<PAGE>
 
   As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 20, 1998
                                              Registration No. 333-

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C.  20549
                                        

                                   Form S-8
                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     Under
                          THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933



                         ROBOTIC VISION SYSTEMS, INC.
            (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

          Delaware                                            11-2400145
(State or other jurisdiction of                            (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)                           Identification Number)


                              425 Rabro Drive East
                           Hauppauge, New York  11788
                    (Address of principal executive offices)


            VANGUARD AUTOMATION, INC. 1993 LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN
                            (Full title of the Plan)


                                  PAT V. COSTA
                     President and Chief Executive Officer
                          Robotic Vision Systems, Inc.
                              425 Rabro Drive East
                           Hauppauge, New York 11788
                                 (516) 273-9700
(Name, address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)


                                with a copy to:

                              IRA I. ROXLAND, Esq.
                Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C.
                                800 Third Avenue
                           New York, New York  10021
                                 (212) 688-7000


                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
 
                                                            Proposed        Proposed       Amount of
                                            Amount to       maximum          maximum      registration
  Title of securities to be registered    be registered  offering price     aggregate         fee
                                                           per share*    offering price*
<S>                                       <C>              <C>             <C>              <C>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share..  328,749 shs.        $.70          $230,124         $100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>
*  All shares to be registered on this Form S-8 are issuable pursuant to
   options which previously have been granted.
<PAGE>
 
PART II.  INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.   Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

          The following documents, filed by Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. (the
"Registrant") with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated
herein by reference and made a part hereof:

          1.   Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
               ended September 30, 1997;

          2.   Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 18, 1997,
               as amended on Form 8-K/A on January 16, 1998;

          3.   Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-3 dated January 
               20, 1998; and

          4.   Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 0-8623)
               containing a description of Registrant's Common Stock, par value
               $.01 per share (the "Common Stock").


          All documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a),
  13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange
  Act") after the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of
  a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that
  all Common Stock registered hereby has been sold or which deregisters such
  Common Stock then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by
  reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
  of filing of such documents (such documents, and the documents listed above,
  being hereinafter referred to as "Incorporated Documents"). Any statement
  contained in an Incorporated Document shall be deemed to be modified or
  superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a
  statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed Incorporated
  Document modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified
  or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to
  constitute a part of this Registration Statement.


                                     II-1
<PAGE>
 
  Item 4.  Description of Securities.

           The Common Stock of Registrant is registered under Section 12 of the
  Exchange Act.


  Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

            Not Applicable


  Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

           Article SEVENTH of the Certificate of Incorporation of the
  Registrant provides with respect to the indemnification of directors and
  officers that the Registrant shall indemnify to the fullest extent permitted
  by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended from time
  to time, each person that such Section grants the Registrant power to
  indemnify.  Article TENTH of the Certificate of Incorporation of the
  Registrant also provides that no director shall be liable to the corporation
  or any of its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty
  as a director, except with respect to (1) a breach of the director's duty of
  loyalty to the corporation of its stockholders, (2) acts or omissions not in
  good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of
  law, (3) liability under Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
  or (4) a transaction from which the director derived an improper personal
  benefit, it being the intention of the foregoing provision to eliminate the
  ability of the corporation's directors to the corporation or its stockholders
  to the fullest extent permitted by Section 102(b)(7) of Delaware General
  Corporation Law, as amended from time to time.

           Section 145 of the Delaware Corporation Law provides, inter alia,
  that to the extent a director, officer, employee or agent of a corporation has
  been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or
  proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative or in
  defense of any claim, issue or matter therein (hereinafter, a "Proceeding"),
  by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent
  of a corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a
  director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a
  partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise (collectively an "Agent"
  of the corporation), he shall be indemnified against expenses (including
  attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection
  therewith.

           Section 145 also provides that a corporation may indemnify any person
  who was or is a party or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any
  threatened Proceeding by


                                     II-2
<PAGE>
 
  reason of the fact that he is or was an Agent of the corporation, against
  expenses (including attorneys' fees) judgments, fines and amounts paid in
  settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with such
  action, suit or proceeding if he acted in good faith and in a manner he
  reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the
  corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no
  reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful; provided, however, that
  in an action by or in the right of the corporation, the corporation may not
  indemnify such person in respect of any claim, issue, or matter as to which he
  is adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless, and only to the extent
  that, the Court of Chancery or the court in which such proceeding was brought
  determines that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the
  circumstances of the case, such person is reasonably entitled to indemnity.


  Item 7.  Exemption from Registration Claimed.

           Not Applicable.


  Item 8.  Exhibits.

       4         Vanguard Automation, Inc. 1993 Long-Term Incentive Plan

       5         Opinion of Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C. as
                 to the legality of the Common Stock registered hereby

       23(a)     Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP

       23(b)(i)  Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP
            (ii) Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP

       23(c)     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

       23(d)     Consent of KPMG Peat Marwick LLP

       23(e)     Consent of Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C.
                 (reference is made to Exhibit 5 herein)


  Item 9.  Undertakings.

