Question about Bronica SQ-B

[ilya_khotimsky]

<p>Hello! I found a Bronica SQ-b body for sale. The description say it has a plastic ground glass. I not sure what type of ground glass is standard on this camera. Are all Bronicas SQ-b have plastic one or some have plastic and some have glass? Those who have had this camera, please, help.</p>

[SCL]

<p>I think plastic was the standard. Many of the aftermarket ones, particularly the fresnel ones designed to increase the screen brightness were made of plastic. Much more important than the composition of the screen, IMHO, is the type of screen and whether it has etchings or markings on it, and whether it is clean or has been damaged thru age and contamination. </p>

[c_watson1]

<p>They're plastic and fragile. Just be aware that if the screen is cruddy and/or already scratched up, cleaning will usually only make it worse. Replacements are very scarce, so don't buy a SQ-B with a marginal screen. I got mine NOS and only use a blower or a very soft camel hair brush to flick off really obvious stuff from the exposed focus screen surface. OCD cleaning will wreck these quick.</p>

[david_smith35]

<p>Agree with the above - they are plastic as are most screens, and very easy to damage. I personally never touch the surface of the screen even with a blower brush. I just use a puffer to try and remove any debris.<br>

Static is a major problem with plastic screens, and sometimes you just have to ignore the odd speck however annoying. As the above poster states, OCD cleaning will ruin them.</p>

[john_newman3]

<p>Not wanting to resurrect an old thread, but I believe (and willing to be corrected) that the bright fresnel type focusing screens that became popular back in the 70s tend to be moulded from plastic - manufacturing a fresnel focusing screen from a non-synthetic material such as glass is very expensive.</p>