Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Used it for two shoots since getting it last week. All in HD.

The camera is a step up from my Panasonic GH series cameras and it succeeds in that in almost every way. My first shoot was following a musician as he played walked through a sculpture that was very dark in places requiring a fully open aperture at times using a Panasonic Lumix 20mm lens. With the GH cameras I could not have kept focus but the combo of the sharp LCD and focus assist I was able to maintain focus 80% of the time.

Just today I used the LS300 as a second camera in an interview shoot. I used the VSM with an Olympus 45mm. It gave just enough play in the image so I could zoom in or out on the interview subject while keeping the nice DOF. This is a real boon.

Of course the balanced audio inputs are a great asset as is the easy access to camera controls on the side. And the ability to change ISO while filming really helps.

A curious quirk is that some of my lenses will not work with the JVC auto-focus (the 20mm for example) but others will.
I have another interview to film this week. So far I have left the color space in 709 but I might experiment with Jlog this time.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Alltough the peaking is very accurate on the camera the quality of the lcd and viewfinder are pretty bad in comparison to about any camera i have used the past years. You really need to use peaking to confirm focus, if you don't and just judge based on what you see you will come home with more then one shot that is out of focus. I also find the autofocus of this camera unreliable, not talking about continuous autofocus but having the camera in manual and press a button to let the camera refocus based on what it sees in the center, while it's rare I have soft focus on my gh4 when I focus in that way my jvc often focuses either behind or in front of a subject, I actually need to confirm with peaking to know if I"m spot on.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Noah's comments are valid, as you will discover - hopefully not the hard way.

I treat the LS300 as a manual camera, like an S16 Aaton, not like a Panasonic DVX200. After buying it, I bought 4 Rokinon Cine lenses on sale, and, with the addition of several Leica-Rs, and using the Prime Zoom (in 1080) I'm pretty happy with it.

As I've said elsewhere, I also use MFT zooms from Olympus and Panasonic, and have tried auto-focus, but never when I need to count on the shot.

I haven't used the viewfinder much, or the LCD (I had a Gratical before getting it) but in any case, I highly recommend an EVF. I tried my old first generation Cineroid on it and it works surprising well (they had great peaking). I've seen those used for less than $150. The Zacuto Z-Finder is another good choice for $5-600... They're not as hi-res, but way better than the on-board options - in fact in some ways I prefer the Z-Finder over the Gratical because the image size is much larger (I've accumulated 2 Z-Finders over the years too, which I use on my Pocket Cameras).

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I found the peaking very reliable at a certain distance, at least with the 20mm lens. Beyond 10 or 12 feet, the peaking was inaccurate. I was working in very difficult circumstances regarding light and movement, I'll post some stills later today. The reason I chose the LS300 over my JVC HM600 (which would have kept me in focus) was the much better sensitivity in low light situations. I had filmed in a very similar circumstance with the HM600 before and the noise from the needed db boost was not happy making for the client (although I thought it worked). As I said, I hit about 80% success in focus, the shots that were not in focus were almost always when the subject was 10 to 20 feet away from me. The distance indicator in the camera was also accurate for close shots but wildly off mark when I focused further away. Unfortunately I had the camera on a shoulder brace which kept the extended focus button away from my reach. Yes I know I can probably reassign it to a different location on the body but I didn't have time. Doing live filming with shallow DOF is a task and I was bleary after an hour on continuous hand-held filming in a very humid situation. But I have achieved enough footage to make the promo piece.

Regarding the LCD quality, I have a GH2, a GH3 and worked with a GH4. None of those cameras could I reliably rack focus with the LCD. The JVC LCD, without peaking activated, I am able to accurately assess focus. Maybe I am just imagining it. Actually I have found that the GH2 viewfinder was the best for non-assisted focusing, I can't say anything about the GH4 viewfinder, didn't use it. The JVC viewfinder, I agree, leaves a lot to be desired.