            (a) The Registrant hereby undertakes:

                (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
  being made of the securities registered hereby, a post-effective amendment to
  this Registration Statement;


                                     II-3
<PAGE>
 
                (i)   to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
                      the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act");

                (ii)  to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
                      after the effective date of this Registration Statement
                      (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof)
                      which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a
                      fundamental change in the information set forth in this
                      Registration Statement; and

               (iii)  to include any material information with respect to the
                      plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this
                      Registration Statement or any material change to such
                      information in this Registration Statement;

  provided, however, that the undertakings set forth in paragraphs (i) and (ii)
  above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-
  effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed
  by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act
  that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

            (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
  Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
  registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
  offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
  bona fide offering thereof.

            (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
  amendment any of the securities being registered hereby which remain unsold at
  the termination of the offering.

        (b) The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining
  any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of Registrant's annual
  report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is
  incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be
  a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and
  the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
  bona fide offering thereof.

        (c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
  Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
  of the Registrant pursuant to the provisions of the Certificate of
  Incorporation of the Registrant and the provisions of the Delaware law
  described under Item 6 above, the Registrant has been advised that in the
  opinion of the


                                     II-4
<PAGE>
 
Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy
as expressed in the Securities Act, and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.


                                     II-5
<PAGE>
 
                                  SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the Village of Hauppauge, State of New York, on the 16th day of
January, 1998.

                               ROBOTIC VISION SYSTEMS, INC.


                               By: /s/Pat V. Costa
                                   ---------------
                                   Pat V. Costa, President


     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities indicated on the dates indicated.

     Signature                     Title                           Date
 
                            Chairman of the
                            Board, President
                            and Director (Principal
/s/Pat V. Costa             Executive Officer)                January 16, 1998
---------------------
Pat V. Costa
                            Executive Vice      
                            President, Secretary/
                            Treasurer and       
                            Director (Principal 
                            Financial Officer   
                            and Principal       
/s/Robert H. Walker         Accounting Officer                January 16, 1998
---------------------
Robert H. Walker
 
                            Executive Vice President
/s/ Steven Bilodeau         and Director                      January 16, 1998
---------------------
Steven Bilodeau

                            Senior Vice President
/s/Howard Stern             and Director                      January 16, 1998
---------------------
Howard Stern
 
/s/Jay M. Haft              Director                          January 16, 1998
---------------------
Jay M. Haft

Donald J. Kramer            Director
                            
Mark J. Lerner              Director

Frank A. DiPietro           Director

Tomas Kohn                  Director
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15548}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "ROBOTIC VISION SYSTEMS INC", "cik": "0000225868", "assigned-sic": "3823", "irs-number": "112400145", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "0930"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-44495", "film-number": "98509001"}, "business-address": {"street1": "425 RABRO DR EAST", "city": "HAUPPAUGE", "state": "NY", "zip": "11788", "phone": "5162739700"}, "former-company": {"former-conformed-name": "SOLID PHOTOGRAPHY INC", "date-changed": "19810819"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 20, 1998
                                              Registration No. 333-

                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C.  20549
                                        

                                   Form S-8
                            REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                     Under
                          THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                         ROBOTIC VISION SYSTEMS, INC.
            (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

          Delaware                                            11-2400145
(State or other jurisdiction of                            (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)                           Identification Number)

                              425 Rabro Drive East
                           Hauppauge, New York  11788
                    (Address of principal executive offices)

            VANGUARD AUTOMATION, INC. 1993 LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN
                            (Full title of the Plan)

                                  PAT V. COSTA
                     President and Chief Executive Officer
                          Robotic Vision Systems, Inc.
                              425 Rabro Drive East
                           Hauppauge, New York 11788
                                 (516) 273-9700
(Name, address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

                                with a copy to:

                              IRA I. ROXLAND, Esq.
                Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C.
                                800 Third Avenue
                           New York, New York  10021
                                 (212) 688-7000

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Proposed        Proposed       Amount of
                                            Amount to       maximum          maximum      registration
  Title of securities to be registered    be registered  offering price     aggregate         fee
                                                           per share*    offering price*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share..  328,749 shs.        $.70          $230,124         $100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*  All shares to be registered on this Form S-8 are issuable pursuant to
   options which previously have been granted.
PART II.  INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.   Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

          The following documents, filed by Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. (the
"Registrant") with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated
herein by reference and made a part hereof:

          1.   Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
               ended September 30, 1997;

          2.   Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 18, 1997,
               as amended on Form 8-K/A on January 16, 1998;

          3.   Registrant's Registration Statement on Form S-3 dated January 
               20, 1998; and

          4.   Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 0-8623)
               containing a description of Registrant's Common Stock, par value
               $.01 per share (the "Common Stock").

          All documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a),
  13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange
  Act") after the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of
  a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement which indicates that
  all Common Stock registered hereby has been sold or which deregisters such
  Common Stock then remaining unsold shall be deemed to be incorporated by
  reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date
  of filing of such documents (such documents, and the documents listed above,
  being hereinafter referred to as "Incorporated Documents"). Any statement
  contained in an Incorporated Document shall be deemed to be modified or
  superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a
  statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed Incorporated
  Document modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified
  or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to
  constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

                                     II-1
Item 4.  Description of Securities.

