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vilva
Joined: 04 Mar 2007
Posts: 785
Location: Porvoo/Borgå, Finland
Expire: 2015-05-27
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 Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject: The Robot Star arrived |
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vilva wrote:
The Robot arrived, it took only seven days, which is reasonably fast for DHL.
The camera is small but heavy. It is only very slightly larger than a Rollei 35S or an Olympus XA but weighs about twice as much as the Rollei or three times as much as the Olympus or almost as much as a 350D with the kit lens -- although it doesn't seem to be made of stainless steel like the previous Robots were. Here it is with a 350D, S-K Xenon 1.9/40 on the Robot, CZ Planar 1.7/50 on the 350D:
The spring is rather stiff to wind, the 25 shots/winding may be slightly optimistic, and the drive slows down near the end. The shutter itself is very quiet, but film advance felt quite noisy -- until I compared it with the drive of my Contax 139Q, which turned out to be much noisier.
According to the serial number of the Xenon, the camera dates from 1952, the year when this model was introduced. The mechanical feel of the single coated Xenon is impeccable. It is like a precision instrument or watch, the aperture clicks are like those of a very very quiet safe lock, and the focusing action is very smooth and positive with just the correct amount of friction. Mechanically this lens beats all my other lenses, makes them feel cheaply made -- whether Leitz or Zeiss or SMC Takumar. The aperture is perfectly round with something like sixteen blades. Optically the Xenon is an asymmetrical derivative of the double-Gauss design and ought to perform adequately within the constraints of single coating and scale focusing. The FOV corresponds to a 95 mm lens on a 6x6, with more DOF, of course, something like that of a 60 mm lens.
The camera body shows signs of use, but it is, after all, a 55 years old amateur camera with not all parts quite up to the standard of the lens.
I hope to do some shooting soon -- the large number of frames per film will take some effort.
Veijo
_________________
Mainly Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar (1938), VPK Meniscus Achromat (1915), TTH Cooke Anastigmat (1917), TTH Cooke Aviar (1937), Goerz Dopp-Anastigmat III Dagor (1912), Voigländer Heliar (1928) or Aldis Uno Series III (1903 design) mounted on EOS 5D or EOS 350D |
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Laurence
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 4809
Location: Western Washington State
Expire: 2016-06-19
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| Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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Laurence wrote:
Veijo, that is one beautiful and unique piece of gear! What a BONUS to have the S-K 40/1.9. Classic!
I am anxiously awaiting to see images out of this venerable combination!
Laurence
_________________
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur,—you ’re straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.
Emily Dickinson
Cameras and Lenses in Use:
Yashica Mat 124 w/ Yashinon 80/3.5,
CV Apo-Lanthar 90/3.5SL, (Thank you Klaus),
Pentax 645,
Flek 50,
Pentax-A 150
Pentax-A 120 Macro
Voigtlander Vitomatic I w/Color Skopar 50/2.8
Konica TC and zoom lenses (thanks Carsten)
Contax AX
Yashica ML 50/2
Yashica ML 35/2.8
Carl Zeiss Contax 50/1.4
Tamron Adaptall SP 17/3.5
Tamron Adaptall 28/2.5
Tamron Adaptall SP 300/2.8 LD (IF)
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Jesito
Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 5745
Location: Olivella, Catalonia, (Spain)
Expire: 2015-01-07
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| Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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Jesito wrote:
Congrats, Veijo!. Looks very pretty...
That's the kind of cameras I like. I look forward to see your pictures.
(BTW, the C/Y-EOS adapter in the 350D, is a focus confirmation one?. Are you using a standard focusing screen?. This was my dreamy configuration, the 350D with the Planar. Superb quality, but most of the shots out of focus...)
Jes.
_________________
Jesito, Moderator 
Jesito's backsack:
Zooms Sigma 70-300, Tamron 35-135 and 70-210 short, 70-210 long, 28-70 CF Macro, 35-70, 35-80, Vivitar 70-210 KA, Tamron 70-250.
Fixed Industar-50, , Tamron 24mm, Tamron 135mm, Sands Hunter 135mm, Pancolar 50mm, Volna-3, many Exakta lenses
DSLR SIGMA SD9 & SD14, EOS 5D, Sony A700 and NEXF3, Oly E-330, E-400, E-450, E-1
TLR/6x6/645 YashicaMat, Petri 6x45, Nettar, Franka Solida, Brilliant
SLR Minolta X300, Fuji STX II, Praktica VLC3, Pentax P30t, EXA500, EXA 1A, Spotmatic(2), Chinon CM-4S, Ricoh, Contax, Konica TC-X , Minolta 5000, 7000i, 3Sxi, EOS 500 and CX
Rangefinders Chinon 35EE, Konica C35 auto, Canonet 28, Yashica Lynx, FED-2, Yashica electro 35, Argus C3 & C4, Regula Cita III, Voigtlander Vitoret (many), Welta Welti-I, Kodak Signette 35, Zorki-4, Bessa-R & L, Minolta Weathermatic, olympus XA2
Compact Film Konica C35V, Voigtlander Vitorets, Canon Prima Super 105, Olympus XA2 and XA3
Compact Digital Olympus C-5050, Aiptek Slim 3000, Canon Powershot A540, Nikon 5200, SIGMA DP1s, Polaroid X530, IXUS55, Kodak 6490, Powershot G9 and G10
CSCCanon EOS-M, Samsung NX100 and NX210, Lumix G5, NEX-F3 |
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LucisPictor
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 17633
Location: Oberhessen, Germany / Maidstone ('95-'96)
Expire: 2013-12-03
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| Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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LucisPictor wrote:
Congratulations, Veijo!
