Royal Road is the Way of Bronica from Japan Exposures on Vimeo.
In 2010 I met up with Tony Hilton, the author of the book Bronica: The Early History and Definitive Collector’s Guide. Tony and I went to a place in north-west Tokyo called Kami-Itabashi, trying to find remaining traces of Zenzaburo Yoshino’s camera company.
Be sure to also read the previous article Mr. Zenza’s Rolls-Royce.
Dear Mr Banashi, I came across your site while researching a book on Bronica, some history thanks to Tony Hilton, a colleague, and some user guide. I intend to use some patents I have found, for the name for example and the French patent for the DeLuxe. I agree with you that the camera was born with no name and the ‘Z’ probably never existed. There are no mentions of it anywhere, no price, no box, no instruction booklet. I do possess a comapct with the letter ‘Z’ on it though. I would humbly like to use the 1959 advertisement you show for the DeLuxe with prices, if you would be so kind as to translate. I will gladly credit you for the image and send you a book when I get it published. Thank you for your time Sir and I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards Michael
Hello Michael, sorry your comment slipped through and I am only seeing it now. What advertisement are you referring to, I am happy to help.
Hello Dirk,
I’m deeply sorry, I didn’t know that you had replied and thank you for doing so. The poster I’m refering to is on the next page ‘Mr Zenza’s Rolls Royce. Would you happen to know the differences between the Deluxe type 1 and 2? My apologies, I’m sure you get asked a lot. I can only find the serial number as a difference. I have a type 2. Many thanks again, kind regards Michael
Hi Michael, I don’t know the answer myself, but perhaps Tony would know or is it not covered in his book?
Thanks Dirk, Tony mentions the differences as being the serial number and possibly to help the engineers when they dealt with questions over the phone. I did ask Tamron and they refered me to Peter B’s book, the English version, which I have been unable to track down. Thanks for your help Dirk.