE lenses. I've never heard of anyone mounting these on an SQ-series body.

hadeer · Apr 8, 2020

Never heard of an adapter too. The PS lenses are the ones to pursue, as the are optically better than older versions.

abruzzi · Apr 8, 2020

the ETR bodies work with E (sometimes mistakenly called "MC"), EII, and PE lenses
the SQ bodies wirk with S and PS lenses.
the GS-1 works with PG lenses

but none of them work with other bodies lenses. The lens series that begin with P (PE, PS, PG) were the last generation, and generally had improved optical designs.

MattKing · Apr 8, 2020

The lenses for the 6x4.5 cameras probably won't cover 6x6 and definitely won't be designed to cover 6x7.

skysh4rk · Apr 8, 2020

brianentz said:
I have a full compliment of lenses for my beloved ETRSi and am thinking or dreaming of getting an SQAi as well. I'm told that the PS lenses I have will work as well on the SQAi , but I see some lenses listed on Ebay as PS lenses for the SQAi. Presumably they will not work on both?

The film backs will of course be different, but am I wrong to think that the PS lenses I have for my ETRSi will work on a SQAi body?

If you have an ETRSi, you won’t have any PS lenses, as those are only for the SQ series and will not fit any other Bronica cameras. It is likely you have PE lenses and these will not fit an SQ-Ai.

moto-uno · Apr 8, 2020

Not so quick with this mistakenly called MC lenses , my 40 mm lens for my Etrs(i) cameras in fact says Zenzanon MC , the MC is in red . It
is the only one of many Etr lenses I own that is called an MC , the others are an Ell and some PE's . Peter
( and yes it is an older lens for sure , but a great wide field of view !)

brianentz · Apr 14, 2020

skysh4rk said:
If you have an ETRSi, you won’t have any PS lenses, as those are only for the SQ series and will not fit any other Bronica cameras. It is likely you have PE lenses and these will not fit an SQ-Ai.

I'm quite red-faced. They ARE PE lenses. Why did I think they were PS lenses?

voceumana · Apr 14, 2020

Just because the eye doesn't read each letter, so sometimes the eye gets it wrong.

Richard Pippin · May 9, 2020

I have been using the SQ-A system for many years now and couldn't be happier. The P and PS lenses are available for great prices, and you don't really need more than three. I shoot the 80 for normal, the wonderful 150, and a wide angle for all of my needs. It's a personal thing, but these pretty much cover everything I need. You'll pay a bit more for the 120 backs, but you only need 2 or 3, film loading is easy. If you still want to spend money, pick up a metered prism. The prices have gone up over the years, so it's a good investment. Hope this answers your original post.

Grim Tuesday · May 9, 2020

MattKing said:
The lenses for the 6x4.5 cameras probably won't cover 6x6 and definitely won't be designed to cover 6x7.

Matt, why wouldn't they cover 6x6? They need to cover a horizontal 60mm for 6x4.5, and unless there are some exotic optics at play, they are producing circular image circles rather than ellipses.

MattKing · May 9, 2020

Grim Tuesday said:
Matt, why wouldn't they cover 6x6? They need to cover a horizontal 60mm for 6x4.5, and unless there are some exotic optics at play, they are producing circular image circles rather than ellipses.

Compare the diagonal of a 6cm x 6cm square - 8.49 cm - with the diagonal of a 6cm x 4.5cm rectangle - 7.5 cm.
The 6x6 camera's lenses need to cover a circle with a minimum diameter of 8.49 cm, whereas the 6x4.5 camera's lenses only need to cover a circle with a minimum diameter of 7.5 cm.
That isn't to say that there aren't lenses out there that would be capable of covering larger formats - you just can't count on it.
I've also observed in some 6x4.5 lenses that there are internal rectangular baffles oriented in the same way as the film gate on the cameras. I'm guessing that this helps reduce internal flare. Those baffles could impede even coverage on 6x6.

Andre Noble · Jun 27, 2020

I had the Bronica PS lenses. Most were a disappointment. Switched to Mamiya KL lenses and never looked back.

campy51 · Jun 28, 2020

voceumana said:
Just because the eye doesn't read each letter, so sometimes the eye gets it wrong.

I am almost 70 so I will use that to explain a lot of things.

moto-uno · Jun 28, 2020

^^ "Andre" are you just baiting people here ? . Peter

Lenses for Bronica SQAi and ETRSi

brianentz

jimjm

hadeer

abruzzi

MattKing

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skysh4rk

moto-uno

brianentz

voceumana

Richard Pippin

Grim Tuesday

MattKing

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Andre Noble

campy51

moto-uno

Lenses for Bronica SQAi and ETRSi

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