Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks Larry. Nice Story. I'm sure that many Luggers appreciate hearing an occasional story about another well-made camera. Mike D - ----- Original Message ----- From: <LRZeitlin@aol.com> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2000 10:20 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica Users digest V18 #23 > <I'd kill for a Robot> > > This gives me a wonderful excuse to subvert the loyalties of LUGGERS with my > ode to the Robot prepared for another list: > > The Robot camera is one of those cameras that does one job extremely well at > the sacrifice of other photographic capabilities. The Robot I was introduced > in 1934 by Otto Berning & Co. as the first motor driven camera to be > specifically designed for still photography. Allegedly designed at the > insistance of the German government to record the expected German triumphs at > the the upcoming 1936 Olympics, the Robot used a spring driven motor to take > 24 x 24 mm pictures on standard 35 mm film as fast as the shutter release > could be pressed. > > The Robot I was quite small, the body measuring only 4.25 inches long, 2.5 > inches high, and 1.25 inches deep. A razor sharp, zone focusing f2.8, 3.25 cm > Zeiss Tessar lens added only 1/2 inch to the camera depth. It was about the > size of an Olympus Stylus although it weighed about 20 ounces, approximately > the weight of a modern SLR. The die cast zinc and stamped steel body was > crammed with clockwork. A spring motor on the top plate provided the driving > force for a rotary behind the lens shutter and a sprocket film drive. The > film was loaded into cassettes in a darkroom or changing bag. The cassettes > appear to be slightly modified Agfa Memo cassettes, the now standard Kodak 35 > mm cassette not yet being popular in Germany. In place of the velvet light > trap on modern cassettes, the Robot cassette used spring pressure to close > the film passage. When the camera back was shut, the pressure opened the > passage and the film could travel freely from one cassette to another. > > The rotary shutter and the film drive are reminiscent of those used in motion > picture cameras. When the photographer's finger pressed the shutter release, > a light blocking shield lifted and the shutter disc rotated a full turn > exposing the film through its open sector. When the finger was raised, the > light blocking shield returned to its position behind the lens, the film was > advanced, and the shutter was recocked. The action was almost instantaneous. > With practice a photographer could take 4 or 5 pictures a second. Each > winding of the spring motor was good for about 25 pictures or half a roll of > film. Shutter speed was determined by spring tension and mechanical delay > since the exposure sector was fixed. The Robot I had an exposure range of 1 > to 1/500 sec. plus the usual provision for time exposures. > > The camera had other features not specifically related to action photography. > The small optical viewfinder could be rotated 90 degrees to permit pictures > to be taken in one direction while the photographer was facing in another. > When the viewfinder was rotated, the scene was viewed through a deep purple > filter similar to those used by cinematographers to judge the black and white > contrast of an image. The camera had a built in deep yellow filter which > could be positioned behind the lens. > > In 1938, Berning introduced the Robot II, a slightly larger camera with some > improvements but still using the basic mechanism. A 40mm f2.0 Biotar was > fitted as the standard lens. The film could now be fed from a standard 35 mm > cassette but still required a Robot cassette for take up. The camera was > syncronized for flash. The swinging viewfinder was retained but now operated > by a lever rather than moving the entire housing. The deep purple filter was > eliminated in the redesign. Some versions were available with a double wind > motor which could expose 50 frames. WWII stopped civilian production of the > Robot but it was used in a military incarnation as a gun camera by the > Luftwaffe. An updated version of this camera fitted with a Schneider Xenon > 40mm f1.9 lens was released as the Robot IIa at the end of the war. > > In the late 50s, the company, now called Robot-Berning, completely redesigned > the Robot and aimed it at industrial users. The stamped steel body was > replace by die castings. The length stayed the same but the height increased > by half an inch and the weight by 50%. The new higher top housing had a medioc > re Albada finder with frames for the factory fitted zone focused Schneider > Xenar 38mm f2.8 lens and an accessory Tele-Xenar 75 mm f3.5 lens. The shutter > was improved and slightly modified for X synch. The camera still required > special take-up cassettes although it could feed from standard cassettes. > Film could be now be rewound back into the feed cassette just like every > other 35 mm camera. The Robot Star 25 could expose 25 frames on a single > winding, the double motor Robot Star 50 could, naturally, expose 50 frames. > The so-so finder made little difference to users since most cameras were sold > for industrial use where the camera was fixed in position. Although most > production dates from the 50-60s era, essentially the same camera without > viewfinder is currently being manufactured as an industrial recording > instrument. > > Robot-Berning also produced enlarged versions of the Robot, the Robot Royal > 24 and 36, with an incorporated range finder and with an autoburst mode of > operation capable of shooting 6 frames per second. The camera was about the > size of a Leica M3 and weighed almost 2 pounds. It was equipped with a > Schneider Xenar 45mm f2.8 lens. The Robot Royal 36 took a standard size 35mm > picture but was identical to the Royal 24 in all other regards. Both cameras > retained the behind the lens rotary shutter with speeds from 1/2 to 1/500 sec. > > While all agree that the Robots were superb at sequence photography, the > behind the lens sector shutter that made this possible limited other > photographic activities. To reach speeds as high as 1/500 second, the inertia > of the thin steel shutter disc had to be kept at a minimum. This meant a > small diameter disc with a minimal sector opening. The screw in lens mount > was 26 mm diameter. The clear lens opening was only 20 mm. In contrast, > Leica's mount at 39 mm was half again larger. Further, to permit lens > interchangability, the shutter was mounted behind the lens so the disc > interrupted the expanding light cone. The maximum focal length lens that > could be fitted with acceptable vignetting was the f3.5 75 mm Tele-Xenar. > Even the 40 mm f2 Biotar showed shutter disc vignetting. Lenses of up to 200 > mm were supplied for long distance action photography, however they produced > a circular image on the 24 x 24 mm frame. The lack of a rangefinder required > zone focusing of these long lenses. Every shot had to be estimated or > premeasured. All of the mechanical movement made for a noisy camera, although > not as noisy as some modern motor drives. For an extra fee, Robot-Berning > supplied silenced versions with nylon gears for discrete use. > > Within its limits the Robots did an excellent job of sequence photography. > The standard 38 mm f2.8 Xenar lenses were extremely sharp, even by today's > standards, and zone focusing worked well on rapid action with short focal > length lenses. The reliable motor drive was as fast, if not faster, than > current electrical drives and there were no batteries to run down. Flash > could be used at any speed. The square frame was big enough, given modern > films, for 8 x 10 or greater enlargements and 50 exposures could be fitted on > a standard roll. The cameras, especially the later ones built to industrial > standards, will take an unbelievable amount of abuse and still keep > functioning. Any camera user would do well to acquire one of these gems to > see what precision mechanical equipment is all about. > > LarryZ >