I am sure you will use this little gem to its best!
_________________
Personal forum activity on pause every now and again (due to job obligations)!
Carsten, former Moderator 
Things ON SALE
Carsten = "KAPCTEH" = "Karusutenu" | T-shirt?.........................My photos from Emilia: http://www.schouler.net/emilia/emilia2011.html
My gear: http://retrocameracs.wordpress.com/ausrustung/
Old list: http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=65 (Not up-to-date, sorry!) | http://www.lucispictor.de | http://www.alensaweek.wordpress.com |
http://www.retrocamera.de |
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Richard_D
Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 2378
Location: Faversham Kent UK
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| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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Richard_D wrote:
Veijo - does it take standard 35mm cassettes or the old Robot ones?
_________________
Richard
The interesting bit:
Nikkors: 20mm f2.8 AIS, 24mm f2.8 AIS, 28mm f2.8 AIS, 35mm f2 AIS, 50mm f1.4 AI, 50mm f1.48AI, 50m f2 AI,
55mm f3.5 AI'd, 105mm f4 AI, 135mm f2.8 AI'd, 135mm f3.5 AI'd, 200mm f4 AI'd .
Nikon E Series: 100mm f2.8 .
Soviet Nikon Mount: Zenitar 16mm f2.8, Arsat/arax/photex 85mm T&S f2.8 .
Other: Asahi Super Takumar 55 mm f2 (M42) ,Tamron 300mm f5.6 SP, Tamron 500mm f8 SP.
DSLR: Nikon D700. 35mm SLRsNikon FE, Pentax S1a.
TLR: Rolliecord II.
Sub-Minature: Pentax Auto 110, 18mm f2.8, 24mm f2.8, 50mm f2.8.
More to come... |
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poilu
Joined: 26 Aug 2007
Posts: 10473
Location: Greece
Expire: 2019-08-29
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| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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poilu wrote:
congrats Veijo! the 350D look quite big in front of the robot
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vilva
Joined: 04 Mar 2007
Posts: 785
Location: Porvoo/Borgå, Finland
Expire: 2015-05-27
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| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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vilva wrote:
| Laurence wrote: |
| Veijo, that is one beautiful and unique piece of gear! What a BONUS to have the S-K 40/1.9. Classic! |
So it is 
| Quote: |
| I am anxiously awaiting to see images out of this venerable combination! |
I hope to have some pics to display come next Tuesday. To-day it wasn't raining, and there was even something remotely resembling sunshine so I took a walk around downtown Helsinki shooting more or less randomly, guessing both the exposure and the focus, just in order to get at least a few photos.
Somehow it was rather a liberating experience to use a camera with a sharp lens and not the least possibility of achieving a pixel peeping level of focusing accuracy, just setting the focus at some decent distance and shooting from the hip, the camera practically hidden in my left hand, the lens just peeping from between the thumb and the forefinger, releasing the shutter with my right thumb, both hands thickly gloved. The sound of the film advance was drowned by the din of the traffic, and no one paid the least attention to me and my waist level camera. I found zone focusing made me regard things differently, not in terms of some detail in exact focus but in terms of the reasonably deep DOF zone of f/8, which I was using in order to have some leeway. Let's just hope my sunny sixteen was correct to within two stops or so 
Veijo
_________________
Mainly Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar (1938), VPK Meniscus Achromat (1915), TTH Cooke Anastigmat (1917), TTH Cooke Aviar (1937), Goerz Dopp-Anastigmat III Dagor (1912), Voigländer Heliar (1928) or Aldis Uno Series III (1903 design) mounted on EOS 5D or EOS 350D |
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vilva
Joined: 04 Mar 2007
Posts: 785
Location: Porvoo/Borgå, Finland
Expire: 2015-05-27
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| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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vilva wrote:
| Jesito wrote: |
Congrats, Veijo!. Looks very pretty...
That's the kind of cameras I like. I look forward to see your pictures. |
Thanks
| Quote: |
| (BTW, the C/Y-EOS adapter in the 350D, is a focus confirmation one?. Are you using a standard focusing screen?. |
I haven't got a single focus confirming adapter, just the ordinary, passive types. And I use just the standard screens, of course misfocusing every now and then, but that's life and makes me pay attention to what I'm doing. One very famous musician once stated that the day he's sure before a concert that he'll make no mistakes he'll stop playing. I think that's a very good way of looking at things - at least when you aren't a doctor or something.
Veijo
_________________
Mainly Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar (1938), VPK Meniscus Achromat (1915), TTH Cooke Anastigmat (1917), TTH Cooke Aviar (1937), Goerz Dopp-Anastigmat III Dagor (1912), Voigländer Heliar (1928) or Aldis Uno Series III (1903 design) mounted on EOS 5D or EOS 350D |
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vilva
Joined: 04 Mar 2007
Posts: 785
Location: Porvoo/Borgå, Finland
Expire: 2015-05-27
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| Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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vilva wrote:
| Richard_D wrote: |
| Veijo - does it take standard 35mm cassettes or the old Robot ones? |
Robot Star was the first Robot to use the standard 35 mm cassette and to have a rewind mechanism (Robot Star Junior also uses the standard cassette, but for some unfathomable reason it lacks rewind  .) However, there is still the proprietary receiving cassette, which is nice if you happen to open the camera before rewinding the film, you'll lose just a couple of frames.
Veijo
_________________
Mainly Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar (1938), VPK Meniscus Achromat (1915), TTH Cooke Anastigmat (1917), TTH Cooke Aviar (1937), Goerz Dopp-Anastigmat III Dagor (1912), Voigländer Heliar (1928) or Aldis Uno Series III (1903 design) mounted on EOS 5D or EOS 350D |
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