C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Robot II (1938) is a spring-motor-driven 35mm camera producing 24×24mm square frames on standard 35mm film, built by Otto Berning & Co. in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is the second generation of the Robot design, introduced in 1938 to refine the original Robot I (1934) and provide improved lens options and mechanical reliability.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →C41
Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
Otto Berning's Robot II — introduced in 1938 — was the prewar spring-motor camera that established the Robot concept: compact, rapid-sequence square-format photography on standard 35mm film.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm, 24×24mm square (50 exp per 36-exp roll) |
| Mount | Robot bayonet |
| Years | 1938–1951 |
| Standard lens | Schneider Xenar 38mm f/2.8 |
| Fast lens option | Schneider Xenon 38mm f/1.9 |
| Shutter | Focal-plane: 1/25s – 1/500s + B |
| Film advance | Spring motor (approx. 8–10 frames per wind) |
| Meter | None |
| Viewfinder | Optical direct, no rangefinder |
| Battery | None |
Otto Berning introduced the Robot I in 1934 — one of the first cameras to integrate a spring-wound motor for automatic film advance. The Robot II (1938) followed with a refined mount system and improved lens lineup. During the Second World War, the Robot II was requisitioned for military use: mounted in aircraft for automatic sequence recording of ground targets, used in surveillance installations, and deployed by technical and scientific units across multiple theatres.
After the war, production resumed at Berning's factory in Düsseldorf. The Robot II remained in the catalogue into the early 1950s before being superseded by the improved Robot IIa (1951) and then the postwar civilian Robot Star (1952). The original Robot II remained influential: its successor models maintained the same spring-motor concept through the Royal 24, Royal 36, and ultimately into industrial and traffic-enforcement Robot cameras produced into the 1990s.
The Robot II is the foundation of one of the most unusual and technically interesting camera lineages in 35mm photography. In an era when film advance required a deliberate manual thumb stroke, the Robot offered automatic sequential shooting from a pocket-sized body. The prewar German engineering is remarkable — most surviving examples remain mechanically sound after 80+ years.
For contemporary photographers, the square format and Schneider optics create a distinctive aesthetic. The Robot bayonet mount accepts a reasonable range of lenses and the spring-motor mechanism remains both practical and engaging to use.
The Robot bayonet mount accepts:
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Robot II
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