Hello Photographers,
I took a look at these cute machines and got one question.
There is a spring driven motor that has to be cocked to be suited for 25 or 50 pictures.
Can I take them all at once or must the shutter be pressed every single time?
The idea is to have a small "cine/movie" camera that supports standard 135 film.
It's always amusing to hear about Robots being referred to as "cute machines", which they certainly look to be ... Once you pick one up and see how heavy and solid it is, you know that it is one industrial grade piece of equipment. ;-)
The Robot I, II, IIa and Star series cameras don't normally have continuous sequence capabilities, although I think you can rig one up to do that. Most have spring mechanisms that store enough energy for 10-15 exposures at a time, maximum. Some had larger, extended spring motors in them to handle many more exposures on one winding.
The Robot Royal models are different, however. They include a continuous mode operation as standard and can fire in continuous sequence (4-5 frames per second, I think) by turning a knob. They still cannot make more than 10-15 exposures per spring wind. They're bigger, more "standard rangefinder" looking cameras, and no less industrial in build or quality; they are also both square format and 2:3 format versions. In the latter part of the 1960s, many of them were sold for industrial and traffic control use, enhanced with electric motor driven wind mechanisms and large film backs, some without viewfinder or rangefinder. They're not particularly fragile, but many of them that you see available for sale are well worn from many years of heavy use.
Fritz Kergl of Robot Kamera Dienst in Düsseldorf does excellent Robot service and repairs. He overhauled both my classic Robot II and Robot Star 50...
http://www.robot-kameradienst.de/kontakt.html
G
