LS300 Honeymoon over

[Noa Put]

So on the 12-35mm the OIS works then, I wonder what Lee ment when he said that he could not turn on the OIS on any MTF lens and which lenses he was refering to?

[Steve Rosen]

Don't know, must not have been one he tested (I don't have that one, and the Olympus doesn't have IS).

[Lee Powell]

With firmware 1.0 and 2.0, the LS300 cannot control OIS on the Lumix 45-200mm f4-5.6 and Lumix 45-175mm f4-5.6 (the in-camera OIS menu option is grayed out). I haven't tested other lenses of these types, but I'd expect the same behavior with other "Mega OIS" and "Power Zoom" lens as well. The Lumix 12-35mm and 35-100mm f2.8 zooms are labelled "Power OIS" and by all reports I've seen, the LS300 can control OIS on these lenses.

I suspect this is a reverse engineering problem rather than a functional flaw. I doubt Panasonic has shared all technical details of MFT electronic lens control protocols with JVC. The 2.0 firmware release improved compatibility with some legacy Four Thirds lenses, and hopefully JVC engineers will find solutions for these OIS issues. Realistically, there's just one Panasonic lens with OIS I found usable for video shooting: the Leica 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 legacy Four Thirds zoom. Unfortunately, that lens is currently incompatible with the LS300, most likely due to undocumented details of its unique manual aperture ring.

The Power Zoom function is a different story. The LS300 can control zoom on the Lumix 45-175mm f4-5.6 and the Olympus 12-50mm f3.5-6.3, using the rocker switch on either the hand grip or the detachable microphone grip.

[John Nantz]

Phil -
That link had a great short video "JVC GY-LS300: Prime Lenses into Zooms!!”
Talk about a useful firmware update and that was a really good one.
Imagine having your prime lens on and can’t move in closer - just hit the zoom rocker and you go tthe shot. Really neat!

Originally Posted by Phil Goetz

When I was with Omega Broadcast I sold William Ridenour an LS300. He is conversational and a god resource for info:

https://www.youtube.com/user/avarmadillo/videos

Wish I had seen that video earlier. Might have given one of those eBay bidders a run for the money on those cams.
Dang! One went for $2550! Talk about a score!

The seller said they were "purchased from JVC Pro US.
Original box, paperwork and un filled warranty card.
and all accessories are included.”

It would still be nice to know about a good power zoom, say around 10X optical, give or take.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Lee Powell

The Lumix 12-35mm and 35-100mm f2.8 zooms are labelled "Power OIS" and by all reports I've seen, the LS300 can control OIS on these lenses.

Thx Lee, good to know, I also have a 14-140mm lens which is also power ois so that should work as well. On the gh4 at least that 14-140mm lens has a very good stabilisation which should make it a good allround lens for handheld work IF it works the same way on the ls300.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by John Nantz

Imagine having your prime lens on and can’t move in closer - just hit the zoom rocker and you go tthe shot. Really neat!

My sony nex-ea50 which I sold a year ago had that feature, only the image quality suffered and moire and aliasing became quite bad when you zoomed in and cropped on the sensor. The sony had a sensor that was not optimised for video and it was not a 4K one, great idea but poor execution. Looks like JVC stole it but at least they did a better job at it.

[Steve Rosen]

It's amazing, actually - I posted two images, full wide and full telephoto, on the BM site, but can't figure out how to do that here.... I didn't expect it to work at all, let alone as well as it does...

As I've said a couple of times, it's the one feature that keeps me with this camera. As a matter of fact I just bought three more MFT lenses (Rokinons) - dumb, I know, but I don't want to deal with any more adapters, I've already paid for the camera, and I may as well blow the cash somewhere...

[Noa Put]

If you want to post a picture here just click on "manage attachments" button below the part where you write and that brings up a pop up window where you see 8 buttons where each one allows you to select a image on your pc and once you selected them then click on the upload button on the right side in that pop up screen and they will appear in your post.

[Duncan Craig]

To clarify, I now own the Panny 12-35 and 35-100 2.8 set.
They have physical OIS switches on the lens, so OIS can be switched from there.
The menu option is greyed out.

The OIS isn't a good as Steady Shot on a Sony, but it's working for sure.
You can make it jump and stall slightly by panning too abruptly back and forth, but it's not an ugly jump where it then has to find itself again afterwards, at least not on my lenses.

