Brandon Harris

Does anyone think Preston will come out with a new hand unit anytime soon? I guess there isn't too much for them to improve on to justify creating a whole new handset.

I can back up the claim on it being cheaper. I got quotes for identical kits from both Preston and Arri and Arri's came out cheaper. 3/4 of the items on the quote were available, and the remaining items had a 4 week lead time. Preston was 6 months. And they also didn't say which of the items were backordered and which were available. The Arri customer service has also been excellent. It took Preston a week to send me a quote, and several days to answer a question, and another week to answer a second. Arri had sent me a quote in a matter of hours, and they answered all my questions almost instantly.

I've uploaded the price list to dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kotydaugjhcxmbs/ARRI%20Pro%20Camera%20Accessories%20PCA%20Price%20List%20-%20US%20Version%20July%202014.pdf?dl=0

Now that lens mapping is implemented into the WCU4 so you can use pre-printed rings and see your distance readout on the screen with any lens or camera, I'm seeing fewer and fewer reasons to go with the Preston. I've done a lot of shows recently where the DP or Cam Op prefers to control the iris by hand, rather than with a motor, and one thing I also think is really cool about the Arri system, is that you can put one of their lens data encoders (https://www.arri.de/camera/pro_camera_accessories_electronic_control_system/products/lens_data_encoder_lde_1/) and receive iris and depth of field info to the handset, while still retaining manual control of the iris ring.

The WCU4/UMC4 already have Cinetape interface capabilities, and they offer Sony R/S and power cables, in 12v as well.

Hi, I'm in the market to purchase my first FIZ unit, and I'm having some trouble deciding between Arri's new(ish) WCU-4 (and UMC4 controller for non-Arri cameras) or the tried and true Preston 3. As it's a fairly large investment, I want something that will still be relevant for quite some time, even as cameras are updated. This is where I feel like the Preston is a better choice. It will always be made to work with any 3rd party camera, whereas the WCU4 seems like it could be outdated quicker because of the amount of camera interfacing it does with Alexa Plus cameras. I love the FIZ3, but I think a lot of the features in the WCU4 are really nice, and I like the design of it. Seems very comfortable and easy to hold for those long days. I've never been able to use a WCU-4 in person, so I can't directly compare it to a FIZ3, which I have a lot more experience with. Does anyone here have any experiences with the WCU4 and have any recommendations? Should I stick with the industry standard FIZ3 or give something new a shot? Thanks, Brandon Harris Focus Puller BC, Canada