Bronica ETRSi: First Impressions

Lets get one thing clear: This is not a review. Simply my first impressions of the camera and a look at some of the first images I made with it.

I recently bought the Bronica Etrsi from my local camera store. They had 3 in stock all in nearly brand-new condition. They were bought new by a photographer who owned a product and portrait photography business, all three were in near-mint condition mine however was in the best condition. When I walked into the store I had no intention of buying another camera, I went in to pick up a nifty fifty for my Canon 35mm and a couple of rolls of film. Naturally, I had a browse while I was in there - dangerous, I know - in the second-hand window I spotted these three cameras sitting there and asked if I could have a look at them. Instantly enamoured. I talked myself out of buying the camera there and then, but after a night of reflection and contemplation, I was back in the store the minute it opened praying the camera had not already been sold.

The next 2 weeks went agonisingly slowly as I looked for a reason to use the camera I had bought. Finally, the second weekend after the initial purchase there arrived a reason to get it out. I was going to London for the weekend to visit my girlfriend. Armed with 5 rolls of film and a brand new camera, I set out to learn how this camera ticks and focus on learning the unique controls of this 80s medium format film camera.

I decided to run a roll of Kodak Gold 200 through the camera first - the cheapest of the rolls of film I had on me. I familiarised myself with the controls of the camera, re-acquainting myself with manual focus and a whole different style of camera body larger and less ergonomic than your traditional camera. Once again, a new and exciting challenge had arrived, unlike anything I had encountered. Limited by the camera's sheer size and weight I was forced to slow down, even more so than with 35mm film. This allowed me to think about what I was taking a photo of and make more informed and creative choices when taking my photos.

I encountered my first big error with this camera while out and about, I put an 800-speed film into my camera which was far too fast for how bright it is leading me to shoot (almost) everything at F/22 1/500th of a second (the lowest amount of light the camera lets in) which even then meant the photos lost a significant amount of sharpness and were still overexposed. Not what I had in mind but I did not judge the conditions well enough with the 800-speed film… and I certainly wasn't about to waste it!

As you can see in the image on the left, the shadows have no depth in them, and are full of greenish hues and grain. Not the look i desire at all but given the situation I had put myself in it wasnt the worst thing which could have happened - at least I still ended up with an image at all!.

Now for a bit of technical information on the camera:

The ETRSi is a 120 medium format film camera from the 80s. Produced by the now defunct Bronica company in the 80s this modular SLR system is now available with a lot of the features of the more sought after Mamiyas and Hassleblads at a fraction of the cost. Shooting 120 film as standard you can also get polaroid backs and various other medium format sizes for the camera. Being modular also means you can add different viewfinders. The ETRSi features a shutter lock up and bulb mode which the earler ETRS models did not feature.

AE2 Metered prism.

The AE2 metered prism is one of a few options you have for viewfinders with the ETRS line. This is the first of the two metred prisms available for the ETRS cameras (they have a built in light meter) which is extremely helpful for making accurate readings. Althoug I felt a lot of my photos to be overexposed, My belief is that this had more to do with the film stock in the camera than it was to do with the accuracy of the lightmeter itself. Overall the prism adds a lot of size to the camera (around 50%) However, what you gain with the metered prism far outweighs the added form factor.

I don't think it is fair to truly review the camera based on 3 rolls of film but I can however give you my first impressions. The camera itself is an interesting, almost pleasingly unergonomic 80s-designed box which I believe to be capable of creating fantastic analogue photos given the correct input. But then all analogue cameras can do that. Cant they? The camera is awkward, heavy and a little bit cumbersome. But I hugely enjoy using it nonetheless. Its awkwardness is appealing to me. As mentioned earlier it forces me to slow down even more - which then further forces me to take more time to physically work on composing the image I am attempting to make, producing more meaningful photos. Not necessarily better or worse photos but certainly photos with greater detail in the thought process and creativity behind them. With practice and repetition, this should allow you to make these creative decisions faster until you can truly capitalise on “the decisive moment” every time. As Henri-Cartier Bresson taught us.