Show off your Robot screw mount camera

[archive59]

I'm fairly sure I am not the only person on RFF to have one or more of these wonderful 24x24 cameras. So let's see them.
I'll kick things off with my latest, and quite possibly most usable Robot.
A Robot Star 25 with Schneider Kreuznach Xenon 40mm f1.9 lens and modified Certos Entfernungsmesser.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Nice! I don't have a robot, but I would like to get one one day.

Would like an 1940s one, but they don't use standard 35mm cassettes 🙁

 

[archive59]

Nice! I don't have a robot, but I would like to get one one day.

Would like an 1940s one, but they don't use standard 35mm cassettes 🙁

Well actually the wartime Robots do, in my experience. All the Luftwaffen Eigentum Robots I have quite happily accept a standard 35mm film cassette in place of the 'T' cassette with just a small plastic washer or piece of card as a spacer at the bottom to keep the film in line. You will need a Robot 'N' cassette on the take up side but that is not really much different from having a removable take up spool. The only minor annoyance is having to remove and rewind the film in a darkroom or changing bag.
See you have no excuse now not to get one 🙂

Cheers
Mark

 

[largedrink]

Here's one of my RoBoT Star's with 40mm Xenon lens

 

[largedrink]

And the other with 75mm Schneider Tele-Xenar

 

[largedrink]

Not me, and not mine. But a well known photographer carrying a RoBoT screw mount camera.

 

[Nitroplait]

Here's my Robot Star w Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 38mm 1:2,8
It doesn't have strap lugs like the Star above and the height of the shutter release appears different as well.

 

[lxmike]

What an interesting thread, never seen a Robot in the flesh, I will have to keep popping back to this thread.

 

[besk]

Being intrigued with square format on 35mm film I purchased two to them. But dealing with the film cartridges has put me off. I use a 30mm/3.5 Zenagon on a Nex 3c via an adapter.
Maybe it is time to try again.

 

[Nitroplait]

Being intrigued with square format on 35mm film I purchased two to them. But dealing with the film cartridges has put me off. I use a 30mm/3.5 Zenagon on a Nex 3c via an adapter.
Maybe it is time to try again.

The post-war Star model I show above uses regular commercial film cartridges. The take-up spool is a "cartridge" and is a little fiddly to load but not as inconvenient as the pre-war double cartridge system. It is about as time consuming as it is to load a Barnack Leica.

Heres my kit with a Tele-Xenar:

 

[Muggins]

From half-forgotten conversations with a friend who had a bit of a thing about Robots, I think that one in the Vivian Meier photo is a Luftwaffe model, with a tall spring winding knob to allow it to be wound whilst wearing flying gloves.

 

[helen.HH]

Not me, and not mine. But a well known photographer carrying a RoBoT screw mount camera.

Ha and Yum, To February 1st... Vivian Maier & I share the same birthday, loner type, & passion for shooting.

now I might have to take Christian up on his offer to put one together for me ... cool

 

[zwicko]

Here is my setup.

 

[mconnealy]

Great stuff. Getting a rotary shutter into such a compact camera was a neat trick. I came across this cut-away when I was researching rotary shutters for a blog post.


Wish I had one.

 

[largedrink]

Great stuff. Getting a rotary shutter into such a compact camera was a neat trick. I came across this cut-away when I was researching rotary shutters for a blog post.

Wish I had one.

That's a neat cutaway image, thanks for posting.

 

[largedrink]

Ha and Yum, To February 1st... Vivian Maier & I share the same birthday, loner type, & passion for shooting.

now I might have to take Christian up on his offer to put one together for me ... cool

That's interesting Helen!

What is on offer from Christian?

 

[largedrink]

Here's my other screw mount, a RoBoT I with Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 3cm f2.8 lens. I was lucky to find this and the accessories in a local antique shop. The lens cap is clever, clips on and off by squeezing the outer edges together but the tolerances are such that this can only be done when the black inner cap is open. The cap when open can also be used to shade the lens.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Two of my three Berning Robot II "Luftwaffe" gun camera's with 7.5cm f/3.8 Tele-Xenars

This one was restored by former Berning employees a few years back. A gift from someone over at Photo.net.

All three were GI trophy camera's from World War 2

 

[Nitroplait]

A closer look at the inside and the rotary shutter of a Robot II:

https://youtu.be/lHA0jVW4_M4

 

[Godfrey]

1940 Berning Robot II
Updated to later spec to use a standard 35 mm cassette on the feed side.

🙂

G