Preston HU3

[GerryVasbenter]

:rolleyes: Hi y'all I've finally got my new HU3, FI unit, MDR2, three motors etc, a complete package. my questions for the forum are what do other owners do to commission /test their units. What degree of accuracy is expected and accepted?

So far I've been through the basic functions of both units without lens mapping, on a millennium XL body with a 75mm Primo lens down at PV UK, so far so good a small amount of drift on the trims, or is it just parallax from the viewing position? (it's been a while since I focused anything other than an eye piece diopter :blink: )

Tomorrow I'm going to meet up with my regular 1ST AC to go through both units on an Arri and PV camera/lens setup with lens mapping etc.

Any page one user mistakes to avoid? and save my embarrassment when I ring Preston and say " it doesn't work for me..."

Cheers from London town

Gerry

[nealnorton]

Should be very close to "spot on" with maybe a 'line' off due to the lash on 32 pitch gears working on a stiff lens. I have found by far the most common cause of accuracy problems to be caused by flex in the hardware that is used to mount the motor against the lens. The stronger and more rigid the hardware, the better the accuracy. If the motor can move even very slightly then of course you will end up at a different spot depending on direction of motor travel. 19mm mounting rods help a great deal compared to the smaller diameters.

 

Also, with the HU3 I've found that every Panavision lens (of the same focal legth) is a little different so you will need to do an edit on the lenses listed on you HU3.

 

Really great stuff. I doubt you will have any complaints. Also, if you didn't buy the Cinetape interface - It is really cool, you might want to add someday.

 

Kind regards,

 

Neal Norton

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

Should be very close to "spot on" with maybe a 'line' off due to the lash on 32 pitch gears working on a stiff lens. I have found by far the most common cause of accuracy problems to be caused by flex in the hardware that is used to mount the motor against the lens. The stronger and more rigid the hardware, the better the accuracy. If the motor can move even very slightly then of course you will end up at a different spot depending on direction of motor travel. 19mm mounting rods help a great deal compared to the smaller diameters.

 

Also, with the HU3 I've found that every Panavision lens (of the same focal legth) is a little different so you will need to do an edit on the lenses listed on you HU3.

 

Really great stuff. I doubt you will have any complaints. Also, if you didn't buy the Cinetape interface - It is really cool, you might want to add someday.

 

Kind regards,

 

Neal Norton

 

The more accurate you calibrate your lens initially, the more accurate it will recall it later. Just remember that you will only match the infinity mark later. So, if you are sloppy there, your lens will not match up.

It's a great system.

 

Jens