I was researching square format 35mm cameras and found your video. It is excellent information on a very unique camera. Thank you very much for taking the time to create this video.
Nice work dude, I always wanted to see an in-depth vid about the robot 24! Loved the look of the contact print with the brush strokes and slices of movement, like a strip of motion picture film -- i feel like that would be a great gift / piece of art. Also appreciated the comparison of the final shot with the b-roll and through-the-viewfinder perspectives; i think that's always helpful in film camera reviews lol
Thanks!! I think it's such a neat camera and totally agree about the brush strokes of the palladium print - that's one my my favorite things about that printing style. I've got a bunch of ideas for creative ways of capturing motion with this camera in little bursts that I'm hoping to explore soon.
Thank you for your awesome video! I think it'll help me. Last week the Robot Star of my 1969 died Grandfather found the way into my hands. It's my first analog camera since my early childhood. Normally I'm taking photos with my digital Fujifilm cameras. So - if the Robot Star will work - I hope I can handle it and get some cool photos out of it. The first sentence of my son as he saw the camera was: "It has no display. How can you take pictures when you don't see what you're pointing on?" 😁 And my first thought was: "How to focus without seeing it in the viewfinder and how to set the right exposure time without any indicators in the camera?". I have to learn a lot now! 🙈🤣 Taking photos back in this time must have been much more work than today. 😅
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Part of my hope in making it was that it could serve as a resource of sorts since I haven’t found many videos that are hands on about these cameras. I think the Robot Star is a viewfinder version, without a rangefinder (though I could be mistaken) so it’s kind of a zone-focus camera where you set the focus on the lens based on the distance from your subjects. In some ways faster! Best of luck, and happy shooting!
Hey Ryan, I have a Robot Royal 24 and was wondering if you could help me clarify something. The rangefinder is accurate but it’s not coupled from infinity to the green f8 marking on the 40mm lens. I was wondering if this is normal or not, as it works fine once you focus closer than the distance the green mark is at.
Hey! My robot royal 24 is coupled and accurate from close focus to infinity - not entirely clear on the fault you are experiencing but it should be coupled the entire focusing range.
I've gotten myself a RR 36 about a week ago - thanks so much for your video, it answered a number of questions that I had that I couldn't even get from the user manual. On the topic of using other lenses, I've found that the Robot Royal cameras have a different bayonet than other older Robot cameras. I've read somewhere that Royal series support all Robot lenses, but newer Royal-specific lenses cannot be used on older cameras. Is this your experience? Just looking to get a companion lens to the 40/1.9 I have, but I'm concerned about getting a Robot lens that I will not be able to use. Thanks in advance!
Hey Max, thanks for watching and for your comment - I’m so glad that you found some utility in it. Regarding the lenses I’ve seen some of those newer ones by Schneider (mostly in black) and I’m really not sure if they will work. They look like they should, but I don’t want to mislead and I’m sorry I don’t have a more clear answer for you. I’ve found that the 75mm is a nice counterpart to the 40mm for me, and I found that I didn’t really love the 30mm shown in the video. I felt like it was a bit soft and not substantially wider than the 40 which I think is a great lens. The one I’m still after is the zeiss 50mm sonnar but those are hard to find in good condition for a good price. Soft shutter release was actually one that came with another camera I bought so I don’t have the original make but I’ve had luck with a few generic ones on my robot.
@@ryanbhangdia Thank you for taking the time to respond. It's interesting that you did not find much use for a 30mm, to me, it seens that a 75 would be less useful as I hardly ever shoot digital at that focal length and none of my film cameras have a lens like this. Agreed that a 50mm would be a nice addition. I'm mostly happy with the 40 overall, but I found that it vignettes on the RR36 as it was seemingly designed for the RR24.
Ah interesting that It vignettes on the 36; I like the reach of the 75 for things like photographing my brother playing tennis. I feel the 30 is not meaningfully more wide than the 40 for my use and also much less sharp but that’s just me!
I'm an Exakta user and the ergonomics are what drew me to them. This Robot Royal 24 has the same aesthetic quality, as well as the build quality, I'm sure. It's a unique camera and now I want one! Where did you find it and did you know about them before? -- Great videos BTW.
thanks William! I love how overtly mechanical this one is; it's got such a wonderful steampunk aesthetic to both the look and the feel of using it. I stumbled upon a Casual Photophile article about this camera and it was not the most glamorous review but my interest was piqued and I read everything I could about it and eventually found one for sale online that looked like a decent deal and have been playing with it ever since!
I was researching square format 35mm cameras and found your video. It is excellent information on a very unique camera. Thank you very much for taking the time to create this video.
Thanks Tim, I’m so glad you found value in it!
Really cool video on a cool camera. Thank you very much!
Thanks Thomas, im really glad you enjoyed it - have a bunch of interesting cameras im planning to make some videos about!
