I'm thinking of buying the ls300and would appreciate any info. I have almost 40yrs of ENG/EFP background so I'm just starting to get into these cameras. I was going to get a c100 but thought the jvc might tick the extra box.
I only have B4 lenses so will have to get some glass as well. I don't particularly like the form factor of these cameras. But I'm not to old to adapt yet. The camera just has to fit my needs for the next couple of years. Perhaps a doco or 2, a bit of freelance work and a bit of media training. Anyway appreciate any help.

Hello George, the LS300 is a very capable camera and has a lot of great features. 4K, HD 422 and 120fps recording. The MFT sensor will give you a nice depth of field look over traditional ENG cameras with 1/2 and 2/3 sensors.

Where the concern is with the the LS300 is in the viewfinder and onboard LCD. When I had the camera demo, it was hard to to determine how accurate my pictures were. Relied on the Histogram and Zebras for exposure which were accurate. When I edited the footage I was very pleased with the color rendition but this was after the shoot. It would have been nice to really see how good the color was or wasn't.

This lead to choosing another camera. I still feel the camera packs a punch but the uncertainty of image kept me from buying one. I like my camera ready to run and gun, so an external monitor was not in my equation.

Hope this helps and good luck choosing a camera!

Cheers!

Focusing is not an issue as long as you use peaking, b&w screen and use screen magnification for critical focus check. Peaking is very accurate and easy to use to check if you are spot on. The lcd screen doesn't give you a accurate representation of the actual color but that has not bothered me either, I use a expodisc and make a whitebalance on the fly in a run and gun environment which is just a matter of pressing one button in standby mode or while you are recording.

George: I also have over 40 years experience, not ENG but doc, mostly film (until about 2002). For my two cents I'd rather have two LS300s the one anything else (I had a C100).

True, the viewfinder sucks and the LCD is a 2005 throwback, but In my case I only use it for the menu. With a good EVF like a Gratical, or even a Z-Finder Pro (which are cheap now) you can dial in most of what you need to know. With the Gratical you've got the scopes, with the Z you've got good zebras. For color, since I'm old school, I mostly use presets - you know, like film (3200K or 5600K). BTW - I posted a pic somewhere here of how my camera is set up for shoulder use - it's excellent. I've shot a LOT in that last few months, almost all handheld.

One drawback I've found is that it's only 8 bit. Sometimes macro-blocking or banding can pop up when you need to grade heavily - but that's true of the Canons too.

The availability of thousands of lenses that are - or can be converted to - MFT is a huge plus, and the VSM works better than I would have ever expected. I throw away the rule book and use it with abandon.

Another drawback is that I have yet to find a zoom lens that is parfocal with the LS300. Last weekend I tested mine again with several lenses - the Olympus 12-40 Pro, Lumix 35-100, Angenieux 15-150, Cranon 12-120 Fluorite and my Cooke 10.4-52 (the last three are S16 lenses I've owned since the 70s) . All of these are parfocal - or in the case of the MFTs "act" parfocal - on my BMD Pocket Camera, but not on the JVC (with the VSM set at S16 to match the Pocket). In fact, the old Canon 12-120 won't even focus at infinity when wide although it hits infinity perfectly on the little Pocket. I still don't understand this disparity.

Anyway, despite the caveats, the LS300 is an amazing camera, especially for the price.

Forgot to mention - when I first got mine I was cautious about depending on the audio because I'd read several negative comments about it. Luckily I'm equipped for double system and have a sound guy who's worked with me for 30 years. Long story short, my soundman has had an intense hospital experience and I've had a shoot, so I had no choice but to use the LS300's audio. Not a single problem, in fact as good or better than the C100. Moral, don't believe what you read on the internet - even this - try it for yourself.

The VF and LCD are really non issues. I can't imagine trying to SEE the correct exposure. VF and LCD are for framing. (when shooting J-log be sure to engage LUT.)

Exposure -- use zebra: UPPER and LOWER set either for skintone (18% gray card) or bright white (90% white card).

Focus -- use TOGGLE MAGNIFY. Peaking is never a good idea because it is an indirect indicator. With magnify you see that what is important is in focus.

If you are shooting J-log remember that the correct exposure and thus zebra settings for skintone (18% gray card) or bright white (90% gray card) ARE NOT WHAT YOU USE WHEN SHOOTING BT709.

It may look like your father's ENG camcorder, but it is far more!

PS" very unlikely compression macroblocking -- which I've never seen at 150Mbps -- comes from 8-bit data.

For exposure setting, the LS300's auto-seeking spot meter is worth its weight in gold. In the default min-max mode, it uses a pair of small rectangles to continuously seek out and highlight the darkest and brightest areas of the frame. Min and max exposure percents are displayed on the right, confirming exactly how much dynamic range you're capturing. In ITU 709 mode, max exposure is scaled at 400%, though I found 360% was as high as I could expose the highlights without clipping. In J-Log1 mode, max exposure is scaled at 800%, which I found usable up to 720%.

I still don't understand how this spot meter works, so it gives you 2 percentages, of the darkest and brightest part of your image and what do you do with these values?

Max and min percentages show you the extremes of your current exposure. 0% min is pure black and the max percentage is scaled to the current Gamma selection. For ITU 709 gamma, max is 400%, but I'd go no higher than 360%. For J-Log1 gamma, max is 800%, I'd recommend 720%. The actual max recorded level is set separately at 100% - 108%.

That I understand, but what do you do with these values? Do you use them to set the exposure in camera and how or am I missing something here?

[QUOTE" very unlikely compression macroblocking -- which I've never seen at 150Mbps -- comes from 8-bit data.[/QUOTE]

I've been using a vignette (in FCPX) regularly to darken corners. Sometimes banding makes that impossible unless I lighten the edges considerably.

As for macro blocking. On a grabbed interview I didn't like the distracting color of the wall behind the subject and attempted to combine the vignette with a tint, using a mask. The shot is handheld, so it was tricky. Anyway, with the tint, blocking is very apparent, without the tint it goes away. So I live with the hideous mustard colored wall.

BTW, I'm not shooting 150mbs, I'm shooting 1080 422 @ 50mbs. Don't know if it's an 8 bit problem, but I do know that with the Pocket shooting ProRes 422 10 bit (also 50mbs) there is no blocking in similar situations.

@Noa Put Yes, with the auto-spot meter I manually adjust highlight exposure until the max reading is around 360% for ITU 709, or 720% for J-Log1. I then verify that the min is below 5%.

[QUOTE"Anyway, with the tint, blocking is very apparent, without the tint it goes away. So I live with the hideous mustard colored wall.

If you added a tint in your NLE and see then macroblocking, it seems more like it is coming from the export. Or, are you seeing it from Proxy -- which might be the case.

Thank you everyone for your info. I guess it is decision time.👍