Photos courtesy of Bob - [email protected]
New Medium Format equipment, especially optics, have been said to far
surpass the results possible on older Bronica cameras. I have decided to
meet that challenge and see how good the old equipment might be.
I have been testing and adjusting Bronica S2-A, Bronica S-2, Bronica C,
with 75MM f2.8 Nikkor "P" and "PC" (multicoated) lenses, plus 100MM f2.8
Zenzanon, 180MM f2.8 Zeiss Jena Sonnar and others.
Adjusting the cameras has included replacing old finder foam and
re-aligning the position of the ground glass screen to equal the location
of film at the film plane. Making adjustments to the backs and inserts so
that the film lies reasonably flat in the film plane. Using the improved
one roller inserts and the ones with the teflon coated rollers.
My initial tests were on 120 Color negative film of all kind, developing
the negatives only and examining them under high magnification.
Improvements to the back inserts resulted in sharper pictures.
Even if the image was sharp it could not resolve detail greater than the
graininess of the film, and most color negative films I have tested are
grainy and soft in focus to give flattering portraits. Who needs a crisp,
sharp multicoated six or seven element highly corrected lens for this? (I
plan to later test Kodak's Portra VC (Vibrant Color) and see how that
does.)
I next went to Ilford XP-2 - which has less apparent grain than color
negative film and sharp detail was easier to note.
From this I went to E-6 Transparency Film (Fuji 50) (Agfa 50 and 100) -
possibly due to reversal processing "developing out the unexposed silver
salts" these film have less apparent graininess than the color negative
films. Still in areas of minute detail, the lenses could not resolve
greater than the grain structure of the film.
With the Bronica S2-A and S-2, 100MM Zenzanon, 75MM Nikkor (regular
coating and multicoated) on the transparency film, crisp, sharp images
were the result.
Bracketing exposures and repeating images of the same shots could result
in ultimate quality, based on exposure variables and any slight residual
film unflatness. Generally I did not perceive these problems.
With the exception of PC shift lenses on Hasselblad Flexbody type cameras
for architecture, I have reservations about any medium format cameras
today producing images substantially better than I have shot. At f8 to
fll I get reasonable edge to edge sharpness. And I still believe that no
matter how good today's improved lenses might be, we are still all dealing
with the limits of the resolution of film, its graininess and some
residual unpredictable unflatness with most 120/220 film in most cameras.
I would be most interested to hear from anybody using today's sharpest
120/220 transparency films with the latest
equipment to let me know just which films are that sharp.
I will then subject my equipment to a test with these films to analyze the
results. I may even do a comparison shoot with a new camera against the
S2-A.
- Sam Sherman
--------------
Reference:
From Bronica Mailing List:
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999
from: [email protected]
Subject: BRONICA- In Search of Crisp Images
My continued adventures in making crisp, sharp images with old focal plane
shutter Bronicas.
My Bronica S-2 was recently repaired, upgraded by Frank Marshman at Camera
Wiz - a good job.
This included replacing the mirror assembly and other parts with Bronica
S-2A parts, plus clean, lube and set speeds. The S-2 is as good as the
S-2A if one does not force the wind gears. I have this camera for over 15
years of good use. Furthermore, I set my own groundglass to what I
consider the crisp infinity position and then using the improved one
roller back insert, I cleaned and adjusted this.
For both hobby and using some of these images in my film business, I have
decided to do a portfolio of images
of New York City in Black and White.
For this purpose I am now taking a small kit with me when I go to New
York, consisting of:
Bronica S-2 with 75MM f2.8 Nikkor, very small adapted 180MM f6.3 Zeiss
Tele-Tessar, small meter, plus film. The film I am using is of excellent
quality and sharpness - giving good black and white contrast plus extended
grey scale. That is Ilford XP-2 with great latitude too. Hard to make an
improperly exposed photo with this film.
