Bronica PE 45-90mm f/4.0-5.6

Review Date
July 10, 2003

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Mel207 , Professional , from Arlington, Texas, USA

Price Paid
$850.00 at Ebay

Photography Experience
11-20 years , People

Summary
It's a chunk of glass for sure. Heavy and if you use a split screen, it has a tendency to black out one side of the focusing screen (even a Brightscreen doesn't help).

Strengths
A does it all wedding lens, if you can hold it (a mono or tripod is recommended unless you're Arnold, the Terminator).

Weaknesses
Heavy, split screen black out, minimum aperture zoom is not intuitive...one mark on the lens barrel is for the 40mm and the other is for the 90 mm. UV filter (95mm) is gonna cost you!

Customer Service
n/a

Review Date
May 6, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
LeafShutter , Professional

Price Paid
$1500.00 at B&H Photo NY

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Other

Summary
A first class lens. Perfect for wedding and event photography. Impressive 95 mm front element - even more so with the hood attached. Excellent sharpness, contrast and color saturation.

Strengths
Very sharp optics. Excellent build quality. Very smooth focusing and zooming.

Weaknesses
A bit on the heavy side...

Similar Products Used
Pentax 645 zooms

Customer Service
Not needed so far.

Review Date
May 22, 2001

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
2.50 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Richard , Professional , from Australia

Price Paid
$1300.00 at Sydney (Aust)

Photography Experience
11-20 years , Other

Summary
The lens is great if you are constantly working in the wide angle field of perspective. Wedding and portrait application is also fantastic but beware - you are going to need some good arm and wrist muscles (this is without attaching any flash to the camera)!

Strengths
Very sharp lens and brilliant contrast! Great location lens, especially landscape/interior/architecture work.

Weaknesses
Heavy! Not ideal for prolong hand held photography

Similar Products Used
None