I've just purchased a classic Robot II via eBay and would love to know of any experiences fellow APUG members have had with the camera. I made certain that both of the proprietary film cartridges were included, so I shouldn't have any problem using it right away.
I'd like to track down some additional lenses to use with it - particularly the sharp Zeiss lenses I've read about. Anyone know of any sources other than eBay? Thanks!
Robots are nice cameras. The Zeiss objectives for the "classical" robots are, for the most part, uncoated. They are mainly the Tessars (3 cm and 3 3/4 cm), Biotar and Sonnar (75mm). Both Biotars and 75mm Sonnars were available also coated but most are not. The post war 50mm Sonnar was coated but exclusively for the Robot Royal and is relatively rare. Comparing the Schneider 30mm Xenagon to the Tessar, Xenar 38mm to Tessar and Xenon 40mm to Biotar 40mm the Schneiders seem to win hands-down on sharpness, contrast and colour. Comparing the Zeiss Sonnar 75mm to the Tele-Xenar 75mm is a bit more different. Its, in my opinion, the only Zeiss for the classical Robots really worth chasing after--- other than for the sake of collecting. What's special about these old Zeiss objectives is that their clicks are on the focus and not the stops! In order to use a 75mm on a II, however, you will need a mask. Its a little piece of metal that fits over the viewfinder. Important also is to observe if you have an early II as they had the O on the lens mount for the older 26mm x 0,75 mm threading. The Zeiss objectives will probably fit. Newer (most all of the Schneiders) won't. What, however, fits on a 26mm x 0,75mm mount will fit on the 26mm x 1,0mm mount (which continues to this day). Another useful lens is the Tele-Xenar 150mm. Its available in 1:4,0 and 1:4,5 variations. The older 1:4,5 looks nice and is the "proper" choice for a II or Star from a collectors view but produces a round image. From a functional view the 1:4,0 is vastly superior. Its very sharp and covers the whole frame.
