BRONICA S2A Great but Mysterious

from: (Sam Sherman) 5-14-04

I just got another Bronica S2A in nice condition and I upgraded the finder foam
- as per my articles on Bob Monagan's Bronica site-

http://medfmt.8k.com/bronica.html

Some of this is a repeat of information I have posted elsewhe

The Bronica S2A is one of the all-time great medium format SLRs
and still can work great today. It was the last and fully debugged version of a
classic design and that is why it works well. All of these cameras have old
deteriorated foam in the finder screen cover plate which has allowed the
viewing screen to drift out of focus alignment
being pushed up by underneath springs (crazy design).

Replacing this foam with Moleskin (adhesive backed felt) corrects this problem,
but does not always solve everything. I just realigned my new Bronica S2A and
the test results with it and the 100MM f2.8 Zenzanon
lens are super sharp and crisp.

However, I had to remove two ledges the viewing groundglass rested on
in addition to replacing the foam. That means that this camera, and maybe all
Bronica S2A cameras were NEVER in true sharp/crisp focus.
The finder foam must have compressed right after installation allowing the
springs under the screen to push it up and out of focus even slightly, and if
not, the screen was sitting up too high by resting on these metal ledges at the
north and south positions.

With the great Nikkor optics that were offered with these cameras,
only stopping the lenses down to f8 or lower would yield sharp pictures of any
kind and the poor test results the Nikkor lenses had in photo magazine tests
had nothing to do with the lenses, but the fact that all of these cameras were
out of focus alignment. Was this a result of stupidity, sloppy work or
somebody's deliberate attempt to sabotage these cameras and Nikon supplying
lenses for them? I have no idea what is true, but find it incomprehensible to
believe that a camera so well designed and upgraded could be sold to buyers out
of focus alignment.

A good condition Bronica S2A which today has the finder foam replaced
(and maybe the ledges removed - leaving only two thin shims in place)
is capable today of some of the best quality Medium Format photography when
using good condition/clean Nikkor and Zenzanon lenses. I have heard that the
Komura lenses were less good, but with a properly aligned camera they may be
very good too.

Another mystery is that some Bronica S2A focusing helicals, all of which have a
front 57MM screw mount, have these screw threads improperly cut so that they do
not accept Bronica 57MM accessories.
I know all of this sounds like Bronica did sloppy work, but that is not true in
the design and precision of the camera mechanics.

I would like to hear more comments from Bronica S2A users who are having good
use from this camera.

- Sam Sherman

On 2004-05-14, FLEXARET2 wrote:

I just got another Bronica S2A in nice condition and I upgraded the finder foam
- as per my articles on Bob Monagan's Bronica site-

http://medfmt.8k.com/bronica.html

Hi, Sam!

I'll have to take a look at this as I have a S2A with as many lenses and
accessories as anyone could want.

The Bronica S2A is one of the all-time great medium format SLRs and still
can work great today. It was the last and fully debugged version of a
classic design and that is why it works well. All of these cameras have
old deteriorated foam in the finder screen cover plate which has allowed
the viewing screen to drift out of focus alignment being pushed up by
underneath springs (crazy design).

I'll be darned! Haven't noticed this in the 3+ years I've been using it.

A good condition Bronica S2A which today has the finder foam replaced (and
maybe the ledges removed - leaving only two thin shims in place) is
capable today of some of the best quality Medium Format photography when
using good condition/clean Nikkor and Zenzanon lenses. I have heard that
the Komura lenses were less good, but with a properly aligned camera they
may be very good too.

I have some of each and they are equally good. My Komura 400 mm is sharp
as a tack (but weighs more than the rest of the camera). I'm no expert, and
I've only returned to serious photography in the past few years, but I
cannot see any difference in sharpness or print quality depending on whether
the lens I used was Nikon, Zenzanon or Komura.

Rich

from: (Sam Sherman) 5-18-04

Hi Rich,

It was over 5 years ago that I wrote the finder foam fix articles for Bob
Monaghan's Bronica website and since that time many Bronica models S2A, S2 and
C have had the finder focus properly fixed.

If you are not sure if this was done - remove the lens and focusing mount and
look up to the viewing screens
which may be framed in something light (replacing the finder foam) or dark if
the old foam is still there.

To check your camera use the normal 75MM lens wide open and focus at a distant
infinity subject and see if it is crisp/sharp. If not the foam needs
replacement and alignment - see my articles on Bob Monaghan's site.

Many peole having cameras needing this simple work done can still get
reasonably sharp photos as they stop down from f8 - f16 in normal use. They
cannot
get sharp photos at f2.8 or f4.

Best,

Sam