Subject: Aletta wood monorail kit?

On 1/9/2004 12:03 PM Marc Fraioli spake thus:

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 00:12:23 -0800, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Turns out I know about this person (Yvon Bourque) because I bought
his book on
making your own bellows from eBay. Actually, that book turned out
to be just a
chapter in the book on making this very camera. I think it's just
he and his
wife (the camera is named after her).

Thanks David and Bob G for your replies. It sounds like the guy is for real,
although I am still amazed that he can sell this for literally half what
the Bender kit goes for, especially given that the Bender is pretty cheap
itself already.

Basically, I'm looking for a cheap first LF camera, and am trying to
decide amongst this, Bender, or an old Graphic View or cheap Calumet via
ebay. I'm intrigued by the super-low price of this Aletta camera-- maybe
I'll just go for it and be the guinea pig. :-)

David Nebenzahl ) wrote:

"I'd guess you would be happy with it, and I'm positive Yvon would
cheerfully
refund your money if you weren't.


--
Focus: A very overrated feature.

- From Marcy Merrill's lexicon at Junk Store Cameras
(http://merrillphoto.com/JunkStoreCameras.htm)"

Actually I had major headaches with this guy Yvon Bourque from Aletta
Cameras. I'm not upset that he made a mistake with my order, but that
he would not make amends. I ordered a camera *kit* from him and he
sent me an e-mail saying it would take 2 weeks. That was perfect for
my photography class. After 4 weeks, I attempted to cancel my order
and he refused. PayPal would not help either. As it turns out, he
accidentally built the entire camera for me and it tooks EIGHT WEEKS
for delivery! By that time my photography course was over and I no
longer had access to a darkroom. He also didn't include a film holder
so even if I did have a darkroom, the camera is useless to me. I tried
to ask him to take the camera back but he will not answer my e-mails.

I'm just going to have to sell it on eBay when I get time, but with
work and school, I haven't had the chance yet.

Buyer beware!

--Library Student