           The Common Stock of Registrant is registered under Section 12 of the
  Exchange Act.

  Item 5.  Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

            Not Applicable

  Item 6.  Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

           Article SEVENTH of the Certificate of Incorporation of the
  Registrant provides with respect to the indemnification of directors and
  officers that the Registrant shall indemnify to the fullest extent permitted
  by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended from time
  to time, each person that such Section grants the Registrant power to
  indemnify.  Article TENTH of the Certificate of Incorporation of the
  Registrant also provides that no director shall be liable to the corporation
  or any of its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty
  as a director, except with respect to (1) a breach of the director's duty of
  loyalty to the corporation of its stockholders, (2) acts or omissions not in
  good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of
  law, (3) liability under Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
  or (4) a transaction from which the director derived an improper personal
  benefit, it being the intention of the foregoing provision to eliminate the
  ability of the corporation's directors to the corporation or its stockholders
  to the fullest extent permitted by Section 102(b)(7) of Delaware General
  Corporation Law, as amended from time to time.

           Section 145 of the Delaware Corporation Law provides, inter alia,
  that to the extent a director, officer, employee or agent of a corporation has
  been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or
  proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative or in
  defense of any claim, issue or matter therein (hereinafter, a "Proceeding"),
  by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent
  of a corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a
  director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a
  partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise (collectively an "Agent"
  of the corporation), he shall be indemnified against expenses (including
  attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection
  therewith.

           Section 145 also provides that a corporation may indemnify any person
  who was or is a party or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any
  threatened Proceeding by

                                     II-2
reason of the fact that he is or was an Agent of the corporation, against
  expenses (including attorneys' fees) judgments, fines and amounts paid in
  settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with such
  action, suit or proceeding if he acted in good faith and in a manner he
  reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the
  corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no
  reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful; provided, however, that
  in an action by or in the right of the corporation, the corporation may not
  indemnify such person in respect of any claim, issue, or matter as to which he
  is adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless, and only to the extent
  that, the Court of Chancery or the court in which such proceeding was brought
  determines that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the
  circumstances of the case, such person is reasonably entitled to indemnity.

  Item 7.  Exemption from Registration Claimed.

           Not Applicable.

  Item 8.  Exhibits.

       4         Vanguard Automation, Inc. 1993 Long-Term Incentive Plan

       5         Opinion of Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C. as
                 to the legality of the Common Stock registered hereby

       23(a)     Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP

       23(b)(i)  Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP
            (ii) Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP

       23(c)     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

       23(d)     Consent of KPMG Peat Marwick LLP

       23(e)     Consent of Cooperman Levitt Winikoff Lester & Newman, P.C.
                 (reference is made to Exhibit 5 herein)

  Item 9.  Undertakings.

            (a) The Registrant hereby undertakes:

                (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
  being made of the securities registered hereby, a post-effective amendment to
  this Registration Statement;

                                     II-3
(i)   to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
                      the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act");

                (ii)  to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
                      after the effective date of this Registration Statement
                      (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof)
                      which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a
                      fundamental change in the information set forth in this
                      Registration Statement; and

               (iii)  to include any material information with respect to the
                      plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this
                      Registration Statement or any material change to such
                      information in this Registration Statement;

  provided, however, that the undertakings set forth in paragraphs (i) and (ii)
  above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-
  effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed
  by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act
  that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

            (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
  Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
  registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
  offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
  bona fide offering thereof.

            (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
  amendment any of the securities being registered hereby which remain unsold at
  the termination of the offering.

        (b) The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining
  any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of Registrant's annual
  report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is
  incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be
  a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and
  the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
  bona fide offering thereof.

        (c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
  Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
  of the Registrant pursuant to the provisions of the Certificate of
  Incorporation of the Registrant and the provisions of the Delaware law
  described under Item 6 above, the Registrant has been advised that in the
  opinion of the

                                     II-4
Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy
as expressed in the Securities Act, and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                     II-5
SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the Village of Hauppauge, State of New York, on the 16th day of
January, 1998.

                               ROBOTIC VISION SYSTEMS, INC.

                               By: /s/Pat V. Costa
                                   ---------------
                                   Pat V. Costa, President

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities indicated on the dates indicated.

     Signature                     Title                           Date
 
                            Chairman of the
                            Board, President
                            and Director (Principal
/s/Pat V. Costa             Executive Officer)                January 16, 1998
---------------------
Pat V. Costa
                            Executive Vice      
                            President, Secretary/
                            Treasurer and       
                            Director (Principal 
                            Financial Officer   
                            and Principal       
/s/Robert H. Walker         Accounting Officer                January 16, 1998
---------------------
Robert H. Walker
 
                            Executive Vice President
/s/ Steven Bilodeau         and Director                      January 16, 1998
---------------------
Steven Bilodeau

                            Senior Vice President
/s/Howard Stern             and Director                      January 16, 1998
---------------------
Howard Stern
 
/s/Jay M. Haft              Director                          January 16, 1998
---------------------
Jay M. Haft

Donald J. Kramer            Director
                            
Mark J. Lerner              Director

Frank A. DiPietro           Director

Tomas Kohn                  Director