Here is what the HM170/200 in real world use. Not shot by me, but I know how important it is to be able to see examples of how a camera performs in the real world before making a purchase decision.

Brandy | OnScene.TV | Los Angeles (http://onscenevideo.tv/author/brandy-carlos/)

so how many of those are for sure shot with JVC HM170/200 series or are they all the videos there shot on them?

All of the Brandy clips are shot on an HM200.

Paul

Thank you Paul! With the mixed bag reviews of the JVC HM170/200 series what I saw from Brandy looked pretty good to me.

I shoot both the HM200 and LS300. I prefer the HM200 for sports due to its deeper depth of field. Both are capable of excellent image quality.

Luke, Thank you! Perfect candidate for my question then. How easy (or not) is it to mix the JVC LS-300 in J-Log then do a medium grade in post with the JVC HM170/200 series with say Cinema Gama and some black stretch and knee settings to be similar to J-Log pre-grade or what you can get out of J-Log post grade? Meaning getting the best out of JVC LS-300 with J-Log and get as good as you can get to match In-Camer or In-Post with the JVC HM170/200 cameras and mix on same timeline?

I'm thinking of getting HM170 as B camera or more packable camera to go with my LS-300... OR to spend about the same money for a MFT lens that can zoom etc with JVC LS-300 and have a similar zoom ratio of HM170. That or go with some used BlackMagic cameras and shoot pro-res and experiment with RAW when I have free time and hdd space.

With what you know haveing the two side by side which way would you jump and why?

Other than experiment with it I have not used J-Log with the LS-300, so I won't be of much help there. Still pretty much a novice at video so sticking with 709 and default color settings. The link is to a short video that has both HM200 and LS300 video on the same timeline. I did not make much of attempt to grade them to look alike, but you can get a sense of how they compare. The video was shot over 5 or 6 days and lighting was a bit challenging.

2016 Trinity UMC & Dahlgren UMC Softball on Vimeo

All footage shot in 4K and re-sampled to 1080.

Regarding lenses - normally I use full frame Nikon 35mm lenses on the LS-300, but I do have the MFT Panasonic 12-35 f2.8 for when I want to hand hold. I would add the Panasonic 35-100 f2.8 if I wanted more reach with MFT, but I have all the reach I need with my Nikon glass. With the MFT lens I set VSM at 86% which allows for 4K but has a bit of vignette. For HD and below VSM can be set at 80% (MFT) without the vignette. My concern with the MFT lenses is they tend to have a bit of distortion that the MFT bodies correct for through firmware that the LS-300 lacks. So far it has not been a problem.

Thanks! I think I can tell the difference between the LS300 in Rec709 vs HM170/200 series by a little dynamic range and maybe edge enhanzements (sharpening) on the chainlink fence? Anyway nothing I would bet a snickers bar on. My biggest suggestion is when doing softball set up DEEP behind 1st past the outfield and a little towards 2nd if possible. You can get the pitcher batter and catcher in the same shot then roll left for a base hit or pan out for any action at 2nd and 3rd. I used to do softball/baseball covereage for years and that's where I ended up at. that way either team could get copies and not feel like it was meant for the other team. For sports I would imagine the HM170/200 with a GOOD wired remote like a Varizoom LANC would be ideal. I use them exclusively.. though my LANC Varizoom I loaned out years ago so I just picked up a cheapie Vivitar $22 one that works.. though it's not very smooth pressure senstive for ramping up or slowing down for zooms. Thanks for posting the video I'll watch it again. I suspect I could set up my gama/black stretch/knee settings and color matrix (HM170/200 have all those settings right?) and get somethig I like out of the camera so as not to need to do any grading in post.

The HM200 has your settings. Most of the settings are common between it and the LS300, except where the hardware differs.

Thanks for the tips on softball shooting. That was my first attempt.