Regarding the auto-focus, I used it for the interview with the Olympus 45mm lens and at 2.8f it was rock solid for half an hour until the subject turned her head for a second. It went out and locked back on as soon as she faced the interviewer again. I switched to manual at that point. Nothing lost fortunately. The focus was sharp on her head with the desired background blur achieved. Of course at 2.8, if the camera was focusing slightly in front of her face, it would be hard to tell. My experience with GH series auto-focus is that it's very good with one-on-one interviews in well lit situations but add questionable lighting and a long continuous shoot, the GH cameras become very unreliable. Worse than several video cameras I have worked with even consumer cameras. I have done theater recordings with the GH cameras where after an hour the camera just can't auto-focus anymore. The lighting hasn't changed, the cameras (both the GH2 and the GH3) just lose it. Maybe the LS300 will do the same thing but somehow I doubt it.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I prefer to manual focus all the time and only let the camera refocus with a push of the button, I don't trust either my gh4 nor ls300 for continuous autofocus and for my kind of work I am only satisfied with 100% accurate focus, the only way to achieve that is peaking and extended focus to doublecheck, I have assigned both one push focus and extended focus to the buttons above and below the zoomrocker.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

That's how mine is set up as well. Works very nicely.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Here are some stills from the music/sculpture project. The camera was set at 6db (or 800iso).

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Very nice compositions, will the completed filmed be placed on youtube/vimeo?

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Thank you. Most of these shots were at f1.8.

At some point in the near future when the edit is completed I'll post a link when it's approved.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Compared to a 1" sensor (I have the Sony X70 and RX10 mk1) does the 4/3 sensor really give a noticeably shallower depth of field, or is it primarily due to the ability to use faster lenses? EDIT: oops, seems the LS 300 is S35, not 4/3 - sorry.

And, as a retired music teacher and saxophonist - those museum clips brought back a lot of memories. I used to practice facing a wall so I could hear myself better, so I'll bet the reverb of that installation made for some fantastic acoustical effects. I also recognized a 1950s vintage Selmer Paris tenor saxophone. I have one of those also - considered by many to be the best saxophone ever made. I've had mine since 1972 and wouldn't trade it for a new one. Some things are NOT improved by technology :-)

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

allthough some MFT lenses can utilize the entire sensor MFT lenses are normally designed to use a smaller part of the sensor (about 80% of the sensor) and yes, they can achieve a shallower dof compared to a camera with a 1 inch sensor at a comparable f-stop.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

The 20mm does vignette a little when using the full sensor. The Olympus 45mm doesn't.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Just filmed this today. Panasonic 20mm lens zoomed in a little, f1.8. Raw from camera file, no color correction, REC709 gamma.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Very nice as were the sax compositions.

Self promotion follows:

LS300 Part 1

https://www.thebroadcastbridge.com/c...order/?cat_id=

LS300 Part 2

https://www.thebroadcastbridge.com/c...art-2/?cat_id=

LOG

https://www.thebroadcastbridge.com/c...gamma/?cat_id=

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Everyone is saying so. I can't understand why after 1.5 years from the original release, JVC does not release an updated version with improved hardware

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Maybe they did it to save on cost, I don't know, the camera forces you to trust on it's aids like peaking, histogram etc to get it right which is not necessarily a bad thing because they give you a more accurate feedback on what's going on then what you can see with your own eyes by looking at the image. A image might appear overexposed eventhough your histogram says it's not but you are always better off following the histogram.

I was even thinking of constantly shooting with the screen in black and white and peaking enabled in the future with the jvc because as it is now, what I see on my screen looks like crap but turns out to look great once I am editing it so I can't trust what I see anyway.

By making a whitebalance with either selecting a preset or using my expodisc everytime the light changes, by using peaking and magnified screen to confirm focus and by using the histogram to confirm your exposure your footage should always look good, it only makes shooting a bit more challenging in run and gun.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

if only there was a way to use a high quality 7" tablet as a monitor assist, like there is with many dslrs, it would make things a little bit easier, as most people have tablets or ipads etc

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

You can as the jvc has sdi and hdmi outputs for a external screen, you can also use something like a Zacuto gratical HD

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

you can't use hdmi out with a tablet as they don't have hdmi in

with dslrs you can connect the dslr with the tablet through a usb type cable and control dslr functions on an app + have a bigger screen visual on the table

the idea is that many have a tablet so they don't have to invest in an external monitor.

i know that the LS300 has a usb that can be used for wifi dongle. but i don't think you can use this as video out

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

While that would be nice to have the reasoning behind not including it might be that the JVC is a professional camera hence the sdi output and smartphones are not considered professional monitoring or recording tools. The usb port is as far as I know only to attach a USB adapter for streaming functionality.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

If you can connect to a local wifi router, the LS300 can stream video through a usb wifi dongle to a YouTube page or various other online webcast sites. You can monitor this broadcast via any smartphone or tablet.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

It's also possible to stream good quality images over the wifi dongle to local devices without connecting to the internet. But there's considerable lag. It can be done using VLC player on iOS device for example.

