7 posts tagged “bronica sq-ai”

The two Bronicas

I own two of them, the old one, EC-TL, the last of the focal plane shutter models. Around 30 years old, its heavy and very reliable with a very nice lens selection. The second, the last of the Bronica line, the SQ-Ai, was the last 6x6 model Bronica released before they stopped producing medium format cameras.

In basic, both cameras are medium format SLR systems which are completly modular. Exchangeable lenses, backs, viewfinders and focusing screens. Both have an external grip, but on thel EC-TL has a motor grip, which can wind the film without using the hand winder.

Although both cameras are from the same maker, they are very different. Hassleblad kept the same body design for all their cameras. They might have differnt function, but shutter speed, winder, etc are always at the same place. Not with Bronica.

The Body

The EC-TL has a focal plane shutter, that means the lens is just like a normal SLR or rangefinger lens, just aperture is moving, the SQ series uses leaf shutters in the lens. This is the first big difference. Focul plane shutters make the lens cheaper and you can have higher shutter speeds, but you cannot sync the shutter on any setting with a flash. Furthermore a focal plane shutter in this big size is a large thing to move, it makes noise and it gives a lot of vibration, so you need either strong hands or a sturdy tripod.

The SQ-Ai uses lenses with leaf shutters, they are much quieter, as there is less to move and they can be flash synced at any spead, but the shutter speed is limited to 1/500, compared to 1/1000s on the EC-TL. There are some lenses from Schneider for the Rolleiflex 6008 system that has shutter speeds up to 1/1000, but they are quite expensive.

The next difference is the shutter speed selection. On the EC-TL it is on the right side next to the winder, on the SQ-Ai on the left side. I actually have no preference for this, but it makes a difference in usage none the less.

Another difference is the mirror. On EC-TL the mirror is a split model, where one part moves down and the bigger part moves up once the shutter is released. It also moves back down again once the shutter is released, so you can see the image again. The SQ-Ai has one big mirror, but it stays on top until the shutter is cocked again. Why this is done is a riddle for me, especially because you cannot change lenses, or do anything until you cock the shutter, or else light will hit the film. Although the mirror is much more damped and quieter, I really wished the SQ-Ai mirror would go down after the picture was taken.

The biggest difference is the light metereing. The EC-TL has a built in light mater and can use an aperture priorty setting, the SQ-Ai can only do this with a special prism that has this built in. For me this is not such a big thing, as I always take the light messurements with an external light meter. Medium Format film is expensive, so I rather take my time then wasting film.

One other difference is, that the EC-TL film backs have a storage for the darkshade. The darkshade is a metal plate that moves in front of the film, so you can savely change the backs. The SQ-Ai has no such storage, so you always have to keep it somewhere external and not loose it. Else you wont be able to echange the back.

Another small difference is, that the EC-TL has a hot-shoe for a flash on the camera itself, where the SQ-Ai needs either a grip, or an external mount for it. Although I do not use a flash, I miss the hot-shoe, as I normaly use it for my bubble guide to keep the camera straight for some shots.

Last is the weight, the EC-TL is a full metal body, full metal lens and full metal film backs, full metal waist level finder, its all metal, its very reliable and sturdy, but it is very heavy. The basic weight with the 80mm f2.4 lens is around 2.4 kilograms. That can go on your neck if you carry it around the whole day.

The SQ-Ai is mostly hard plastic, but the lenses are still all metal constructed. Although some comments are that the film backs are not so reliable anymore, I cannot say that, I had no problems with them, but if you drop them, they will break. On the other hand, the whole system is much lighter. With the standard 80mm f2.8 lens, its probably only 1.5 kilograms. Thats a huge difference if you want to carry it around the whole day.

The Lenses

The EC-TL system has some very amazing lenses. Either from Zenzanon Bronica itself, or from Nikkor. One of the most amazing, is the Nikkor 50mm f2.8, although very old, the results are just stunning. More, the old lenses have up to 11 blades for the aperture, so the bokeh is, even when stopped down, very smooth.

