Picking up a ETRSi for the first time, especially if you are used to the 35mm SLR or digital ones, you should feel a bit puzzled: how to appeal the camera is at least unusual and also the various buttons, dials, sticks and leave the questions on their functions the only command clearly identifiable on the body due to the presence of the scale of values is the shutter speed dial, located on the left side, while most of the rest are anonymous, so much so that without the manual or the help of a friend who already knows the camera could be almost not easy to find the shutter button. While in the Hasselblad 500 series is completely mechanical, then in ETRSi, as in other Zenza Bronica, it is an electromechanical unit completely dependent on the batteries except for a fixed mechanichal speed. Yet the differences from the Hasselblad are no details! One for all: the shutter and its management system. Many weeding photographers chose Zenza Bronica systems as they were cheaper than the original Swedish 6×6, with which they shared many similarities and granted a quality suitable to the job at a fraction of the costs. But this concept, or system, of modular camera has also been “copied” (if that term is permissible) by Mamiya, Contax, Pentax and Rollei, just to quote the most famed brands. One thing is certain: it looks like a Hasselblad but the similarity stops at the concept and layout of the system starting from a central body, a “cube” which can be attached to a wide range of accessories ranging from the backs to the lenses, manual or electric winders and so on. While looking at it for the first time the ETRSi seems familiar, a little because it looks like some Swedish great camera system, a little because, at least those much aged among us have seen a few of them in the hands of wedding photographers. Yet, ironically, wanting to spend ourselves out of a lot of Euro Zenza Bronica ETRS or a SQ can be upgraded with the application of a digital back. The value of the ETR project is underlined by its longevity: 28 years lifespan where traditional photography underwent a series of significant changes, such as increasingly sophisticated exposure metering systems as well as autofocus until it flows into digital revolution, which also marks the end though perhaps premature of many great film camera systems. This happened while maintaining a rich modular system of accessories that has been able to be appreciated over time and still now it is. The ETR is a breakthrough in the production of cameras by the Japanese manufacturer because of the introduction of a new format (remember that all of the Zenza Bronica until then had been only produced in 6×6 format) and the transition to the focal plane shutter. The “granny” of this camera was the ETR introduced in January 1976 and followed in January 1979 by the ETRS. The Zenza Bronica ETRSi was marketed from October 1989 until December 2004 and it is the third version of the medium format SLR Bronica built around the 6×4,5 cm picture format. Then get to make a conscious choice is not easy and the risk of regret is high: the differences from the 35 mm world are deep. In short, the considerations to be made are many and far from obvious. Getting into medium format photography is not as easy as it might seem: the issues to be addressed are many and range from the size of the frame to the modularity of the system, the choice of the type of camera (SLR or rangefinder), fixed or interchangeable lens up to the choice of the type of shutter (central or focal plane). Only after many years I started to shoot with a Agfa Isolette first and a Lubitel 166B then, so I began to think about being the owner of a Zenza Bronica ETRSi. Accustomed as I was to the 35mm SLR, that big thing seemed to me bulky and uncomfortable and, for a good decade, it was not part of my thoughts. My first encounter with a Zenza Bronica was many years ago, before the digital era, while attending to a friend’s wedding where the official photographer snapped in with a big black cube topped by a striking prism and grip on its right: a Zenza Bronica SQ.
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