I do not find the iris control unusably sluggish, a little quicker would be nice though (let's have a speed setting in a menu please JVC!) Exposure changes are stepped and the direction is backwards in my opinion, but I'm learning to deal with it.

Don't get me started on the gain switches - high at the bottom?!
Since my Betacam days that's always annoyed me.

Cheers All!

[Lee Powell]

Originally Posted by Steve Rosen

As a matter of fact I just bought three more MFT lenses (Rokinons) - dumb, I know, but I don't want to deal with any more adapters, I've already paid for the camera, and I may as well blow the cash somewhere...

Sounds like something of a second honeymoon to me. :) Time to reconsider the JVC-bashing title of this thread?

[Duncan Craig]

I look at it like 'The honeymoon's over, time to make some money so I can feed the impending kids and dog!'

Or maybe that's just me...? (photo taken a few nights ago)

[Noa Put]

I know I have asked this before but wanted to dig a bit deeper into it, as I understand there is an option to let the camera control exposure but what exactly does it controll, does it only adjust iso, or does it change shutter and/or f-stop as well? And when it's changing these settings, is it able to do so without visible exposure jumps?

[Lee Powell]

The LS300 has a mechanical three-position switch that allows you to select Manual, Preset Auto, or Full Auto exposure control. The Preset Auto mode is fully configurable in a user menu. You can choose to make any combination of Gain (ISO), Aperture (Iris), Shutter Speed, and White Balance operate manually or automatically. In addition, maximum ISO can be preset, as well as min and max auto-iris limits. Shutter control can be preset to either stepped or continuous, and overall AE responsiveness can be set to Slow, Medium, or Fast. If a lens supports only some of the selected auto-exposure features, AE will continue to work with that subset of active features. You can also selectively engage specific AE features while in Manual exposure mode with any of the user-assignable buttons.

I use auto-ISO to handle unpredictable changes in stage lighting at live events. I preset the High Gain switch setting to AGC with a max ISO of either 1600 or 3200, set shutter speed to 1/60 or 1/30, and manually adjust white balance and lens aperture for typical lighting conditions. I have AE speed set to Fast and Manual Transition speed set to Medium. That enables the camera to react quickly to sudden lighting changes, but respond smoothly to manual exposure changes while shooting.

[John Nantz]

Lee - I agree:

Originally Posted by Lee Powell

Sounds like something of a second honeymoon to me. :) Time to reconsider the JVC-bashing title of this thread?

In all my looking at cams there seems to be a comon thread: There’s no perfect cam.
Either there is a design ‘feature’ (as some call it. I like it.), or it doesn’t quite fit one’s needs. Either way, unless one has deep pockets and can just buy a cam on a whim, it’s tough out there.

So, if someone can come up with a name for a new thread I nominate you as Chairman! (Oh, and Congratulations!)

Noa: At one point you mentioned about test driving an LS300. If that comes to pass, would you be so kind as to make some bokeh comparisons with your AX100? Of course, the “test mileage” (umm, how does one say test kilometer-age in the EU?) will vary depending on the lens chosen, but it would be interesting to know if there is any way to have the two cams in the same film.

There are a lot of things I like about the AX100, one of them being it’s small size for more incognito shooting, but it would be nice to have the capability of the LS300, too, especially with a + or - 10X power lens. There are lots of prime lenses to choose from but the power zoom options appear to be hard to find.

Doug: Really nice picture!!!

[Steve Rosen]

Well I started this thread! I did because a much-needed function (the remote port) on my LS stopped working in the middle of a shoot.. It was embarrassing and frustrating... (my camera is set up for shoulder mount so I need it).

Then it miraculously started working again just as I was about to box it up and send it off to JVC for repair.

(BTW, a lot of people, including me, have been frustrated by the lack of response from JVC support - turns out that if you need a repair you need to contact the factory # in Southern California, 562-295-1142, not support, and you actually get to talk to a living human being... This isn't written down anywhere that I can find.)

Since I've been using it almost daily, and it is really a terrific camera. As I've said numerous times, the Prime Zoom feature is worth the price of admission (I only wish the zoom function could be controlled through the remote port - then I'd be in heaven).

So anyway, yes the honeymoon is over and real life has begun.