What's Your Second Cam To The LS300

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

I started this thread to see if I could get the fellas to post about there second cam or B-Cam to the LS3. What I'm looking for is the B-Cam that you use and why you like it. If you can please post some footage that show.

As for myself I think I'm leaning toward the Panasonic GH4 as I can get it pretty low these days.

[Alex Humphrey]

Chewing on the subject myself.

My list of maybes is.

1. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera or used 2.5 Blackmagic camera?
2. JVC GY-HM170 4K (if it had J-Log I would already have one)
3. Pansonic GH4 used? a new GH5 loaded is the price of a JVC LS300...

Those are the obvious ones, and hopefully people have some other options out there. I'm leaning to getting a BMPCC or used BMPC in M43.

[William Hohauser]

On Tuesday, I'll be using a GH3 as a wide shot for a single person interview. The client wants Rec709 so no issues with log.

[Luke Miller]

HM200. Same control set up and its small sensor gives me great DOF when I need it

[Nick Haman]

I looked into a lot of small cameras for taking on the road and eventually went for the Panasonic GX80 (GX85) The stabilisation is unreal, and I can share my lenses. There was also recently a hack to allow more colour profiles making it easy to match to J-Log.

I was mailing the Leeming guys, and they noted that through their testing, it's more or less the same as the GH5 in terms of colour. I've also seen comparisons with the GH4 and GX80. It has less of a crop, and more detail in the image.

I honestly think I couldn't have chosen a better camera, at least for my requirements. The only thing missing (aside from Log - which could actually come with the hack) is an external audio input. That said, on shoots where audio is important, I'll likely be using the LS300 at the same time, or if not, sick a zoom on top.

On Monday, I'll be shooting an interview and will take the GX80 and LS300, so I'll post some comparisons when it's all been matched up etc.

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

So I do have a list that I'm considering. I too would like the GH5 as a b-cam but for $2K not sure that is wise at the moment.

The runners up are:

Sony RX10 III & II - as low as $1K
Panasonic FZ2500 - as low as $1K
These two because the attached quality lens, 4k, price point, and versatility. I dont have to look for the lens to use I can just go with this cam at the drop of a dime and get b-roll shots.

Panasonic GH4 - as low as $700 used - Slow motion, 4K, M4/3 Mount (Share my existing lenses), and Low light.
Panasonic G85 - $1200
Blackmagic Design Production Camera 4K - as low as $1700

I'm leaning toward the GH4

[Lee Powell]

I bought the LS300 as soon as it came out, and sold my Nikon D800 soon after. The D800 took impeccable photos, but its videos sucked, even with the best hacks and flat tone curves. I don't miss its gross moire, aliasing artifacts, and crappy shadow detail, not to mention the lame 20-minute video duration limit.

The LS300 has its own drawbacks, and to cover that and serve as B-cams I still use two 1080p hybrid cameras: the Nikon D5200 and Panasonic GH2. I was deeply involved in hacking both of these cameras to use 64 and 100 Mbps video bitrates, and I know how they work inside and out.

The D5200 has a 24 Mpix APS-C sensor with excellent high-ISO performance and no moire at all. Nikon and Tamron make top-notch full-frame lenses with video-friendly image stabilization that can be used vignette-free on the LS300 and GH2 with Metabones no-click aperture-ring adapters and speedboosters. While the GH2 lacks 4K video and log tone curves, it has the hacks that deliver the smoothest short-GOP fast-motion video capture of any camera I've used, and records long-duration video takes as well. Both D5200 and GH2 handle like a dream on sliders, video monopods, and active gimbals. I can stash these cameras in a satchel and take them anywhere, day (GH2) or night (D5200), ready to whip out and shoot in less than a minute.

The LS300 is happiest on a tripod or overhead hanger, wired up to an HDMI monitor and XLR audio feeds. Its 4K log recordings look flawless after grading and downsampling to 1080p and it can record two-hour performances virtually unattended. VSM is a godsend, a practical parfocal zoom that works with any decent lens. For my purposes, the LS300 is better suited than anything short of a 4K Varicam, which who knows, I might even be able to afford some day.

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

So I just pigeon holed myself into a DSLR body style by purchasing the Zhiyun Crane V2. I also purchase the dual stabilizing grip with the Zhiyun ZW-B02 Wireless Remote Controller. So Im ready with the stabilizer just need the cam now. I keep going back and forth.

Was just looking at the Samsung NX1 which has a great autofocus, 4k, 28mpix, and quite the beast when specs are concerned. The price point makes no sense to me though at $2400... So right now it is between the GH4 and the G85. The G85 has good autofocus.

This matters when doing music videos and you are moving the cam around and there is not convient for a manual lens in this type of scenario. Do any of you brothers have experience with the GH4 and the G85 that can give me some insight between the two?

I guess my concern with the G85 is the IOS intervals. I hear that it is very limited - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
To be honest music vids are planned shooting sessions but if I want to turn around and use the same cam at a wedding then low light becomes a factor and so ISO will matter to get it dialed in.

