Well my wife and I did a little day trip/walk yesterday because the weather was so nice (54 degrees and sunny!), and I loaded the Robot up with a roll of bulk-loaded Tri-X. I should probably have the results back later this week, but overall I like using the camera. It's a heavy and substantial camera to carry around, which suits my particular camera preference, but I was able to carry the spare (75mm) lens in a little case in my pocket, which felt pretty liberating!
A couple of things: Of course, there is no parallax correction in the built-in viewfinder, not that it's a big deal. However, the rangefinder/viewfinder is combined like a Contax II, so that's a nice feature. The focusing ring on these lenses isn't the most comfortable thing in the world -- it a hard knurled finish, which can rough-up the tips of your fingers after a while, and it's located close to the camera body, so it's not the quickest focusing in the world (relative to a Leica lens with a focusing lever, for example). The shutter release is butter-soft, and the clockwork winder sounds like it was made by Breguet. A full winding only lasts about 13 exposures, so once you get to the end of that cycle, you have to turn it over and crank crank crank (so, three rounds of winding to get through a 36 exp. roll of film). Lens changing is easy -- there is a lever under the lens on the body of the camera, and you just slide it from left to right (while the camera is around your neck), and the lens comes right out. Line the two red dots up (one on the lens, one on the camera's lens mount), pop the lens in, slide the lever back and the lens is locked on.
I use a TEWE vari-focal finder for the 75mm Schneider lens (this is the vari-focal finder that was normally offered for Robot Royal). It's okay, but for a glasses wearer like me, is a bit squinty.
Besides its built-in clockwork motor, the most unique thing about the Robot camera is its use of metal cassettes. Many Robots use two cassettes and don't have a rewind feature. However, the Robot Royal 36 allows you to use a standard 35mm cassette, but you need to use a Robot takeup cassette -- not a big deal, but just one extra step you need to take when loading the film. The Royal does allow you to rewind the film back into the standard 35mm cassette.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this camera (and all Robots, as a matter of fact) does not have eyelets for a camera strap. Fortunately I have a leather case for the camera, and the lid can be detached to use the bottom half case and its neck strap. Yet another step you need to bear in mind for loading and unloading the film. Oh yeah - good luck finding a case if it didn't come with the camera!
Overall, I like the camera and wouldn't hesitate to choose it for a European excursion or personal journalistic assignment. The only thing I'd like to get is the 35/2.8 Xenogon lens -- I know of three of them that are available for sale, but they range from $475-$750, so I think I'll have to use this camera a lot more before justifying a purchase.
Rear lens caps seem to be quite elusive, and I've had to scavenge through the dollar bins at camera shows to find a cap that would fit (almost the size of a grey plastic Kodak film canister lid).
I'll post a few shots when I get the film back -- hopefully there will be a few that are worthy of posting!
