Robot - a family of scale cameras with a spring - loaded shutter cocking and film broaching , produced by the German company Robot Star from 1934 to 1996. The cameras were designed for 35 mm perforated film , giving a square frame size of 24 × 24 mm. Half -format and small-format models with a frame of 18 × 24 and 24 × 36 mm, respectively, are less common, and some of the products are designed for non-standard formats 6 × 24, 12 × 24 and 16 × 16 mm.
Robot cameras are considered to be the first general purpose cameras in the world that do not require manual shutter cocking and film rewinding. Due to this feature, they turned out to be suitable for use in applied industries, such as aerial photography and hidden camera shooting, remaining out of competition for several decades [1] . Individual copies of the camera were included in the equipment of some units of the Ministry of State Security of the USSR [2] .
Content
Technical Features
The camera owes its appearance to the German watchmaker Heinz Kilfit, who developed in 1930 a " film " camera with a frame of 24 × 24 mm. Compared with the usual small format 24 × 36 mm frame, this one made it possible to increase the cartridge capacity from 36 to 50 frames. Rejected by Eastman Kodak and Agfa , Kilfit sold his invention to Hans Burning, who had already launched a serial production in 1934. The first Robot I cameras contained a spring-loaded actuator in a stainless steel case, capable of stretching film at up to 4 frames per second, and a disc shutter that worked out shutter speeds from 1 to 1/500 second. Baeuerle & Söhne watch factory spring was enough for one stretch of 24 frames of film [3] .
The rangefinder and other focusing devices were not provided for by the design, since the standard Zeiss Tessar short-focus lenses , which were equipped with the first cameras, allowed aiming on the distance scale, due to the large depth of field . Interchangeable lenses with a focal length of up to 75 mm could be mounted on the Robot II model. For special photographs on architectural and landscape photography, Tele Xenar lenses with a focal length of up to 240 mm were produced. Framing when shooting with a regular lens was carried out using the simplest telescopic viewfinder , and interchangeable optics was completed with nozzles for the sight. The latter had a swivel design that allows both direct sight and side observation at an angle of 90 ° using an integrated mirror. There was no universal standard for Type-135 cassettes at that time, so the Robot cameras were designed for type-K cassettes of an original design. After the Second World War, the production of more advanced cameras “Robot IIa” and “Robot Star 50” was launched. In addition, cameras specially designed for camouflage and covert shooting were mass-produced [4] .
See also
- LOMO-135
- Minox
Notes
- ↑ German camera Robot II . LiveInternet (September 30, 2014). Date of treatment October 10, 2016.
- ↑ G. Abramov. From the history of the creation of the first Soviet special camera “Ajax” . Cameras for reconnaissance . Stages of development of domestic camera manufacturing. Date of treatment October 9, 2016.
- ↑ Stephen Gandy. Robot 1: Heinz Kilfitt's 1934 Motorized Masterpiece . Camera Articles . Stephen Gandy's CameraQuest (November 26, 2003). Date of treatment October 10, 2016.
- ↑ G. Abramov. Keith Malton Museum of the History of Spy Technology . Cameras for reconnaissance . Stages of development of domestic camera manufacturing. Date of treatment October 11, 2016.
Links
- Robot Camera User Manual Butkus. Date of treatment October 11, 2016.
- Robot Camera Wiki. Date of treatment October 10, 2016.