Bronica D Deluxe1959

History

Zenzo Yoshino founded Zenza Bronica in Tokyo in 1956, aiming to produce a Japanese 6x6 SLR that could rival Swedish Hasselblad at a lower price. The first Bronica camera - sometimes identified simply as the Bronica or Bronica Z - appeared in 1958 or 1959. The Bronica D followed closely, and the D Deluxe represents the first significant refinement of that original design.

A distinctive and commercially significant feature of the early Bronica cameras was their lens mount compatibility with Nikkor lenses. Nikon's Nikkor optics were among the most respected professional lenses available in Japan at the time, and access to them gave the early Bronica bodies a credible optical system without requiring Bronica to develop a complete lens line from scratch. This arrangement was specific to the PC-mount era; Bronica later developed proprietary mounts for all subsequent systems (the SQ, ETR, and GS-1 mounts each accept only Zenzanon lenses and dedicated accessories).

The Bronica D Deluxe was succeeded by the Bronica C (and C2), which introduced further refinements to the focal-plane-shutter 6x6 platform. Bronica would not move to leaf-shutter-in-lens design until later SQ system development.

Why It Matters

The Bronica D Deluxe holds historical importance as an early example of a Japanese manufacturer successfully challenging European dominance of the professional medium-format SLR market. In 1959, Hasselblad's 500C (also 1959) and the Rolleiflex TLR defined the 6x6 professional market; the Bronica D Deluxe offered a competitive focal-plane-shutter SLR with interchangeable backs and access to proven Nikkor optics at a lower price point.

The Nikkor-P.C compatibility is particularly notable. Photographers who already owned Nikkor professional lenses could, in principle, equip a Bronica body for medium-format work, though the mount geometry means the lenses were not the same as standard Nikon rangefinder or reflex mount glass.

Today the D Deluxe is a collector's camera. Parts availability and service expertise are extremely limited, and the focal-plane shutter design of this era is prone to issues with shutter curtain degradation and timing drift. Operating examples are rare enough that the camera is more likely to be displayed than used.

Lenses & Accessories

The Bronica D Deluxe uses the Bronica Nikkor PC mount, compatible with a specific subset of Nikkor-branded professional lenses of the era. Known compatible focal lengths include:

• Nikkor-P.C 75mm f/2.8 - standard normal lens
• Nikkor-P.C 50mm f/3.5 - wide angle
• Nikkor-P.C 135mm f/3.5 - short telephoto

Note: these are not standard Nikon F-mount lenses and are not interchangeable with 35mm Nikon SLR bodies. The PC in the designation refers to the Bronica PC coupling, not perspective control.

Accessories:

• Film magazines - 120 format (12 exp, 6x6)
• Waist-level finder - standard on the D Deluxe; additional viewfinder options are not well-documented

References

• Camera-Wiki: Bronica - overview of the full Bronica camera lineage including early D-series bodies