The GH4 I'm hearing is descent in low light but only if you use the speedboat and a fast lens. I have the Roki T1.5 Series M4/3 and I want to know will the GH4 do well with them? I hear slow motion is descent but gets noticeable noise if the lighting is not good. I also hear the auto focus is slow and sometimes unresponsive if the subject is not lighted well.

I see there are a few hacks for both of these cams but would like to hear from someone who has used them and have better insight.

[Lee Powell]

For small gimbals, I think the best Lumix lenses are the 42.5mm f1.7 and the 30mm f2.8 macro. These featherweight primes focus smoothly in continuous auto-focus mode and Panasonic's recent firmware update made them compatible with IBIS dual-IS. I'm considering the GX85 as it appears to be hackable to use the Cine-D profile and I like its tiltable 16:9 LCD for gimbal mounting.

[Nick Haman]

As said before I use the GX80 (GX85) as my Bcam - hacked to use CineD and I love it. Having spoken with the Leeming guys, I bought the GH5 LUT as they're supposedly very close.

Today I had my first shoot with both the GX and the LS300, it was a solo interview, so the b-cam wasn't needed... perfect situation to test it out. Here are my results after a 30 second grade, and in my opinion, if these examples were cut together with some broll in between, I don't think anyone would question it.

edit: I spent longer uploading these grabs then I did grading the videos. I can only upload 1 pic on the forum, so here's a link to both JVC - Lumix - Album on Imgur - Guess which is which.

(Looking back, the closer shot is a little darker, but again, can fix in the grade if I put more time in)

[Noa Put]

The gx80 suffers from some bad aliasing artifacts in 1080p so you need to watch out with that, in 4K those artifacts almost completely disappear. The image it produces is also quite contrasty and saturated. The highlights on the gx80 also clip faster then on a GH4 or 5 so good exposure is important, cine-d might help in that respect, have not tried it but will soon. For those who have cine-d active on the gx80, what happens if you turn the camera off and on again, will it remain in the cine-d mode or do you each time have to manually select it again?

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

Originally Posted by Lee Powell

For small gimbals, I think the best Lumix lenses are the 42.5mm f1.7 and the 30mm f2.8 macro.

see pics below

Originally Posted by Lee Powell

These featherweight primes focus smoothly in continuous auto-focus mode and Panasonic's recent firmware update made them compatible with IBIS dual-IS. I'm considering the GX85 as it appears to be hackable to use the Cine-D profile and I like its tiltable 16:9 LCD for gimbal mounting.

That is freaking awesome!!



I had the Zhiyun Crane before and used it with the GH5 and the 12-60mm Lens and it did pretty well with no complaints. The Zhiyun Crane has a load capacity of 1800g which is just shy of 4lbs. So after looking at my music vid fiasco I figured I better grab another stabilizer. So I got the V2 this time and it has some great features and you can also get the remote to use with the dual grip. Let me see if I can find a pic.

This is why I need auto focus to work well!

The remote is called Zhiyun ZW-B02 Wireless Remote - I'm waiting for it to come available. It seems to be out of stock everywhere at the moment.






If you want to get some strain relief you can try the Horn:

[Jim Nogueira]

Panasonic GH4. With Panasonic 12-35 and 35-100 lenses, an Olympus 12-42 lens, Nikon and Rokinon primes and Metabones adapters for both cameras, I am able to use any lens on either camera, and I'm covered in most situations. I mostly do documentary, corporate and wedding work.

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

Originally Posted by Nick Haman

As said before I use the GX80 (GX85) as my Bcam - hacked to use CineD and I love it. Having spoken with the Leeming guys, I bought the GH5 LUT as they're supposedly very close.

Today I had my first shoot with both the GX and the LS300, it was a solo interview, so the b-cam wasn't needed... perfect situation to test it out. Here are my results after a 30 second grade, and in my opinion, if these examples were cut together with some broll in between, I don't think anyone would question it.

edit: I spent longer uploading these grabs then I did grading the videos. I can only upload 1 pic on the forum, so here's a link to both JVC - Lumix - Album on Imgur - Guess which is which.

(Looking back, the closer shot is a little darker, but again, can fix in the grade if I put more time in)

Great shots. I was pixel peeping and could not tell them apart. I do see one has a slight more shadow than the other but I could not tell you which cam is which.

[Aaron Jones Sr.]

Originally Posted by Jim Nogueira

Panasonic GH4. With Panasonic 12-35 and 35-100 lenses, an Olympus 12-42 lens, Nikon and Rokinon primes and Metabones adapters for both cameras, I am able to use any lens on either camera, and I'm covered in most situations. I mostly do documentary, corporate and wedding work.

How is your Auto Focus with the GH4. I want to lean to that cam but from what I have been seeing the GX85 is better at auto focus. Can you shed some light on that?