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 IIa (1951) is a spring-motor-driven 35mm camera producing 24×24mm square frames on standard 35mm film, manufactured by Otto Berning & Co. in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is a transitional model: mechanically close to the prewar Robot II (1938) while incorporating minor postwar refinements, and sharing production overlap with the Robot Star (1952) that would succeed it.
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.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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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
The Robot IIa was the short-lived postwar bridge between the wartime Robot II and the polished civilian Robot Star — a transitional spring-motor 24×24mm camera produced in small numbers in the early 1950s.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm, 24×24mm square (~50 exp per 36-exp roll) |
| Mount | Robot bayonet |
| Years | 1951–1953 |
| Standard lens | Schneider Xenar 38mm f/2.8 |
| Fast lens | 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 |
The Robot II was produced from 1938 through the war years and into the postwar period. By 1951, Otto Berning was refining the design in preparation for the more polished Robot Star, which introduced improvements to the body finish, spring mechanism, and lens lineup. The Robot IIa occupied the production line in the interim — incorporating some early postwar refinements without yet achieving the full Star specification.
The Robot Star (1952) displaced the IIa and introduced a cammed rangefinder to Robot cameras for the first time. The IIa is therefore the last Robot without a rangefinder in the standard spring-motor civilian line. The lineage continued through the Robot Royal 24 and Royal 36 into the 1960s.
The Robot IIa is of interest primarily to Robot collectors and historians of postwar German camera production. It is rare and transitional, occupying a brief window between two more significant models. For users, it offers the same spring-motor functionality as the Robot II or Star — rapid-sequence square-format photography — without the collector premium of a wartime Robot II or the rangefinder convenience of the Robot Star.
The Robot bayonet mount accepts the same lenses as the Robot II and Robot Star:
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 IIa
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