luftwaffen-eigentum camera

i have a luftwaffen-eigentum camera and trying to find out the history of

it,its very heavy around 750grams,it has a leather case,i will email a photo or

see if i can get a link on here,thanks

Seems like "Robot II" to me.

http://thesolutionarchitects.com/stevew/robots/robindex.htm

The Luftwaffe (air force) of the IIIrd Reich bought very few types of cameras, I only have heard of Leica III (different models) and Robot cameras.

 

If yours rather is a Leica it's very probably a fake. A genuine Luftwaffen Leica would be worth several thousands of USD/EUR.

Possibility of a fake, admittedly, but with that tall wind knob, I would suggest this Robot is a candidate for further investigation.

 

I bought an immaculate transitional military Robot in a used ceramics shop that turned out to be so rare that I sold it to a German enthusiast/expert after much arm-twisting. (my arm)

The camera pictured is a Robot II tall winder in not very good condition. If fully working its worth a premium over a "civilian" Robot II due to its taller winder, black paint and "Luftwaffe Eigentum" stampings. A well documented camera can fetch as much as 300 EUROs (480 USD at current exchange rates) and sometimes more. The camera pictured would probably not fetch much more than 1/2 that (with some luck). If the Biotar is the proper one with an alloy (instead of stainless steel) case and got a coated lens then it could be worth somewhat more. Most of these, however, did not get Biotars but 75mm Sonnars (the alloy cased and coated Sonnars too are worth a bit of a premium to collectors). Most common were the 75mm Tele-Xenars. The "holly grail" of Luftwaffe Robots is the Robot 375, a Robot II with large capacity (10 meters film or 375 photographs). Its worth as much as 3000 EUROs or more. Although as many as 2000 were built most got destroyed.

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"<cite>transitional military Robot</cite>"

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What's a "transitional" military Robot?

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The Germany military purchased mainly Robot IIs. The airforce got the model F-XXXXX-N models. During the war the production was moved for strategic reasons use so even the B's were numbered B-XXXXX-N. Among the airfoce (Luftwaffe) IIs were those with tall and those with regular winder. Some later models did not get viewfinders and some did not get flash connectors. None of these are really that rare as about 20,000 were made and many survived. No all F-series Robots btw. were black. Some were not made black and others got their black removed and were updated by Robot into civilian cameras after the war. Many "black robots" that one sees were not black and some got their "Luftwaffe Eigentum" added at later dates (some don't even have correct serial numbers).

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"<cite>in a used ceramics shop that turned out to be so rare </cite>"

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Tell me more!

i have more photos if anyone wants to see them of this camera,thanks chris

this is another view

this is the lens

this is another of the lens

this is the leather case it came with

The Biotar is in "average" condition and from 1938. If the glass is not too scratched up, without fungus and works it would fetch these days still not much more than $50 USD (on eBay probably much less unless it catches the eye of someone from China, Japan or Korea)-- with a "Luftwaffen Eigentum" stamp a bit more. The camera itself seems to be authentic (and of the same period) but somewhat beaten and incomplete: I don't see the winder for the top!? These were screwed onto the top as a kind of cap for the spring housing. Its used to wind the camera up. Replacement (albeit not original to that camera) can, of course, be easily found. Since its missing the cap I suspect its not been wound-up and tested. Looking at the shape of the leather its perhaps been poorly stored and might no longer function. These cameras tend to need be functional to be collectible.

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Robot "Luftwaffen Eigentum" cameras are not in the same collectors league as their Leica comrades. From a historical perspective, however, the Robot cameras are the more significant and in theory better suited to a collection. There were around 6000 of those tall winder F series cameras made. During WW-II they were used in fighter planes (by not just the German but also by the English and Swedish air forces).

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There are many fake military Robots around but they are generally just Robot IIs (most even post-war production since civilian cameras were pre-war almost exclusively with single springs) with engravings and black paint and so relatively easy to spot by their intact serial numbers and other design bits (such as chrome under the black paint on the lower edges of the camera). Since there were more military tall winder model II cameras made than civilian (there were, at most, a few hundred of these made) most (but not all!) of the "fakes" are with the single spring (normal winder) and B-series (most not even wartime B-XXX-N but many even postwar serial numbers). Single spring F-series Robot cameras are much rarer. Also note: Not all army cameras were black!

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Some might ask: Why are the Robot military cameras if so significant from a photographic/military technological perspective and not made (and survived) in numbers greater than the Leicas (short winder are much rarer) worth so much less? Why is it that a "Nazi Leica" (most are Russian) or Minox (ALL are fake!) can often fetch more than a F-series Robot? Why is it that Leica cameras (real ones, albeit mostly NOT of those made for the military) with Nazi graffiti seem to attract so much $$$ ? Those cameras are not about a piece of technological or military history but a kind of souvenir (the real military Leicas) or fan article (the fakes). I suspect its the lure of evil.

Edward: I don't think the Royal Air Force or the Royal Swedish air force used robots during WW2- I think they only started after the war. I have a Tele-Xenar that was issued by the British military, and have seen a British military Robot IIa and a Robot Junior that have extra bayonet mounts around the lens thread like the Swedish ones (that also have a hand-engraved winged crown to distinguish them). The British ones have the broad arrow.

Luftwaffen Eigentum stamp at back of camera

LUFTWAFFEN EIGENTUMB STAMP ON TELE XEHAR 75MM LENS

Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum with 12 V DC remote actuator

The dfference between Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum and Robot II

 

Luftwaffen Eigentum has a tall winder, the Robot II has a short winder

 

Robot II camera not the same as Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum

Regular 135 cassette won't fit into Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum

 

 

You need Robot cassette and Robot film loader

Robot cassette for Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum

 

Robot cassette diameter is smaller then regular 35mm cassette

Use special Robot film loader to load film from 35mm cassette to Robot cassette

Robot Luffwaffen Eigentum has a serial number started with F, meaning Flieger, fighter

 

It was mounted on the right wing of Messerschmidt and Focke Wolf fighters.