Bronica S for Supreme?
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| CC Image courtesy of InvernoDreaming on Flickr |
1950's - 60's were the golden years of Bronica. The founder of the company, Mr. Zenzaburo Yoshino had been the owner of a camera shop for years. And with his time staying, and admiring all the camera he owned, he was not quite satisfied. His dream was to build a camera of his own, but not any old camera, he wanted to build the best camera he could possibly build, and build he did. In 1959, Mr. Yoshino released to the world the Bronica D. A camera that was build upon the improvements of the Hasselblad cameras, particularly the 1000f model.
The company moved on to release the Bronica S in 1961, bearing similar features to it's earlier counterparts; the D and the Z. The S, like the D is a 6x6 120 focal plane SLR that is able to shoot same images from the same glass. That said, the S do possess some improvements and differences to the D and the Z models, which from some perspective may consider it as a great deal, whilst some may consider it as a bad thing.
Well, lets start off here with the improvements upon the earlier D's and the Z's. First, the Bronica S has the ability to do mirror lockup via the mirror lockup button below the shutter release - that's a good thing. Second, the S also adds another cable release port at the bottom of the camera making the total number of cable release ports on the camera body to two (the other on the usual shutter release button). Last but not least, the S surprisingly won't let you waste a shot with the dark slide in it. The S will automatically pop out the dark slide half way to remind you to pull it out before taking your photo - quite neat ain't it?
Well, here comes the bad. The Bronica S on the surface looks pretty neat with all it's futuristic features, but look closer and there's just some things the D and the Z did better. The S despite it's newer arrival came shallow on the existing features from it's predecessor. Some features including the special tripod bayonet, the removal focusing helicals (the S had one built in, meaning later lenses won't fit on the D/Z models), focusing lock, double exposure, self timer and shutter speeds from 2 - 10 seconds are removed. Don't get me wrong though, the S is still a phenomenal camera. Even without the features listed above, the S is a highly regarded SLR and is one of the most advanced in it's time.
The company moved on to release the Bronica S in 1961, bearing similar features to it's earlier counterparts; the D and the Z. The S, like the D is a 6x6 120 focal plane SLR that is able to shoot same images from the same glass. That said, the S do possess some improvements and differences to the D and the Z models, which from some perspective may consider it as a great deal, whilst some may consider it as a bad thing.
Well, lets start off here with the improvements upon the earlier D's and the Z's. First, the Bronica S has the ability to do mirror lockup via the mirror lockup button below the shutter release - that's a good thing. Second, the S also adds another cable release port at the bottom of the camera making the total number of cable release ports on the camera body to two (the other on the usual shutter release button). Last but not least, the S surprisingly won't let you waste a shot with the dark slide in it. The S will automatically pop out the dark slide half way to remind you to pull it out before taking your photo - quite neat ain't it?
Well, here comes the bad. The Bronica S on the surface looks pretty neat with all it's futuristic features, but look closer and there's just some things the D and the Z did better. The S despite it's newer arrival came shallow on the existing features from it's predecessor. Some features including the special tripod bayonet, the removal focusing helicals (the S had one built in, meaning later lenses won't fit on the D/Z models), focusing lock, double exposure, self timer and shutter speeds from 2 - 10 seconds are removed. Don't get me wrong though, the S is still a phenomenal camera. Even without the features listed above, the S is a highly regarded SLR and is one of the most advanced in it's time.
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| CC Image courtesy of Oliver Lopena on Flickr |
Having said about some key distinct features between the S and the D/Z, the Bronica S is a different camera altogether. The S, due it's change in design, makes the finders, the film backs and even the dark slides unable to interchange with the D/Z's. Well again, it's not a bad thing considering the S's film backs to be much more advanced in terms of camera technology and much more practical on the field.
Overall, the Bronica S is a well, all round SLR that is capable in taking sharp and crisp images when moment's needed (thanks to the Nikkor lenses). The S, with it's such advanced features is the 'jack-of-all-trades' when it comes to camera usage. It's fast, it's versatile, it's well-built and most importantly, it achieves what it does best - taking great photos. The S nowadays is not only a tool for photography; it's a masterpiece of Japanese craftsmanship that is worthy of appreciation and that you'll never see in any camera today.
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