Just got the LS300 camera - very happy so far

[Noa Put]

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.

[B.J. Adams]

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

[Noa Put]

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

[B.J. Adams]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

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

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

[Noa Put]

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.

[Lee Powell]

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.

[Duncan Craig]

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

[B.J. Adams]

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

[Duncan Craig]

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.

[B.J. Adams]

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.

[William Hohauser]

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.

[B.J. Adams]

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

[Bill Bruner]

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

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.

[B.J. Adams]

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

[Noa Put]

Blackmagic Ursa Mini is not so much more expensive than the LS300

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.