Hi Ferdi,
Yes, the Robot Royals (24x36 & 24 x 24) of course have the rangefinder.
Beautiful cameras, but larger and very heavy beasts, so they don’t really
qualify as Rollei 35 alternatives.
And yes, the rivalry between Düsseldorfer Alt beer and Cologne “Kölsch” is
legendary, just like their rivalry in carneval customs. Bonn, here where I now
live has its own “Bönnsch” beer served in a tilted (leaning) glass.
Next time you come to Düsseldorf, let me know. Maybe we can meet, talk Rollei
and have an Alt. I am heading that way more often now, as my younger daughter
now studies in Kleve, which is a stonethrow from the Dutch border, as you know.
Jan
On Mar 21, 2021, at 8:59 PM, Ferdi Stutterheim (Redacted sender "ferdi" for
DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Robots are very interesting camera’s. There was a Robot Royal 36 (24x36
mm). Many years ago I met the owner of the Dutch importer of Robot. I made
the ’terrible’ mistake of saying: “Ah, you are mr <name> of <company name>”.
“No”, he said: “<company name> is (property) of mine”. At the time he was
chairman of Fotografica, a society that organised camera fairs. I never owned
a Robot but always wanted one until I decided to let it go. My father was
born in Düsseldorf, we still have relatives over there, I also go there to
visit Herr Dieter Paepke for service of my Rolleiflexes. I like Düsseldorf
Altbier. I usually have lunch at Schumacher’s Brewery. You can order any beer
you like. They (more or less) politely say “Of course, Sir” and then they
serve you the only beer the have: Düsseldorf Alt.
Ferdi.
----
Ferdi Stutterheim,
Drachten, Netherlands.
Op 21 mrt. 2021, om 20:16 heeft Jan Decher <wanderjan@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:wanderjan@xxxxxxxxx>> het volgende geschreven:
Hi Rollei Folks,
since our Rollei 35 discussion I have been experimenting with a classic,
perhaps somewhat more versatile alternative to our compact Rolei 35 - a
Robot Star. It’s my second attempt using this camera. The first was in the
US in 2010.
Here is my Flickr folder with the new and old results with this small camera:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmUFm2PT ;<https://flic.kr/s/aHsmUFm2PT>
Advantage of the Robot Star:
• small, very solid and heavy built. Made in Düsseldorf since the 1930s
• fairly good exchangeable lenses (Schneider & Zeiss) but hard to find well
preserved ones. Still have not found an affordable exampel of the (rare)
T-coated Zeiss 40mm Biotar or 75 mm Sonnar
• built-in spring-wound advance mechanism for 24-50 pictures
• square format (24 x 24 mm) which comes natural to Rolleiflex 6x6 users
• that means 55 images on 1 roll of 36 exp 35mm film! (about 33-35 images on
34 exp. film)
Disadvantages:
• somewhat cumbersome film-laoding (ok once you know it)
• no built-in light meter
• no built-in rangefinder (but faily good color coded zone-focussing aids on
the lenses)
• photo labs charge custom prices for prints from 24x24 because thsy have to
adjust every image (same with the index prints). Best to just have the film
developeed and scna yourself
Best,
Jan
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