Luftwaffe-Marked ROBOT Luftwaffen Eigentum Camera with Tripod. The Luftwaffen Robot was made for the German military in WWII, they usually have taller winding knobs and were black painted. Civilian versions of the Robot were discontinued at the outset of the Second World War, but it was used as a bomb damage assessment camera by the Luftwaffe, mounted in the tail of Ju 87 (Stuka) dive bombers. This was an electrically driven camera using large cassettes, possibly as many as 300 24 x 24mm images. This example is missing much of its black finish, but thankfully the leather is included which covers this area. The back of the camera is marked Luftwaffen Eigentem which translates to Air Force Property. The front lens is marked: ROBOT DRP Schneider-Kreuznach No. 1813765 Tele-Xenar f:3,8 F=7.5cm There is still a roll of film in the camera, but we didn’t check to see if there’s any film in the roll. Also comes with a cased set of Tripod specifically for the Robot. Otto Berning and Co. started manufacturing amateur cameras in 1934. A young watchmaker in his 30's, Heinz Kilfitt designed the first compact camera Robot would be so well known for. He sold the design to Hans Berning, who was only 23 and worked for his father's company. The 35mm loaded film cartridge was invented in 1936. Up to that time, 35mm photographers had to load the 35mm film into film K-cartridges themselves. One cassette for the unexposed and one for the exposed film. The only camera companies using 35mm at this time were Leica and Zeiss Contax. There was a film format of 24x24mm that was offered to Kodak and Agfa, but they rejected the 24x24mm frame size, and it was sold to Hans Berning, who put it into the Robot cameras. A real advantage of the 24x24mm frame size was that the photographer could get 50 images on a roll of film instead of standard 36 on the traditional 24x36mm format. With a full wind of the top crank motor, the photographer could get approximately 25 images transported. Another advantage of the square film design was no need to turn the camera for vertical shots. Since the Robot Luftwaffen Eigentum was made for the German Air force during WWII, they were created for reconnaissance or shoot control recording. The cameras were mounted on their airplanes due to the resistance of vibration and cold conditions. First and foremost, I want to take a moment and say if this post about a German camera explicitly made for the German Air Force during WWII makes you uncomfortable or upset, I sincerely apologize. I enjoy everything photographic, and this camera has always been one I've wanted to own, like with so many others, but this one I can afford, unlike the grey Leica's or other rarities.