Square format cameras, 24x24?

FredtheLlama

FredtheLlama

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Afternoon chaps,

I was wondering if you could help me with my next camera purchase.

I'd like a 24mm x 24mm format camera, preferably a rangefinder too.

I had my heart set on a Robot Royal 24s - but my wallet just laughs at that suggestion.

Are there many other square format cameras around?
 
The only other I can think of of the top of my head is the gorgeous jewel of a tiny TLR, the Tessina.

I suspect your wallet would have palpitations.
 
the taxona with a tessar lens is probably your best bet unless you want to check out cameras with rapid cassettes (they can easily be loaded with 35mm film and there are quite a few 24x24 square format options as far as i know).
 
If you haven't already done so, punching 24x24 into the search box at http://camera-wiki.org brings up a few. I've just had a look, I like the look of the Tenax for a RF, the Alsaflex and Altix I look nice and solid in the classic way, or there are more modern simple 'point&shoot's. Quite a few are not illustrated, you might find images on a web-wide search.
 
FredtheLlama said:
I was wondering if you could help me with my next camera purchase.
I'd like a 24mm x 24mm format camera, preferably a rangefinder too.
I had my heart set on a Robot Royal 24s - but my wallet just laughs at that suggestion.
Are there many other square format cameras around?
Click to expand...

I went a bit nutter a few months back trying to find a clean, good working Robot Royal 24. After acquiring three said to be "mint" and returning them, the insanity was over.

I kept the 1941 Berning Robot II and the 1974ish Robot Star 50. The Robot II was in rather nice condition and is my favorite. The Star 50 needed a lot of work. I had Fritz Kergl of http://www.ROBOT-kameradienst.de/profil.html in Düsseldorf CLA and overhaul both, so they're now in perfect working order. I particularly like shooting with the Robot II, it just feels right, while the Star 50 has a rather industrial feel to it.

Berning Robots use either their own feed and take-up cassette design (different between the Robot II/Star 50 and the Royals) or just a customized take-up spool and a standard 35mm cassette for feed. When Fritz overhauled my Robot II, he updated the interior to be a IIa model so it uses a standard 35mm cassette and the Robot take-up spool. There's no rewind on the camera, so you load it, shoot a roll of 50 exposures, then pull both cassettes as a pair and reload with another pair.

With regard to the Robot Royals, be careful which one you buy. The earlier models have a free-standing sprocket drive in the film transport, which didn't work very well. Later examples have a longer set of film rails and capture the sprocket drive into the rails—these run more reliably. If you can find a good one at a reasonable price, they're nice cameras. But they're somewhat rare in the USA and command pretty high prices.

Berning Robot always fitted very good lenses to all their cameras: Zeiss and Schneider.

For other cameras that use this format, you should look into Agfa Rapid cassette cameras:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/agfa-rapid

Good Luck!

G
 
citizen99 said:
If you haven't already done so, punching 24x24 into the search box at http://camera-wiki.org brings up a few. I've just had a look, I like the look of the Tenax for a RF, the Alsaflex and Altix I look nice and solid in the classic way, or there are more modern simple 'point&shoot's. Quite a few are not illustrated, you might find images on a web-wide search.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I've just had a look through the results.
 
Godfrey said:
I went a bit nutter a few months back trying to find a clean, good working Robot Royal 24. After acquiring three said to be "mint" and returning them, the insanity was over.

I kept the 1941 Berning Robot II and the 1974ish Robot Star 50. The Robot II was in rather nice condition and is my favorite. The Star 50 needed a lot of work. I had Fritz Kergl of http://www.ROBOT-kameradienst.de/profil.html in Düsseldorf CLA and overhaul both, so they're now in perfect working order. I particularly like shooting with the Robot II, it just feels right, while the Star 50 has a rather industrial feel to it.

Berning Robots use either their own feed and take-up cassette design (different between the Robot II/Star 50 and the Royals) or just a customized take-up spool and a standard 35mm cassette for feed. When Fritz overhauled my Robot II, he updated the interior to be a IIa model so it uses a standard 35mm cassette and the Robot take-up spool. There's no rewind on the camera, so you load it, shoot a roll of 50 exposures, then pull both cassettes as a pair and reload with another pair.