My city scenes have included famous skyscrapers (Chrysler Building etc.)
plus Broadway/Times Square at Night in Black and White - which makes it
look more like the 1930s than the upcoming year 2000!
I also took some nice shots of my old friend, magazine publisher James
Warren (Spacemen, Vampirella etc.) and ended up with some good portraits
of him in New York backgrounds. As a test I scanned a 5x5 print of him
into my computer, doctored it with software and then made a cropped print
with photo grade paper. I was amazed by the sharpness of the final image
with an old HP inkjet printer.
I had a pro lab develop the XP-2 in C-41 chemistry and make regular Black
& White 5x5 proofs. The image quality was just tops. I don't know what
Medium Format camera or lens could exceed it.
I use this camera with the regular Bronica Waist Level finder, which is
one of the best such finders I have ever used. The flip up magnifier optic
is a Nikon design (and perhaps product - early ones were marked this way)
and is 4x or 5x like a high magnification finder, so who needs one. It is
quick to focus with, holding the camera to one's eye and in some cases
then view the screen at waist level to see a nice preview of the
composition you're seeking. Former 35MM shooters usually use Medium Format
with eye level prisms, which is what they'e used to. I grew up with Twin
Lens Reflexes and 35MM SLRs with waist level finders and am used to the
reversed image viewing. I don't like the Bronica S-2A prisms as they are
heavy, bulky and dim. These cameras were made to be used at waist level
and are awkward to use at eye level.
Using a medium format camera at waist level is an art which anybody can
learn. It leads to interesting compositions which are impossible with eye
level finders.
The old Bronicas with their Nikkor lenses are still today's best medium
format bargain. Properly adjusted and used, great quality is possible.
My tests continue into transparency film and high contrast color negative
stocks.
- Sam Sherman
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999
from: [email protected]
Subject: Bronica S-2 etc. - Sharp results - Continued
To: [email protected]
Subject: Bronica S2-A: Adventures in Tuning Focus
Date: Fri, Sep 24, 1999, 1:53 PM
from: [email protected] (Sam Sherman)
9-24-99
To: Bronica List
Getting a Nice Black Bronica S2-A, which appears New and Unused - the
focus was
still off.
I removed the deteriorated foam and that improved the focus 70% but not
the
last 30%. The ground glass screen was
still too high up and beyond the infinity position.
My hypothesis is that the nylon cords controlling the mirror (constantly
under
spring tension) have stretched
over the years and allowed the mirror to drift out of infinity
focus. Adjusting
this opens up a can of worms to hurt the inside
mechanisms and so I would rather just adjust the ground glass.
To move the ground glass down, I have had to removed the ledges it rests
on at
the north and south positions of the
finder screen well.
Surprise: Now the ground glass is too far down and in front of
infinity.
What to do??
I had a left over ground glass shim (square metal framing
piece) from my
adjustment on my
Bronica S-2 ... and that did it and put the screen exactly at
infinity.
I am testing this camera with my adapted 180MM f2.8 Zeiss Sonnar
........
and a 300MM f4 Zeiss Sonnar, which just arrived and fits into my same
custom-made Zeiss/Bronica adapter mount.
- Sam Sherman
to: Bronica List
Attention owners of BRONICA S S-2A and C:
There is emphasis in repetition:
I have said this before, however, I hope my message is getting
through.
These classic Bronicas are great eccentric cameras for eccentrics like
myself who love them and do not want new equipment.
They are capable of the sharpest medium format photography, but many times
do not deliver it - wide open (f2.8), with tele lenses and Macro work -
any place focus is critical and not easily covered up by depth of field
stopping down.
I have never seen or heard of another camera whose finder in an SLR or TLR
will just drift out of focus while sitting
on a shelf and nobody
touching it. That doesn't mean these are bad cameras only eccentric, but
still great!.
If you remove the focusing mount and lens and look up at the fresnel
focusing screen you will see that somthing is framing it. If that
something is light colored, its a good bet the deteriorated foam was
replaced already, if dark possibly not.
