LS300 vs GH5

[John Vincent]

Currently using the Sony A6300. While it remains a beast in low light, it's an incredibly clumsy camera to use (at least for me). Very un-intuitive. After months of using it, I still can't really make it "sing" - and of course, the battery life is awful.

So, I'm looking to get a camera that has a bit more functionality and a lot more user friendliness that can shoot 4k internal (I hate external recorders and don't use LUTs) for as little money as possible.

All of which has led me to conclude that the way to go is either the LS300 or the Panny GH5. I'm tending towards the GH5 thanks to all those incredible features (it may well have more features then any other camera on the planet), but I still love the form factor of the JVC (including those built-in XLRs) and what I'm guessing is at least slightly better low light performance.

Any thoughts? Anyone have experience using both? Thanks in advance...

[Noa Put]

The ls300 is a great camera and it has all the features one would wish in a VIDEOcamera, the lcdscreen and viewfinder are it's Achilles heel but because of the excellent peaking and possibility to punch in on the image and scan the image using the joystick while you are recording I can get more accurate focusing then on my gh5, go figure.

The possibility to zoom with primes, have build in ND's, whitebalance with the push of one button, gradually change exposure by changing the iso using the dial on camera while the f-stop and shutter remain fixed are just a few of the hidden tricks the ls300 has up it's sleeve. Oh, and audio is superb when you use a decent shotgun mike connected to the camera' xlr's. The stock shotgun mike is no good.

It's build like a tank around the lens mount and camera handle (which also houses the xlr ports) but JVC ran out of money to give the camera a decent lcd screen which develops play in the hinges after intensive use.

While everyone is raving about the improved color science on the gh5 I find that the ls300 does better, especially when it comes to skintones.

One thing however the ls300 is not good at is low light, I consider iso 1600 borderline usable, the noise this camera produces at high iso is butt ugly, it's a colored noise and shows itself in the form of vertical stripes, neatvideo has a very hard time getting rid of that, in fact, after neatvideo treatment you still see the noise.

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

Well, I had the GH5 for a few weeks before selling it. I currently t own 2 LS3 Cams. So I got a chance to use the GH5 and was wow'ed by the features. The real question is what is your style of shooting and how will you use the cam. Honestly, if you are not a manual shooter then I would say the LS3 may not be for you. Yes it has auto focus and all that but it's strength is in manual use. Second, the LS3's form factor is a true camcorder, some like that and some dont. Third, the LS3 has Jlog free and not another purchase to get it. Fourth, LS3 has built in ND filters. Fifth, it scales to the size of the lens to eliminate vignetting.

The GH5 is a beast as well. I truly believe there is no perfect camera. The GH5 has a better auto focus. It has more features including being able to select how fast the it will adjust to different light settings. It has a smaller form factor, some like it and some don't. You can get the audio module to patch in XLR mics as well. I'm sure I'm leaving out some huge features to consider for the GH5 but all in all you will habe to try them both out and see what works best for you. I don't think you can go wrong either way except if you pick one that does not fit your style of shooting.

[John Vincent]

Thanks guys. Seems like you guys prefer the JVC...

One important aspect I forgot to mention is that I'm going to attempt to shoot my next feature (a zombie movie) in anamorphic. I'm using a Kowa 2x w/ a Rextilux.

Does this change the equation at all?

[Noa Put]

Don't have experience with anamorphic shooting but from what I read the GH5 is made for that purpose.

[William Hohauser]

And here's a brief review of the "6K" anamorphic GH5:
https://www.cinema5d.com/panasonic-g...0p-180fps-fhd/

While 10bit 4K recording is now available with the GH5, I couldn't discern whether 10-bit is available with the "6K" anamorphic mode. And the "6K" is sort of a technical cheat much like anamorphic on other digital video cameras.

The LS300 is locked into 8-bit recording which may not be an issue for you. There is very little working info regarding anamorphic with the LS300. No reason it can't be done, you just might find it better to use something that's be designed to do this function then be the experimenter.

[Eduardo Rubio]

Hi,

Does anyone know how to?

Originally Posted by Noa Put

...gradually change exposure by changing the iso using the dial on camera while the f-stop and shutter remain fixed are just a few of the hidden tricks the ls300 has up it's sleeve.

Sorry to hijack this conversation, I've sent a couple of private messages to Noa Put without success.

Thanks a lot!

[Noa Put]

Make sure you have the latest firmware installed, then press the menu button on the lcd, select "camera function", scroll down and select "iris dial" and then select "variable gain" and that's it! You can still use the gain switch on the side of the camera to go to your 3 preset gain values but if you then turn the dial on the front of the camera you can change the gain in smaller increments.

[Eduardo Rubio]

Gracias Noa!

[William Hohauser]

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/jvc-4k-p...-gy-ls300.html

Aaron Jones explains it here also with a video demo.