Bronica: A Japanese Rice Farmer Tried to Give Hasselblad a Run for Its Money

petapixel.com

17 pointsStratoscope2 comments

Even if you're not into photography, or classic medium format film cameras, this is worth a read.

Lots of interesting history and insights about product development, bootstrapping a company, and sheer vision and tenacity.

Agreed, a fascinating story about a company making fantastic cameras. I have an ETRSi on my shelf right now. In the 1980/90s many a serious advertising photographer used them in the UK and I can't believe how reliable and resilient they truly are. And the origin story is fab.

I could never afford this new, but about ten years ago I could, as the value of film cameras fell off a cliff. Get one now, folks, before everyone reads this story!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com