If you focus on your finder with the lens wide open at a sharp object at
true infinity and it is not razor sharp - your entire focus mechanism
needs alignment - replacing foam and also repositioning the ground glass
to a lower position.
If you have not seen this already, I suggest you read my articles on this
on the Classic Bronica website:
http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/bronica.html
It may be worth your while to print this out and either do the work
yourself or take the camera to a skilled camera repairman.
Once done, these classic Bronicas will match or outdo most medium
format SLRs.
- Sam Sherman
[Ed. note: this email was recovered from some crashed email files; and Sam
has formalized his notes in some posted articles, but I think the
information here is also valuable on its own, so I'm sharing it
here...]
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999
From: "S. Sherman" [email protected]
To: Robert Monaghan [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BRONICA] Using Bronica S series
Bob,
I am convinced I am on to something more important than even replacing the
finder foam.
I have 3 cameras where in addition to the finder foam the ground glass was
completely out of alignment.
The comments we see (Bronnotes) -"my 135MM Nikkor is a little soft etc." -
is probably not the lens but the camera ground glass slightly off focus.
If 3 cameras left the factory that way - who knows how many more?
If people cannot fix the foam and the ground glass themselves - they
should send to Ken Ruth or Camera Wiz or Michael Beard in UK and they all
should be alerted to this.
What Bronica used to mis-align the ground glass - when they made such
great cameras.....?
Oh, well the same people put in the famous finder foam and bottom springs.
I have replaced the finder foam and aligned the ground glass on my "C" and
the new negatives are sharp and "crisp" - no more uncertain focus. Cameras
aligned like this can show off the Nikkor optics and what they can do.
I am a longtime lens adapter, but am opposed to giving Hassy, Pentax 67
and others our Bronny lenses. Let them use their own.
We can get our cameras to be really good ... we don't need theirs.
- Sam
....
[Ed. note: another recovered crashed email file...]
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999
From: "S. Sherman" [email protected]
To: Robert Monaghan [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BRONICA] Fine Tuning Focus on Focal Plane Bronicas
Bob,
Re: Exact Repair of Focus on Bronica S-2:
This was an early model with 4 screw holders holding the ground glass
down, of the style from Bronica Deluxe and "S" models. There should be no
need to change anything on these models as the screw holders prevent the
screen from moving even if the foam has deteriorated.
However, I did remove the 4 holders and the screen and replace the foam,
which led me to find three square metal shims under the ground glass.
Checking my finder and film plane infinity focus led me to removing one of
the shims, which brought this camera into perfect infinity focus. Two
shims still remain in the camera.
- Sam Sherman
[Ed. note: another crashed email file, recovered and archived here...]
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999
From: "S. Sherman" [email protected]
To: Robert Monaghan [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BRONICA] Fine Tuning Focus on Focal Plane Bronicas
Bob,
Re: Exact Repair of Focus on Bronica S-2:
This was an early model with 4 screw holders holding the ground glass
down, of the style from Bronica Deluxe and "S" models. There should be no
need to change anything on these models as the screw holders prevent the
screen from moving even if the foam has deteriorated.
However, I did remove the 4 holders and the screen and replace the foam,
which led me to find three square metal shims under the ground glass.
Checking my finder and film plane infinity focus led me to removing one of
the shims, which brought this camera into perfect infinity focus. Two
shims still remain in the camera.
- Sam Sherman
[Ed. note: another crashed email file...]
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999
From: "S. Sherman" [email protected]
To: Robert Monaghan [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Fine Tuning Focus on Focal Plane Bronicas
Bob,
I may have solved the focus mystery. This is not to in any way degrade or
criticize focal plane shutter Bronicas. They are still good/excellent
cameras to use today-and I use them- only some adjustments for age may be
necessary - as with any equipment of any kind. My study is from the SPT
Bronica S-2 and C Repair Notes Book-
This is my concept-
When the cameras left the factory - with finder shims, new foam etc. -
they had perfect infinity focus.
