Brief HEDÉN company history

Björn Hedén was born in Weimar Germany on May 7th 1927. After graduating from the Stockholm Institute of Technology in 1950, he started to work at L M Ericsson as a drafting and experimental engineer.

Björn Hedén shows his equipment (1965)

In 1954 he joined forces with Victor Hasselblad at the Hasselblad Company. It was here he developed his big interest in camera technology. After several U.S. patents for inventing the shutter mechanism of the mirror reflex camera (the now legendary HASSELBLAD 500C) he and Victor Hasselblad did not get along anymore and Björn headed back to LM Ericsson to design Swedish military radar equipment. But it was cameras that were Björns real passion in life and therefore he started his own company in 1964, with the intention of designing and constructing high quality camera equipment. HEDÉN engineering was born. Famous Swedish film photographer Albert Rudling asked Björn if he could make a motor and control-unit that controlled zoom, focus and iris for his film camera. Within a couple of months he had the complete equipment ready for testing and it was an instant success.

During the following years HEDÉN became a concept to count on in the film industry when zoom, focus and iris control became vital parts for film cameras. In 1971 Björn was nominated for a technical Oscar for his works. Around 1973 the new line of motors came out. They featured a patented ball gearbox that made them incredibly strong, fast, and quiet. In 1976 the revolutionary ZF-2000 control handle was released. With one single handle you could control both zoom and focus with an extraordinary accuracy that had never been possible before.

In the 1980's, HEDÉN equipment became extremely popular among film photographers and became common on Steadicams, Skycams, Helicoptercams, cranes, etc. In 1990 NASA and ESA sent special built HEDÉN motors to space in a very successful mission. The rest of the 90's continued with strong sales of HEDÈN products. With a new millennium and over 35 years in the business, the HEDÉN Company introduces their new line of vertical mount servo motors with several new unique features. And that's not all; more products are in the works, but that is a secret for now that only the future can tell!