With regard to the Robot Royals, be careful which one you buy. The earlier models have a free-standing sprocket drive in the film transport, which didn't work very well. Later examples have a longer set of film rails and capture the sprocket drive into the rails—these run more reliably. If you can find a good one at a reasonable price, they're nice cameras. But they're somewhat rare in the USA and command pretty high prices.

Berning Robot always fitted very good lenses to all their cameras: Zeiss and Schneider.

For other cameras that use this format, you should look into Agfa Rapid cassette cameras:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/agfa-rapid

Good Luck!

G
Click to expand...

What a brilliantly detailed reply - thank you.

I was bidding on a Robot Junior this morning, and now I'm glad I missed out. I need to learn to control my spontaneous bidding!

I'd much prefer it if I didn't have to use special cassettes/take up spools. 35mm is fine for me.

That being said, it doesn't even have to be a rangefinder as such. A zone focus/point and shoot would interest me too.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming.
 
Well, if you'll settle for a 23X25mm rangefinder, then a Stereo Realist will do nicely. Just use alternate lenses for every other exposure. However, if you want something out of the ordinary (sorry, not a rangefinder) you can look for a 24X27mm Robin 35 M.II by Hokuto Co.
 
A use two Zeiss Tenax II cameras.

They're 24X24 and use normal film cassettes. I love them.

I have one picture in my gallery taken with them. Will try to post more.

I like square compositions.
 
Spavinaw said:
Well, if you'll settle for a 23X25mm rangefinder, then a Stereo Realist will do nicely. Just use alternate lenses for every other exposure. However, if you want something out of the ordinary (sorry, not a rangefinder) you can look for a 24X27mm Robin 35 M.II by Hokuto Co.
Click to expand...

I've always admired the Stereo Realist, but my first dive into square format doesn't have a budget for a £200+ camera I'm sad to say!
 
sleepyhead said:
A use two Zeiss Tenax II cameras.

They're 24X24 and use normal film cassettes. I love them.

I have one picture in my gallery taken with them. Will try to post more.

I like square compositions.
Click to expand...

Really? That's good news. I had a quick read up on them this morning but I was under the assumption that they required specific take up spools? Brilliant if they don't.

Please, post some of your pictures up. I'd be very keen to have a look.

Are there any 80's/90's point and shoots?
 
i have a lovely rollei sl126 that takes cartrdges or 35mm wrapped into a 126 cartridge by hand. it comes with three wonderful rollei lenses, a 28/2.8, their famous 40/2.8 and a 90/4. its a tiny camera, and the lenses are small as well. it takes just lovely 4x4 photos, but obviously the film thing is a bit of a pain...oh, it is a rangefinder. very fun and easy to use.
tony
 
FredtheLlama said:
Very nice, especially the b&w street shots (the Dentist sign is great).

Alas, it's another camera I cannot afford right now. The only two on my ebay right now are £350, and £2500!

Definitely one to add to my saved searches though.

The hunt continues...
Click to expand...

350 quid for the camera and the 40mm f/2 Sonnar sounds about right. The 27mm and 75mm lenses would be cool to have, but are such collectables that they are too expensive...

If you do consider this camera, I would advise to buy from a reputable camera shop, or a trustworthy member of a forum such as RFF. (In case you need to return the item.)

I've owned three Tenax II's in all, and all have had some problems. For example, the two I still own have non-functional frame counters, which is a bit of a bummer because one get's 50-something frames on a roll of 36 exposure 135 film, and that means that I often forget how many shots I have left. I just carry an extra roll of film with me and don't worry about it too much. I have the impression that these cameras are difficult to repair. But they are solidly built.

I didn't mean to own two Tenax II's, but one was sent off for repair for a long time, so I bought a second one in the meantime. My second body HAS A FLASH SYNC port on the front, which I have never seen on any other Tenax II. This may be a latter modification by a repairman, but I'm not sure because the work is very well done and the paint over the place in the inside face of the body where the port is matches the surrounding paint, the persumably original paint. Anyway, one of my favorite uses for the Tenax II is to use it as a party point-and-shoot with a Vivitar 283 on top (bouncing off the white ceiling), the f-stop at f/11 (so zone focusing is easy - I set it at 2-3 meters and that's it.)

The lens is also really sweet when used wide-open with available light.

Good luck on your hunt for a 24x24 camera.
 
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