Hedén M26VE with Preston anybody?

[Peter Milanov]

About to upgrade to a Preston, but thinking of maybe using Hedéns digital motor M26VE, (nice to have next door service on the motors at least....) Anybody have any experience with this motor together with the Preston?

[Erwin Landau]

Hi Peter,

 

Sorry but that would be like buying a Ferrari and putting a Fiat engine in because it's easier to fix...

 

First of all I do not believe that the Motor will be able to communicate with the MDR (Motor Driver) without mods at what point you are making a one of (no easy exchange in a bind), only the Micro Force is modified to work with the range of Heden Motors. (I could be wrong, check with Howard Preston on that...)

Second, the actual selling point for the Preston were and still is the range of the DM series of motors. One of my DM-1 motors is over 10 years old and just had it's second service from new (opened it up, checked, no wear, closed it, done). I own 4 motors and had in 6 years only one go down on me on set (AC fried a DM-2 as he left it stoled on a sticky lens for a half an hour). BTW: 24 hour turnaround on that repair.

 

Yes I am bias about Heden. I had received very poor costumer service with my then VP-28 when it came out and didn't work properly. So I followed Magnus's advice... enough said.

 

Anyhow, I have received only the best and fastest service from Preston.

 

So I don't see the reasoning in using any other motors with a Preston.

 

 

Just my rambling,

 

Erwin

[Peter Milanov]

Sorry but that would be like buying a Ferrari and putting a Fiat engine in because it's easier to fix...

 

auch, that´s harsh... :lol: actually I believe the Heden is up to par with the DM-2, after all the C-motion system is delivered with the M26VE.

 

I´m under the impression that the M26VE will work with the Preston without any modification, otherwise I wouldn´t even consider using it. I´ll have to check up on that.

 

I´ve been using a Heden M28VPT with my BFD for the last five years and never had a problem so I´m not familiar with Hedens service. Anybody else had any experience with that, good or bad?

 

I like the integrated "bracket" that the Heden has, very simple to attach and adjust to perfect position, very handy when using the Pro35 adapters where motor placement is very important for not having the motor to bind. Actually, the only bracket I carry is a dogbone for offset and I have only had to use it once. They also have a damn good gear system as well.

 

That brings me to another question for all you Preston users, what type of motor brackets would I need for the DM motors? Do I need all the different brackets Preston have (3 I believe) for each motor, or is the one Jerry Hill makes (PAM) a good substitute?

 

I have no doubt in the service from Preston, but the shipping alone is 24 hours at best, one way. So in reallity it would take about a week to get anything fixed regardless how fast they are at Preston...

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

Peter,

 

Magnus at Heden has always been very good to me, but I have not had extensive dealings with them. They do make good motors though. You are correct that the M26VE works with the Preston. To quote Heden's outdated website:

 

"Hedén M26VE digital motor is the smallest, most quiet running, and easy to mount lens servo motor on the market. It is compatible witth most digital systems like C-Motion, Chrosziel, Preston, Service-Vision etc. Please contact us for quote."

 

I feel your pain regarding motor mounts. When I used the vertical Hedens (M-28VP) with my Bartech, I found no motor easier to mount (especially on the iris ring). I did eventually buy two M-1s because they are a little more powerful, etc. Over time, I started to use the M-1 for focus and reverted back to the Heden for iris because of the amazing ambidextrous ability of the Heden.

 

When I switched to Preston, I did buy one DM1 & two DM2s because I felt it best to stick to the Preston line (although I DID purchase Jerry Hill's PAMs for all three motors). At first I was mildly annoyed because I had to learn new motor mounting tricks (I started with a Seitz and the evil horizontally mounted Hedens so I'm pretty jaded when it comes to messing with motors). In short time, I came to love the Preston motors and Jerry's PAM brackets. They can put the motor to the lens in an extraordinary number of combinations. While on the surface, they may seem more complicated than the M-1 or Heden, you virtually never need to use a dog bone (never say never though) which means at the end of the day, they are incredible simple to use and rigid. At this point, I never want to use anything else (again, never say never).

 

I hear you on wanting to buy locally though. I try to buy all American made gear for the same reason (Klassen vest is the biggest exception). Good luck.

[Mike McGowan SOC]

My first set of Preston motors is ten years old. One of them was once dunked in salt water. They have all been wet at one time or another, most have been smacked on door jams and all of them have been dropped several times. I have only Preston brackets and have never spent more than a few seconds getting multiple motors to fit on a lens and I've used many different makes and models of lenses. The few times I've needed service, Preston turned stuff around in no time at all.

 

I guess if you really want to use the Heden motors, knock your self out but I can't imagine why you would. I doubt service is going to be an issue regardless of which motor you use so unless the Heden motors are much, much, much less expensive (like free), I'd just stick with the system that the overwhelmingly large majority of 'A List' steadicam operators use and have used since they first came out.

 

Didn't Preston win an Academy Award?

 

mm.

 

What I'm trying to say is you should defiantly get the Heden motors... :P (j/k).

[Peter Milanov]

Thanks all for your input. Now all I have to do is decide... Still waiting for a price quote from Preston. I did get a very good offer from Hedén as you might have guessed and I am a little over budget with investments this year as it is. On the other hand, I won´t get the Preston until well into next year, sometimes long lead time is a good thing :rolleyes:

[Afton Grant]

I hear you on wanting to buy locally though. I try to buy all American made gear for the same reason (Klassen vest is the biggest exception). Good luck.

 

Although, here in NYC, Walter could be considered more local than anyone else!

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

"Although, here in NYC, Walter could be considered more local than anyone else!"

 

Until you add customs into the mix!!! I've come to mostly trust FedEx overnight to LA, but once a package has to cross a border all bets are off!

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

"Although, here in NYC, Walter could be considered more local than anyone else!"

 

Until you add customs into the mix!!! I've come to mostly trust FedEx overnight to LA, but once a package has to cross a border all bets are off!

 

 

I'm using the DM1/DM2 and the M26VE with my MDR2. It works great. They very lightweight and they use the same base motor (made in Germany) as the DM2.

 

This is my "I'm always ready for an Iris change motor". ;)

 

Jens

 

Heden