Броника: История японской среднеформатной фотографии

Japanese camera manufacturer

Bronica also Zenza Bronica (in Japanese: ) was a Japanese manufacturer of classic medium format roll film cameras and photographic equipment based in Tokyo, Japan. Their single lens reflex (SLR) system cameras competed with Pentax, Hasselblad, Mamiya and others in the medium format camera market.

Before introduction of the first of what would become a dynasty of Zenza Bronica cameras in 1959, the Latinized Zenza Bronica name was already a popular Japanese luxury goods brand of the Shinkodo Works (in Japanese: ) since 1947, specialized in the production of intricate crafted and decorated personal accessories, such as metal cigarette lighters and cases, cosmetic compacts, and watches, of diverse styles and designs. which at first produced Bronica brand luxury art deco accessories such as cigarette lighters and cases including watches, and positioned Bronica as a luxury brand in Japanese department stores, with popularity thriving among US Army soldiers in Japan. On 17 January 1952, the Shinkodo Works was directed by Yoshino to begin research and development of the Bronica prototype camera. and successor Bronicas, using large coverage film format, high quality Nikkor lenses supplied by the then Japan Optical Industries Co., Ltd., Such was the design success of Bronica, that in the United States it attracted influential figures from the photographic industry such as Burt Keppler who met with Yoshino. Bronica later introduced optics and lens units of its own manufacture incorporating Seiko shutters with its later camera designs and held a portfolio of international patents.

Bronica was eventually acquired by the lens manufacturer Tamron Co., Ltd., in 1998 with emphasis on Bronica's optical lens manufacturing. In May 2000, Tamron introduced under the Bronica brand the RF645 rangefinder camera. sales having suffered from the lack of consideration to a digital camera back and loss of market share to digital photography and digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, particularly for the wedding and portrait photography business which had previously been a heavy user of medium format photographic film but switched quickly to digital photography for its commercial workflow benefits. Bronica's last model, the RF645 rangefinder camera, was discontinued in September 2005, and marked the termination of the Bronica camera brand business.

Bronica SLR system cameras employed a modular design: The major components of the camera—lens, body, film back and viewfinder were separate and interchangeable, providing options to match the specific photography or workflow needs of the photographer.

From its start, Bronica introduced a number of 6x6 cm medium format SLR cameras with focal plane shutter, which used Nikkor lenses from Nikon,), while the EC TL was the first medium format camera with Aperture priority automatic exposure (AE). The range of Nikkor lenses for these remarkable cameras reached from 30mm (fisheye) to 1200mm and comprised about 30 lenses. Lens optics supplied by Carl Zeiss in Jena, Tokyo Optical Co., Ltd., Norita optics, Komura Komuranon (Sankyo Kohki), Schneider Kreuznach, as well as lens optics later manufactured by Bronica itself (Zenzanon) based on designs by Zeiss and Japanese lens manufacturers were available, as well as a wide range of accessories, including different film magazines, bellows, and viewfinders.