Welcome to Steve's Robot Camera Collection Pages.
Here you will find Pictures and Information about My Robot Camera Collection
The Robot was the first Motorized Camera it had a clockwork spring mounted on the top of the camera that would give 24 or 48 (double spring or "tall wind") continuous shots from a single wind at a rate of 4 frames per second, at shutter speeds of 1 - 1/500th sec.
Featuring a stainless steel body, black and chrome finish, and interchangeable lenses, along with a rotary focal plane shutter, it was the pinnacle of engineering for its time, first available in 1934, Robot Cameras are still being manufactured today.
My Dad Had a Luftwaffen Robot, that I used as a Kid. That was when I fell in love with these cameras, I took a good many photo's with it in my teens, a number of which were published. Ever since I have always had a fascination for this piece of engineering, sometime in the 80's I visited a camera shop in Cambridge (UK) and nearly bought another Robot, but I couldn't afford it, however I decided then that one day I would have a collection of these cameras. Now many years later I have amassed quite a collection! I started to document it in these pages back in 2003, but the project never fully materialized. The only major site for Robot cameras is here http://robot-camera.de whilst it is is a great site with lots of useful information, it's all in German, and not a lot of help to non-german speakers. I plan to complete my Robot Camera site and add as much information about my collection as possible. I probably now have the largest collection of Robot Cameras and accessories outside of Europe! I'd like to share my knowledge of this great camera.
I regularly get emails from folks who have found their Grandfathers/Uncles/Great Aunt's Robot Camera in the Attic and expect it to be worth $1000's - Unortunately (or fortunately as a collector, depending on how you look at it), that is not the case, with a few exceptions, Robots are still very affordable. Robots have not really been a good investment, a new Robot II with Zeiss Biotar would have cost you $219 in 1939, You can get one for a lot less now. Certain items are more collectible, but as most items were produced in the thousands, and these are very robust, the investment potential is less than say equivalent Contax or Leica Cameras. You will see some of these Cameras advertized with ridiculous price tags, but they can still be found in camera shops and on auction sites like ebay for a reasonable (<$250) price! They are a lot of fun to collect, and as there are a good many variations, there is always that unusual one to be found!
I often get asked about parts and repairs: Karl Heitz was the goto person, but he passed a few years ago - His stock of parts went to various people. A good place to start looking for repairs and or parts is to contact: Radu Lesaru at 3R Camera Service - 718-463-8217 - 3rcamera.com
If you have any questions email me
Click on the Thumbnail for More information and pictures of each model.
Parts of this site are still under construction, please check back for regular updates
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– Robot I the first Robot Produced 1934-1938
– Robot II Produced 1939-1952
– Robot - Luftwaffen Eigentum 1939-42
– Robot Star 25 1969- ...
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© 2014 Steve W. All rights reserved. |