Well I took your advice -- sort of: Bronica ETRSi

Cobalt60 · Joined: 01 Mar 2007 Posts: 544 Location: Central Europe

Well, there are positives and negatives about that one ... reverse mounting doesn't seem to be a valid option ... but flash-sync at all times is Smile

...
reminds me of reminding you to add the SCA 386 adapter on your x-Mas shopping list ... this Click here to see on Ebay is a decent buy-it-now price for it!

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Yeah, being able to take advantage of SCA-TTL was another reason why I went with the ETRSi. Such an adapter is definitely on my "to get" list. I don't have any SCA-compatible flashes at the moment though. At least, I don't think I do. I have an old Metz 60CT-1, which is a fantastic flash albeit a bit much to carry around with its large battery pack and all, but I don't think I can use an SCA adapter with it.

Besides at least a couple more lenses, My "to get" list also includes the Grip E, and later -- probably quite a bit later because of the cost -- the prism finder E-III.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, the ETRSi outfit arrived today. And after giving it a close inspection I can say that this outfit is typical of many things that I buy off eBay -- it's a mixed bag. The camera body, lens, and finder are in excellent condition, and each piece appears to work the way it should. The wind crank flops and wobbles around quite a bit, but this appears to be normal? Each back has a problem, though. The 120 back is heavily worn and appears to be an early style -- possibly from an ETR -- and is broken, but probably repairable. The top latch for opening it up is different from the 220 and those shown in the manual, more primitive and awkward to use, which is why I'm sure it is an earlier back. The 220 back looks to have hardly been used at all, and appears to be an E-II back, but is missing the film wind crank.

In the case of the 120 back, there is a collar that surrounds a pin which is aligned with a pin in the camera that is used to dismount the back when a button on the side of the camera is pushed. This collar is made of plastic and is broken off. By not having that collar, the pin in the body and the pin on the back do not always line up right, making it difficult to remove the back.

I'm kind of ticked off about this to be honest, but I really can't fault the seller. The seller is one of these businesses that lists the items for other people, charging them a percentage of the selling price to do so. So they didn't know about these issues, I'm sure. But whoever it was that gave it to them to sell certainly did. For all I know there's a problem with the camera body too that is not all that easy to identify. I hope not. I suspect that this jerk was probably thinning his MF collection and included the two problem backs with the camera, knowing full well what he was doing. To this person, I say, ptui! I spit in your eye.

Still, I won't be returning the outfit. I can't complain too much, not at this price. I can probably figure out a way to repair the 120 back. and can come up with some sort of work-around for the 220 back's missing film wind crank. Here's a pic of the outfit:

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I cross my fingers to find right solution and get it to work ASAP I am so curious I have no much clue about these cameras.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Well, I don't have any experience with the ETR-series. I used to own an EC-TL, Bronica's old-style 6x6 that looked almost identical to the Rollei SL66. It was a focal plane shutter camera, which has its drawbacks, but the Nikkor and Zenzanon lenses I had for it were super sharp. I also worked as an assistant to a wedding photographer for a while. He used Hasselblad and a Bronica SQ-A. When I did second-shooter work for him, I'd use the SQ-A, so I have some experience with it. The SQ-series is quite similar to the ETR-series, in that they both use leaf-shutter lenses, interchangeable backs and finders, etc., except the SQ-series is 6x6, while the ETR-series is 6x4.5.

I don't know how easy it will be to find the broken part for the 120 back. I'll probably just end up buying a newer one anyway and take the wind crank off of the 120 and put it on the 220, if they're interchangeable. Bronica changed the film transport design and other things about their backs so I'll probably be better off just upgrading to an E-i 120 back.

Edit: I just took a look on eBay at ETR-backs. Found an Ei back without insert for $15, so I bought it. I'll still be using the old style insert, but I can upgrade that at some later date. First priority right now is to run some film through this camera and see how it turns out.

Cobalt60 · Joined: 01 Mar 2007 Posts: 544 Location: Central Europe

Make sure you get the backs with 2 latches!

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Yeah, I've already figured that out. The broken back has only one latch. It took me about 15 minutes to figure out how to open it, and even though I know how to now, it's still a pain in the butt.

The back I just bought off eBay is an Ei -- with two latches.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Well the new old back arrived a few days ago. It's pretty scruffy looking -- about the same condition as the back it will replace. But at least the collar around the back removal pin is good.

I bought some Kodak Portra 160 and some good ol' Tri-X for it. My wife, daughter, and I will be driving over to my sister's house, where the family always gets together for Christmas. I've decided that I will take the Bronica with the Portra 160. But I'm also taking my Canon F-1 with lens assortment, and my Canon XS DSLR with a couple of zooms. I reckon that should take care of most of it. Cool

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas