Re: Alpa

[Neil Gordon <ardvinyl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Donald,
	 It sounds like you got the deal of a lifetime!! I paid roughly six
times what you paid and I felt that I had a bargain!!  Have you ever
seen an Alpa price list especially a more recent one?  I did manage to
get an Alpa bracket which allows me to support the camera in an upside
down position (drop shift).  I've only used it a couple of times because
it is quite unwieldy.

	I've often thought of contacting the former US distributor (Carl Heitz)
to see if they have electrical and mechanical schematics.  At some point
in time it may not be a bad idea to go from Alpa's NiCad battery to one
of the "no memory" types.  But, obviously, the connections would have to
be changed.  I'd also like to have the schematics for the day when
service by the distributor is no longer available.

	I'm not sure what Alpa Roto sales were like in the US but I'm willing
to bet that they never reached the hundreds of units, maybe even half of
that. I had heard an interesting story as to how they came to be from
one of the camera's original developers who is now with Seitz
(Roundshot).  It seems that NATO was looking for a camera that could be
used on the battlefield to take 360 degree images - thus the Alpa Roto. 
I understand that the unit that NATO received was machined out of steel
vs. the aluminum models that we own.  Part of their acceptance by the
military was the ability of the camera to survive battlefield conditions
including having them "run over" by such vehicles as a tank (I'm only
repeating what the Sietz representative told me).  The "civilian" model
went into production as an offshoot of the commitment to NATO.  From
what I understand Alpa did not invent the camera they only fabricated
it.  The original developers of the camera had some sort of "falling
out" with Alpa, left and started the Seitz organization.  If you like
the Alpa Roto you'll appreciate some of the engineering features in the Roundshot.

	What type of support do you use for it?  I'm curious to know how you
get about with it?

	Best regards, Neil