The ‘brick like’ Bronica is in no way ergonomically designed for handholding, although a grip will help. The speed grip almost blocks access to the multiple exposure lever, making it quite fiddly to activate it. There is a screw on the lens that you can adjust to give you Bulb mode you will need a screwdriver to do it, though. Like any camera – film or digital – the Bronica ETRS is not without its problems and design issues: Bulb mode I’m not going to go into every feature on the camera, but it’s worth pointing out that is has a multiple exposure option that is good fun to use, and although the shutter speeds start at 1/500sec and go down to 5 seconds, there is a way to override them on the lens. Certain models have built-in metering so you can meter just like your regular SLR as well. I’ve had to stand on stools and chairs to get above my camera and look down into the viewfinder when I’ve been photographing a standing subject and want to shoot from their eye level.įor those who prefer an SLR-style view, a number of prism viewfinders are available. Depending on the height of your subject you sometimes have to think about how high you need the camera. I’ve only ever used my ETRS with a waist level finder, which is fine for general use, but there is a slight issue is with portraits. Having the ability to swap backs mid-roll makes it more practical as well, just as long as you’ve got a dark slide to keep your film back light tight. It’s great for trying your hand at street photography with large negatives!īronica ETRS exposure counter on film back This lets me quickly move it up to my eye to shoot and I’ll happily walk around for hours like this.
However, it’s not that much different to a high-end DSLR and I carry it in pretty much the same way as a smaller camera – on a shoulder strap that screws to the tripod mount on the bottom of the camera. It’s all relative, though, as by the time you add a lens, viewfinder and grip it starts adding up! Obviously it has good and bad points, but to give you an idea of why I like it we can break it down into five key points:Ī medium format camera will be heavy compared to any 35mm camera, but if you compare the weight of the ETRS to a Mamiya 645 (its nearest rival), the Bronica is noticeably lighter. I know most people say that about their camera, but in this case it’s true. I believe that one of the prism viewfinders has an in-built meter though.The simple reason why you should buy a Bronica ETRS is because it’s a great camera.
The camera is fully manual, without even a light meter, so an external meter is needed. You can buy a Prism viewfinder to solve this issue, but I don't have the money at the moment! I usually use this camera on a tripod when I can, which is a bit of a pain as if you are shooting at eye level, you have to be 'above' eye level, in order to look through the viewfinder. If you have used WLV's (waist level viewfinders) before, the Off-Axis thing takes a while to get used to. The viewfinder is perhaps the most impressive, really big and bright. My set up is the Bronica SQ-Ai body, with a 120 film back, 80mm 2.8 lens, and a waist level viewfinder.
The Bronica SQ-Ai is simply, a beautiful camera! When you hold it and feel its weight, you know that you are handling a well-engineered piece of equipment! They just don't make them like they used to!
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