Re: [Leica] Leica Users digest V18 #23

["Mike Durling" <durling@widomaker.com>]

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
>