The SQ-Ai lenses are all Zenzanon made, with a Seiko electronic shutter. They all have only 5 blades for the apeture, so stopped down, the bokeh becomes a bit blocky, but wide open those also have a very nice bokeh.

In kind of sharpness, the SQ-Ai lenses win hand down. Those are all just amazing products, not only are they perfectly sharp, they also have an amazing color reproduction. I am not making the old EC-TL lenses bad, they are amazing too, but in a different way. They draw a little bit "smoother" lines, have a better bokeh.

But both are sharp wide open, have almost no vignetting and there is no fringing or anything visible. Those are both professional products.

Both systems have similar lense types, ranging from 50mm, up to 500mm. But only the EC-TL has a 50/f2.8 lens, the SQ-Ai 50mm lens is only f3.5. A loss of almost two stops, this is a big thing, for shotting inside, where light is sparse. Both systems have a 40mm lens, the EC-TL ones i from Nikkor, which are very hard to find, and very expensive. I neither own any of them, so I cannot say much about it (only that I wished I had them).

Other Equipment

Of course both systems have prism finders, but only the SQ-Ai is in need of a special metering prism, as it has no in body meter. But the best prism model, can do more than just averge metering, it has spot meter, manual override, automatic mode and so forth, and only the SQ-Ai model can mesure up to iso 6400.

Sadly neither of the prisms do zoom in, this is only possible with the waist level viewfinder, with which it is much easier to focus.

Also both models have grips for holding the camera more like a regular SLR camera, I am still thinking if I want to get one for my SQ-Ai, so It is more pleasing to shoot with the Prism finder.

Last, they both have a varity of interchangable focus screens with split prisms, grid layout, etc. The prisms in the SQ-Ai are much brighter and have a much better split prism system. I wished I could find a grid layout, because with this one, it is much easier to do landscape shots when you have no tripod around.

Both have interchangable backs, but the EC-TL backs are more versatile as they can switch between 120 and 220 film, the SQ-ai needs different backs for this. But the SQ-Ai also has a 35mm wide back. I gues both have Polaroid backs, but I only have seen some for the SQ-Ai. I neither shoot 220 film, nor polaroid, so neither of it is a big minus point.

The Final Line

So which one to use, thats a difficult question. I love both, they have both unique features, so it again depends on the situation.

First, how long will I walk, or where will I go. The EC-TL is really heavy, so this is a major point. Second, what do I want to shoot. I own a basic set for both cameras (50mm and 80mm), but for the SQ-Ai I also have a 250mm and 110mm Macro, thought I hope to upgrade the Macro to the true 1:1 version and add a 150mm lens.

Also, when I shoot, do I need a stunning bokeh, or do I want more sharpness and more punch in colors. The EC-TL has definitly the better Bokeh, because it has so many aperture leaves, so even stopped down the bokeh is very soft. The Bronica has only 5 leaves, so the bokeh gets the usual "square" look when stopped down.

The focus is also easier with the SQ-Ai, as the finder is more bright and it has a better split prism/micro prism system. Although it also has a disadvantage that with longer lenses (250, 110) the split prism is really hard to read, especially when I shoot hand held.

Although the EC-TL has a genious mirror system, and I can do shots handheld down to 1/30 if I keep still, the shutter is still very big and shutter vibration is a very easy thing to have, the SQ-Ai has leaf shutters, so its more quiet and the chance of a shake because of the shutter is less likely.

The EC-TL might have internal metering, which is an advantage, but thats something I dont use much, as I rather do metering with a spot meter, to not screw up the shot, so there is no big difference here.

One big negative point for the SQ-Ai for me is the missing flash mount, because of this I cannot put on my bubble meter for holding the camera straight. I really miss that.

My opinion is, if I would go on a travel where I walk around a lot, I rather take the SQ-Ai, but if I do just a one day travel, and the walking is limited, to perhaps one day, I might rather take the EC-Tl, because of its stunning bokeh.

Difficult, but its good that I have the choice between those two amazing systems