My notes that I made almost a year ago tell me to paste this into VLC:
udp://@:6504

I expect my camera is setup to broadcast using that port.
YMMV

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

True guys, I checked the manual, and although there is no dedicated mobile app, there is some sort of IP networking functionality that enables you to access the Ls300 from a web interface and even do some functions remotely. However this is not ideal for setting focus. Just came across a few 7" HDMI monitor options under $200, and I think i will eventually invest in that as first priority after lenses & legs

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

There's actually two types of remote/wifi viewing modes.

First there's the 'View Remote' mode which is a small preview window with added camera controls.
And there's a full blown video streaming output which can be set to encode at very high quality but has a substantial lag as I mentioned before.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

i think that jvc should hire camera-tech youtubers to do weekly shows and cover advanced functionalities. One has to really dig deep to find some info on the LS300 even though it's been out 1.5 years now.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I can see where the complaints about the LCD and viewfinder are coming from. The color seems especially off compared to the JVC HM600's LCD. Not sure why that would be. But I come from a time where you shot color with a black and white tube viewfinder so confidence and experience was a key in getting usable footage. Like Noa said earlier, once I set my color balance I am very comfortable staying in focus assist mode.

On the tablet as a monitor question. Yes it would be nice to use the tablet as a monitor but it seems that unless there is a way to convince the tablet, with the iPad at least, that the camera is a computer there is no built in way to get direct video into a tablet. I found one isolated reference that the old Nexus tablets had video in capabilities but no follow up to that. It's probably better to have a dedicated monitor.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

i can confirm that the Nexus 7 has no hdmi video in. i have one.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

If JVC can come up with a better EVF/LCD and a 10-bit codec for a ~$3500 street price, this camera would be the ideal "gap" camera between the hybrid still/video cameras and more expensive offerings from Sony and Canon (and Blackmagic). I would sell all four of my GHs for a camera like that.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Blackmagic Ursa Mini is not so much more expensive than the LS300, and the build quality is 1000% better. The teeny weeny buttons on the Ls300 and that flimsy flip screen are really a big let down

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

It will be once you start to add accessories to make it production ready and about buttons, well, the ls300 at least has all needed buttons and switches to use it in a run and gun situation out of the box. There is ofcourse room for improvement and the lcd screen and viewfinder would be in the biggest need for a upgrade but as long as you use its focusing and exposure aids and whitebalance manually then the screens are only needed for framing and composition and for that purpose they are fine. Compared to my other camera's my ls300 still produces the best looking image.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I have to agree with that. This is the most capable, comes fully functional camera in it's class.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Noa and William are spot on with their comments. The Ursa Mini is a fine camera, but when you factor in accessories, the LS300 is a better deal. I disagree with the statement that the Ursa Mini's build quality is "1000 % better". The LS300 is easier to just pick up and shoot with right out of the box, as Noa pointed out. For event and field shooting, I can live with the LCD and viewfinder, as long as I see that beautiful footage when I get back to the studio. For corporate jobs, I use a separate monitor or recorder/monitor anyway. For me, four of the buttons are a bit small, the rest are fine. I am very careful with the LCD as it does feel like it could be easily broken, but I have felt that way about other cameras I have owned (anybody remember the Sony PD150?). Sure, things can be improved, but JVC has done a good job with firmware upgrades so far, and I feel like a "LS400" may be coming in the future - just speculation on my part, but the camera has been out a few years now, and it wouldn't surprise me. I'll be one of the first in line to buy one if it happens.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Well I did it. I just ordered my JVC LS300. My heart was set on a Digital Bolex D16, but they stopped making cameras a month or two ago due. Probably due to the world clamoring for 4K, but to my eyes the Digital Bolex was the one of the best images I had seen under $10,000. I tried some of the footage from the JVC site and editing and pushed and pulled it on my FCPX along with the plug in Color Finale to handle the JVC J-Log Luts as well as have decent color correction on FCPX again. I was honestly fairly impressed. It didn't have the grainy noisy look of my old JVC HD110, but didn't look like clinical video from other Pro-sumer cameras either. A fair compromise. I hope with J-Log and the follow up Luts (already downloaded and installed on my MBP) I hope it will be that much better.

