JVC GY LS300 firmware wishlist

[Noa Put]

My experience in having Sony wishlists on this forum for my earlier nex-ea50 never have resulted getting what I really wanted, but you know, Christmas is coming and who knows, maybe Santa reads this forum + I have seen a jvc representative comment here so they might listen to those 5 or so buyers on this forum that got their camera :)

I"ll start off with what I currently miss the most:

1. Being able to assign ISO values to the iris dial knob on front of the camera and cycle through these values by turning that knob.

Let me explain why this is so important: just as with my nex-ea50 having only 3 iso presets doesn't work when you have to shoot in fast changing light environments when you want to maintain a specific f-stop, you can assign other iso values to these switches at any time and one workaround is to set the f-stop and use the automode preset switch on the side of the camera to let the camera automatically adjust the iso and then lock the iso value by pressing the "lock/10 button".

While some shooters that have time to set each shot up won't mind just re-assigning ISO values to a switch if you have to work fast this can be very problematic. Every shot you take starts off by choosing your f-stop because that will determine your dof so this is a value that should not change throughout a shot, then you select the appropriate ISO to set your exposure. With only 3 values your shot can be either over- or underexposed. That means going into the menu reassigning the iso values to get a iso that will be the closest match but in real world shooting there is no time for that so you end up adjusting your f-stop to get the exposure right and while you planned on shooting at f1.4 you might end up shooting at f2.8 or anything higher then expected just to get a shot

Solution: in the cameramenu: "camera function" - "iris dial", add another assignable function called ISO so when you turn the knob on the knob on front of the camera it cycles throughout all iso values while your f-stop and shutter can stay locked.

My Sony rx10 has this option using the dial at the back and it's a life saver in fast moving environments.

2. a second request would be having 4K at 50p and while I can imagine this might not be possible due to a limit in hardware or whatever but even "only" 2.7k at 50fps like my gopro 4 black can do would be very beneficial to have some extra resolution to balance shots or to reframe in a 1080p project without loosing the 50fps benefit.

That's all for now I would like Santa to bring me :)

[Steve Rosen]

Well, as long as we're throwing wishes into the wind, I'll add two as well...

1) The ability to chose to output every function visible on the LCD (i.e. focus assist, meter, histogram, etc) to the SDI so those are available on an external monitor or EVF.

2) The ability to control the Prime Zoom with an external remote rather than just the on-camera rocker... This may be a hard-wire issue, though.

[Rohan Dadswell]

High frame rate - 150fps in HD would be handy (faster & in higher rez would be great but I'm sure there are technical limits)

Being able to control the zoom from an external LANC type would really make that feature stand out - when running around it tends to be a set & forget function for now. Most sit down interviews where it can easily be used I shoot in 4K and choose the crop latter (lazy I know)

[Duncan Craig]

It would be great if the auto focus face detection system could be used, purely to indicate if faces are in focus while you are operating the focus manually.

Basically you shoot as normal, but the camera superimposes squares on the faces it detects in the viewfinder, and the colour of the box changes when the camera considers the face to be in focus.

Red/Green would work, or a variable colour range perhaps depending on the available resources in the camera software.

[Steve Rosen]

Duncan: Great idea - and, as I pleaded above, output that via SDI to a monitor or evf...

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Steve Rosen

Well, as long as we're throwing wishes into the wind

Aha! JVC reads this forum :) with the 3.0 firmware update I can now lock my f-stop to maintain the same dof, set the shutter at a fixed value, set a nd as needed and change my iso by turning the dial up front to finetune my exposure, perfect!

This camera just has become a much better run and gun camera, thx JVC.

[Richard Gooderick]

Locking the F stop: a very useful feature.

I guess that controlling the prime zoom via lanc is not something that can be done in software. This was a question that I had in my mind about this camera too. It would be very useful in some situations.

[Noa Put]

That was not was had changed :) It is now possible to assign the iso to the front dial so when you turn that you can finetune the iso while retaining a fixed f-stop. I had asked for this as you can see in this thread because with large sensor camera and fast lenses you first select your f-stop depending on the dof you want to achieve and then you change the iso to set your exposure. This was not possible or difficult before to get this exactly right, now it is.

[Richard Gooderick]

Yes, I was a bit too approximate in my summary.

Returning to my point. I wonder if prime zoom via lanc could ever be a feature of this camera as the result of a software update?

I have a Fig Rig gathering dust ever since I got a 5dmk2. I would love to be able to use it again.

[Steve Rosen]

Richard: maybe I'm misunderstanding you (re: control Prime Zoom via LANC). If you mean using an external LANC controller to zoom the VSM in and out, it does do that since the last firmware. In fact, I do it every day - and it's remarkably useful.

I set the VSM to the maximum top end for the lens - I have a cheap ($89 I think) controller that I bought from B&H several years ago mounted just under the LCD screen to start/stop and control the Prime Zoom. It actually makes very smooth in-camera zooms with no refocus issues. I also zoom in to focus and zoom back to shoot, just like the old days.

If you meant other controls, like iris, lens zoom or focus, I don't know, because my controller doesn't do that. Manfrottos do I think.

[Duncan Craig]

As well as controlling the VSM, my Varizoom Lanc controllers also adjust the Focus, Iris, Auto Exposure and Standby On/Off of my LS300. Originally I bought them to operate my old Sony camcorders, like the VX2000 and Z1.

[Lee Powell]

Just one item on my wishlist:

Please make the OIS menu option work on legacy MFT and Four Thirds lenses.

I have a vintage Panasonic/Leica 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 zoom, the one that has a built-in aperture ring and OIS switch. It's a beautiful lens with the smoothest video OIS I've seen. Sadly, neither aperture control nor OIS works on the LS300. The LS300's OIS menu option stays grayed out with all the first-generation Panasonic zooms I tried, as well as the Panasonic 45-175mm f4-5.6 Power Zoom.

I know Panasonic hasn't made it easy to reverse engineer its proprietary lens protocols, but please keep trying to achieve as much backward compatibility as you can.

[Richard Gooderick]

Steve.
Many thanks. That's exactly what I meant.
Duncan - wow, even better.
I am trying to resist buying one. But it is becoming difficult :-)

[Jim Nogueira]

I have a small item to add. On my Sony XDCAM cameras, there is a "Last Clip Delete" function that can be assigned to one of the user buttons. It simply asks if you are sure, click yes and it's gone.

On the LS300, It is too cumbersome to have to use the "Mode" button to get into the Thumbnails display, then manually select the clip, then choose from another dropdown to delete it.

[Jim Nogueira]

1. Having two zebra settings instead of one, and a choice of Zebra 1, Zebra 2, or both. This is pretty standard on other cameras.

2. Being able to turn on the Histogram and not have the audio meters disappear. I want to monitor my video and audio at the same time.