As we know over time the foam deteriorated and is an easy replacement.
Why is it possibly still out of focus- (regardless of if the cameras were
used or just sitting.)
The mirror position is critical to sharp infinity focus - and was properly
adjusted at the factory.
The mirror runs on two or more fabric cords or cables - may be nylon weave
like high quality fishing line. In time, due to spring pressure, the
fabric cables stretched and slowly allowed the mirror to move very
slightly out of locked infinity position.
To avoid opening the sides of a working camera (if it ain't broke don't
fix it!) - it is best to reposition the ground glass, remove shims etc. to
get exact infinity focus. The cables now stretched, are probably stretched
to their max and won't move further.
This did not happen on my Bronica Deluxe, as the factory may have known
this could happen and could have used pre-stretched cables in these first
cameras.
Later on, thinking nobody could be using their cameras 20 or 30 years down
the line when the cables would stretch - they used unstetched cable and we
know the results.
Just a theory.
- Sam Sherman
[Ed. note: another recovered crashed email file]
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999
From: "S. Sherman" [email protected]
To: Robert Monaghan [email protected]
Subject: Re: posted - Re: Review of Bronica Book
Bob,
I have thought for years that mirror lockup was nonsense.
If you put your camera on a steady tripod that would be all you need and
the initial impact of the mirror would not shake the average camera into
an unsharp image. I still believe this.
I did a simple test on 3 old Bronicas for my detecting initial mirror
shake, not mirror return after exposure, all cameras set to "B".
Bronica S2-A - had to remove the magazine to do this. The camera shakes in
the direction of the lens pointing down to the ground, if you hold it
lightly in your hands. If you hold it tightly
the shake is there but seemingly unable to move the camera.
Bronica "C" - Remember there is a magazine (back) always on the camera.
There is an "attempt" for it to shake with the lens downward like the S2-A
- but much less shake evident when held tightly in the hands.
Bronica Deluxe - with the magazine back off. The least shake of the 3 -
almost not there. The camera operates "softer" than the later cameras. A
great camera in every way. I don't want to use it a lot and possibly break
it from overuse, but it has taken excellent photos through the years. As
complex as it is, it doesn't seem to have those "little hidden defects"
the other models have.
I think comparatively few of these were manufactured and with more
precision, when the others had to be mass produced. Ken Ruth used his all
the time during his college years professionally.
Then cleaned and fixed it when it fell in the Pacific Ocean. It still
works.
Beware the early S-2 with the old mirror frame (as per last letter). This
is definitely an earlier camera than the C and has the Deluxe and S four
screw clamps to hold the ground glass down. The SPT Bronica repair text,
calls this the earlier type. However, the C was sold in the US along with
old stock of S models they were clearing out before the S-2 was brought
over, although it was most likely made before the C. The S-2 continued to
have improvements made during its run, ending with the S2-A, which also
had changes made during its run.
I am also looking for Nikkor lenses (50MM and 135MM). They seem never to
come down in price and dealers I speak to promote them as original "Nikon"
lenses and will not negotiate.
I agree with your comments on UV filters and lens hoods too.
I am now experimenting with a Vivitar UV/Haze filter. I thought they were
different types - but here they are claiming both in one filter. Looking
through it, there seems to be little filtering action.
Probably another ENC product (Emperor's New Clothes)
Best,
Sam
....
>also an email re: mirror lockup on S2a - after sales "repair" added it >on, evidently a lever style control on the body, enabled mirror lockup on >S2a; i have seen ads for doing this in magazines of the 1970s, but after >I wrote the 3 services, no reply, they seem to be out of business? anyway, >it would be interesting if camerawiz or somebody else started offering >this upgrade again. Must be do-able, as they did it ;-)