Robot II
Encyclopedia
The Robot II was a mechanical 135 film
camera by Robot
introduced in 1938.
It was a slightly larger camera than the Robot I, with some significant improvements but still using the basic mechanism. Among the standard objectives were 3 cm Zeiss Tessar and a 3 cm Zeiss Tessar in 1:2,8 and 1:3,5 variations, a 1:2,0/40 mm Zeiss Biotar and 1:4/7,5 cm Zeiss Sonnar.
The film cassette system was redesigned but it was only with the Robot IIa launched in 1951 that film could accept a standard 35 mm cassette. The special Robot cassettes type-N continued their role for take up. A small bakelite box was sold to allow people to rewind colour film into the original cassettes as demanded by the film processing companies. The camera was synchronized for flash. The swinging viewfinder
was retained but now operated by a lever rather than moving the entire housing. Both the deep purple filter and the yellow filter were eliminated in the redesign. Some versions were available with a double wind motor which could expose 50 frames. The Second World War stopped civilian production of the Robot but it was used as a gun camera by the Luftwaffe
.
The Robot II took square photographs in the 24×24mm format, which allowed 50 exposures to fit on a 36-exposure film. It featured an all-metal Rotor shutter (1/4 to 1/500), a direct vision finder, and a screw mount for interchangeable lenses by Schneider
. The standard lens is a Schneider Xenon 40 mm f1.9.
Also available was the Robot Star II/50, with a double spring motor for 50 exposures and a Xenar 38 mm f2.8 lens.
The Robot Royal has "Kinographic" capability of 4 or 5 exposures per second. It has a coupled rangefinder, and a choice of eight bayonet-mount interchangeable lenses.
135 film
The term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...
camera by Robot
Robot (camera)
Robot is a German imaging company known originally for clockwork cameras, later producing surveillance and bank security cameras. Originally created in 1934 as a brand of Otto Berning and Co., it became part of the Jenoptik group of optical companies in 1999...
introduced in 1938.
It was a slightly larger camera than the Robot I, with some significant improvements but still using the basic mechanism. Among the standard objectives were 3 cm Zeiss Tessar and a 3 cm Zeiss Tessar in 1:2,8 and 1:3,5 variations, a 1:2,0/40 mm Zeiss Biotar and 1:4/7,5 cm Zeiss Sonnar.
The film cassette system was redesigned but it was only with the Robot IIa launched in 1951 that film could accept a standard 35 mm cassette. The special Robot cassettes type-N continued their role for take up. A small bakelite box was sold to allow people to rewind colour film into the original cassettes as demanded by the film processing companies. The camera was synchronized for flash. The swinging viewfinder
Viewfinder
In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and in many cases to focus, the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main optical system. Viewfinders are used in many cameras of...
was retained but now operated by a lever rather than moving the entire housing. Both the deep purple filter and the yellow filter were eliminated in the redesign. Some versions were available with a double wind motor which could expose 50 frames. The Second World War stopped civilian production of the Robot but it was used as a gun camera by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
.
The Robot II took square photographs in the 24×24mm format, which allowed 50 exposures to fit on a 36-exposure film. It featured an all-metal Rotor shutter (1/4 to 1/500), a direct vision finder, and a screw mount for interchangeable lenses by Schneider
Schneider Kreuznach
Schneider Kreuznach is the abbreviated name of the company Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH, which is sometimes also simply referred to as Schneider. They are a manufacturer of industrial and photographic optics....
. The standard lens is a Schneider Xenon 40 mm f1.9.
Also available was the Robot Star II/50, with a double spring motor for 50 exposures and a Xenar 38 mm f2.8 lens.
The Robot Royal has "Kinographic" capability of 4 or 5 exposures per second. It has a coupled rangefinder, and a choice of eight bayonet-mount interchangeable lenses.