Wow. Great camera! Your video really triggered my gas😂
its a neat one for sure! if you ever find an antidote for that syndrome, please let me know..
damn thats a cool camera
Agreed, so unique too
Nice work dude, I always wanted to see an in-depth vid about the robot 24! Loved the look of the contact print with the brush strokes and slices of movement, like a strip of motion picture film -- i feel like that would be a great gift / piece of art. Also appreciated the comparison of the final shot with the b-roll and through-the-viewfinder perspectives; i think that's always helpful in film camera reviews lol
Thanks!! I think it's such a neat camera and totally agree about the brush strokes of the palladium print - that's one my my favorite things about that printing style. I've got a bunch of ideas for creative ways of capturing motion with this camera in little bursts that I'm hoping to explore soon.
wow what a pretty unique camera
agreed Anthony, it's a fascinating little gem. currently working through some ideas of how to use it to make some stop-motion-ey kind of short clips!
Great video!!! I learned a lot!
Thanks Jake!
Thank you for your awesome video! I think it'll help me. Last week the Robot Star of my 1969 died Grandfather found the way into my hands. It's my first analog camera since my early childhood. Normally I'm taking photos with my digital Fujifilm cameras. So - if the Robot Star will work - I hope I can handle it and get some cool photos out of it.
The first sentence of my son as he saw the camera was: "It has no display. How can you take pictures when you don't see what you're pointing on?" 😁 And my first thought was: "How to focus without seeing it in the viewfinder and how to set the right exposure time without any indicators in the camera?". I have to learn a lot now! 🙈🤣 Taking photos back in this time must have been much more work than today. 😅
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Part of my hope in making it was that it could serve as a resource of sorts since I haven’t found many videos that are hands on about these cameras. I think the Robot Star is a viewfinder version, without a rangefinder (though I could be mistaken) so it’s kind of a zone-focus camera where you set the focus on the lens based on the distance from your subjects. In some ways faster!
Best of luck, and happy shooting!
Hey Ryan, I have a Robot Royal 24 and was wondering if you could help me clarify something. The rangefinder is accurate but it’s not coupled from infinity to the green f8 marking on the 40mm lens. I was wondering if this is normal or not, as it works fine once you focus closer than the distance the green mark is at.
Hey! My robot royal 24 is coupled and accurate from close focus to infinity - not entirely clear on the fault you are experiencing but it should be coupled the entire focusing range.
@@ryanbhangdia thank you so much for the info! I thought that might be the case, I’ll see about it getting repaired then 🤝
I've gotten myself a RR 36 about a week ago - thanks so much for your video, it answered a number of questions that I had that I couldn't even get from the user manual.
On the topic of using other lenses, I've found that the Robot Royal cameras have a different bayonet than other older Robot cameras. I've read somewhere that Royal series support all Robot lenses, but newer Royal-specific lenses cannot be used on older cameras. Is this your experience? Just looking to get a companion lens to the 40/1.9 I have, but I'm concerned about getting a Robot lens that I will not be able to use. Thanks in advance!
Oh, and what's the soft release button that you're using? I was unable to find one that fits the larger thread hole the RR has.
Hey Max, thanks for watching and for your comment - I’m so glad that you found some utility in it.
Regarding the lenses I’ve seen some of those newer ones by Schneider (mostly in black) and I’m really not sure if they will work. They look like they should, but I don’t want to mislead and I’m sorry I don’t have a more clear answer for you. I’ve found that the 75mm is a nice counterpart to the 40mm for me, and I found that I didn’t really love the 30mm shown in the video. I felt like it was a bit soft and not substantially wider than the 40 which I think is a great lens. The one I’m still after is the zeiss 50mm sonnar but those are hard to find in good condition for a good price.
Soft shutter release was actually one that came with another camera I bought so I don’t have the original make but I’ve had luck with a few generic ones on my robot.
@@ryanbhangdia Thank you for taking the time to respond. It's interesting that you did not find much use for a 30mm, to me, it seens that a 75 would be less useful as I hardly ever shoot digital at that focal length and none of my film cameras have a lens like this. Agreed that a 50mm would be a nice addition.
I'm mostly happy with the 40 overall, but I found that it vignettes on the RR36 as it was seemingly designed for the RR24.
Ah interesting that It vignettes on the 36; I like the reach of the 75 for things like photographing my brother playing tennis. I feel the 30 is not meaningfully more wide than the 40 for my use and also much less sharp but that’s just me!
I'm an Exakta user and the ergonomics are what drew me to them. This Robot Royal 24 has the same aesthetic quality, as well as the build quality, I'm sure. It's a unique camera and now I want one! Where did you find it and did you know about them before? -- Great videos BTW.
thanks William! I love how overtly mechanical this one is; it's got such a wonderful steampunk aesthetic to both the look and the feel of using it. I stumbled upon a Casual Photophile article about this camera and it was not the most glamorous review but my interest was piqued and I read everything I could about it and eventually found one for sale online that looked like a decent deal and have been playing with it ever since!
I think the square format on 35mm film was a fantastic idea.
Totally agree! I wish more options were made