The JVC for being as handy as the Digital Bolex, cheaper to shoot and easier to edit with hopefully pretty good image quality with J-Log and appropriate Luts and my eye on color, I hope to be happy with my new JVC in a week.

So lets just say I'm "Hopeful"

In a side note I still have the original JVC GY-HD10 as well as the JVC GY-HD110. Would be fun to compare them side by side later.

So I guess I'll be coming back to the JVC forum here again. So HELLO everyone. :)

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I got my JVC LS300 2 days ago. warming up to it. updated the firmware without a hitch. the J-Log along with the plug in LUT for FCPX works flawlessly. My first uneducated thought is that combination would be great for quick to shoot and grade and to pump out the door. Looks like standard rec709 with a few extra stops. Also the some 8 bit grain noise in light mid tones after the LUT is applied. I am wondering if the Ninja Flame 4K or similar 10 bit recorder via the HDMI would not introduce as much digital noise to be exaggerated with the LUT applied. The J-Log (probably discussed ad-nausium elsewhere) seems to have the sharpness (edge enhancement) dialed low to off. More cinematic, less reality show though I hardly noticed the edge sharpening on the trees in the background till I tried J-Log. Then apply FCPX sharpening 2.5 I think (default sharpening) and the subject regained the 4K sharpness, and the background stayed more naturalistic out of focus (Preferred). So J-Log is probably really good round trip for most. I liked the J Log look and might be tempted to simply grade the J-Log a little instead of reworking the J-Log with the J Log LUT applied in post. But each project is different, and I have only a couple hours with camera now.

All in all, very familiar menus as the older JVC PRO-HD cameras and color pallet and gama curves. Though much higher resolution, much less noise, wider dynamic range. Much better kit battery. the extra ND in camera dial (though I keep bumping it) I think it's a keeper and a good B camera for my friends Red Scarlet. Will do experiments together in a couple weeks.

The inexpensive shooting per hour $40 vs $400 per hour for Black Magic or the insane Red ($1,400 for 256g propriety HDD that records 15-20 minutes) I think the JVC so far is an interesting, useful and camera with a workable set of compromises.

I have the Metabones MFT to Nikon F (G) adapter that works flawlessly with my DX and 30 year old Nikon and NIkkor lenses. The Rokinon 8mm is shockingly good stopped halfway down. I am more than tempted to slowly upgrade my lenses to Rokinon cine 2 lenses MFT or Veydra MFT. I have read the Veydra MFT mounts have no vignetting on the super 35mm sensor 25mm and above and one other person said 18 or 19 above is good. No idea on the wide Rokinons.

Anyone have a good recommendation for high and low Histogram? 18% low and I think I picked 80% for high with zebras around 85%, seemed to get good results within the 2 hours of testing.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

@Alex what Rokinon or Veydra lenses where you thinking of getting as I want to build a small set myself

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

This lens covers the full sensor and is very sharp, really love using it!


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1047002-REG

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I would say that's my next one to be sure, probably in the MFT mount.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

I have the 12, 24, 35, 50 and 85. I love the 12 on the Pocket Camera, not so much on the JVC (I'm not a huge WA fan). I tend to use the 35 mostly on the LS, followed by the 85. The good thing about these (I have the Rokinon versions) is you can buy a whole set for about the same price as one Zeiss... and the quality of construction and image is close enough that it would take a side-by-side critical appraisal to tell the difference...

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

Regarding Rokinons covering the entire sensor...
The official brochure is here: Rokinon Catalog 2015

From page 42 onwards you can view the DS cine lenses, and it indicates the sensor coverage.

AFAIK the Veydras are designed for MFT whereas all of the Rokinons will cover the entire LS300 sensor and all but two of them are actually full frame.

Re: Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far
 

So if you want a standard cine cam set like 12, 24, 35, 50 and 85, would you just get those focal lengths, or you would consider the LS300 crop factor, and get a 25mm for 50mm effect, etc... ?