These backs allow the Bronica ETR System to function as a standard 35mm camera, taking either standard or panoramic exposures depending on the back variant used – “N” for normal sized 24 x 36mm exposures, or “W” for wide 24 x 54mm exposures. These backs are designed to be used with Focusing Screen E-135, which provides an area guideline in the viewfinder for both exposure sizes. While not rare to find for sale, these backs are expensive—especially the panoramic version.
Like 120 and 220 film backs, the 135 backs are composed of three sub-components. However, unlike 120 and 220 backs, the inserts and frames cannot be mixed and matched between 135-N and 135-W film back types. This is because of the different sized mask on 135-N and 135-W film back frames, and the different sized pressure plates on the 135-N and 135-W inserts.
Available Products
The following table summarises the components described on this page, showing the various ETR System generations during which they were available. Names are taken from the component instructions or product packaging, unless otherwise noted.
| Generation | Name1 | Literature | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETRS | Film Back ETRS 135-N | Manual |  |
| ETRS | Film Back ETRS 135-W | Manual | – |
| ETRS Mk-II | Film Back ETRS 135-N | – |  |
| ETRS Mk-II | Film Back ETRS 135-W | – | |
| ETRSi | Film Back ETRS 135-N | – | |
| ETRSi | Film Back ETRS 135-W | – |
- The name on packaging for all generations of this component is “Film Back ETRS 135”, with a “W” or “N” sticker denoting the type. In some literature, there is a hyphen used between “135” and the “N” or “W”, in other literature the hyphen is omitted. For consistency, this website uses the hyphen for all generations of this component. ↩︎