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My review of the JVC LS300


Mattias Burling
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1 hour ago, Mattias Burling said:

The frame was from the zoom with a bit to much iso, it was getting dark. 

What do you mean by high ISO? it looks like grain, zero color noise and nice detail too. Man you're making me reconsider! I don't have access to the camera now, it's a pity I can't test again in the dark venues with lights off for dancing I usually get, but I would try it again if I could, I'm starting to guess it was user error! And like I said, Jlog is beautiful, that's for sure. My children are now fans of Gunpowder!

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10 hours ago, Ivanhurba said:

What do you mean by high ISO? it looks like grain, zero color noise and nice detail too. Man you're making me reconsider! I don't have access to the camera now, it's a pity I can't test again in the dark venues with lights off for dancing I usually get, but I would try it again if I could, I'm starting to guess it was user error! And like I said, Jlog is beautiful, that's for sure. My children are now fans of Gunpowder!

I think it might have been iso3200 which is usable but at the s16 crop it is a bit more aggressive.
No weird colors which is good. The camera usually don't get that in shadows. Its main achilles heal are low contrast mid tones.


When pushing an image above the 12 stops DR, trying to treat is a Raw or something, the mids will get the ugliest FPN when grading.
Ungraded its ok.

The good news is that I have had such footage in all my videos and its fine. One just have to face the limitations of the camera and crush the mids down where they belong.
If I was shooting for news or something and didn't care about noise and grading, just want to confirm what I see, then the camera is +13 stops imo.
Usable stops are 12.

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23 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Hey Mattias, thank you so much for being a trailblazer with this incredibly underrated camera. 

What would you say is the highest usable ISO at the full sensor width (no crop)?

The native for J-log is 800, so thats where I would stay.
But 1600 is fine if needed. 3200 is stretching it but what tha heck.

In gain terms +6db is nice, +12db is ok.

 

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Wow. Mattias...thanks for doing this. I have never ever ever ever considered JVC an option. But to my eye....J Log looks like it would cut well with Canon C Log. Havent seen many tests online with it. From your 5 reasons video, skin tones looked really good. This truly is like the C100 we all wanted. I also have a ton of MFT mounts and vintage lenses and adapters. It would work perfectly into my workflow and would cut nicely with C100's when I do multishoots with my friends who all own Canons. 

However, Im still holding out for NAB....this really is a beautiful all in one camera. All for a great price too! I cant believe its hidden from everyone and nobody is using these. 

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I was packing up the loaner thats shipping back to JVC when I thought I would do one last thing. Some experimenting with the Cine Gamma. The J-Log is really great. It has a nice roll of and I love using it specially on bright days with a high dynamic range. 

But in dim light, specially low contrast, it doesn’t withstand grading very well.
The noise can turn very ugly and FPN if not careful. So far my fix for it has been to expose down. If its dark, let it be dark. This isn’t a night for day camera.

Today I tested something else. Anybody that uses Sony and S-Log knows that in many low contrast situations its better to switch to "Cine Gamma”. Specially to preserve skin tones. And it seems JVC is no different.

I shot some clips of myself in a mirror. There is no direct light hitting me, its pretty dim. 


If you look at my sweater, on the right arm, you can see how the J-Log has a nicer roll of, while the Cine Gamma has a harsher clip. But you can probably also see how much nicer the skin gets, specially on the shadow side. There where less banding on the wall as well. And the J-Log is just about to fall apart after the grade and a WB correction. The Cine Gamma had correct WB in camera but still feels like there is some more leverage there.

J-Log Ungraded
J_Log_Ungraded.md.jpg

J-Log Graded
J_Log_Graded.md.jpg

Cine Gamma Ungraded
CineGamma_0db_ungraded.md.jpg

Cine Gamma Light grade
CineGammaGraded.md.jpg

Cine Gamma Graded to my liking
CinneGammaGraded2.md.jpg
 

So a quick unscientific conclusion is, J-Log in bright and HDR light. Cine Gamma when uncertain.
Now I can’t wait until my own LS300 gets here, because I need to give the Gamma settings and Picture Profiles a thorough run through. 
There is for example a WDR setting that I want to fool around with.

Cine Gamma WDR Ungraded
CineGamma_widedynamicrUngraded.md.jpg

Cine Gamma WDR Light Grade
CineGamma_widedynamicr.md.jpg
 

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I'm curious to know what the LS-300 sensor coverage would be using the new SLR Magic 2x 50mm CINE anamorphic MFT lens.  Unlike the PL Mount lens which start around $6K, the MFT lens are $2.6K for the 35mm and $3K for the 50mm and 70mm in the US.  The PL lens are intended for S35 and FF sensors (35mm and 50mm/70mm respectively) whereas the MFT are for S16 and 4/3rds sensors (again 35mm and 50mm/70mm respectively).

Just wonder what the aspect ratio of the 50mm MFT anamorphic used on the LS-300 would be when de-squeezed.  If it's anywhere near 2:35:1, I'd love to see JVC add a de-squeeze internal option for the internal screen.  While certainly not inexpensive, the SLR MFT anamorphic lenses are not untouchable and I'm hoping the LS-300 might be an affordable option for shooting with a native anamorphic lens.  

Interested in any thoughts on this... or a possible test :)

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I am seriously interested in this camera. Does it make sense to use Panasonic lenses with lens image stabilizer, or the Olympus will do fine?

Do EF lenses have autofocus? I guess metabones adapters and the such will do the trick a la GH4 style?

I am trying to find a reason not to buy it, but with such a reduced price it seems like the only option!

Do you have any comment between the JVC and the FS5?

Cheers.

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9 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I am seriously interested in this camera. Does it make sense to use Panasonic lenses with lens image stabilizer, or the Olympus will do fine?

Do EF lenses have autofocus? I guess metabones adapters and the such will do the trick a la GH4 style?

I am trying to find a reason not to buy it, but with such a reduced price it seems like the only option!

Do you have any comment between the JVC and the FS5?

Cheers.

For everything over 50mm I would use IS for handheld. 50mm and under is ok.

EF autofocus works nice. Watch my test video.

Never used an fs5 so I cant tell you.

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With the APS-C sensor and you saying some M43 lenses actually manage to cover the sensor as well as the fact it can zoom by scaling the readout area... couldn't they do a thing where they include an electronic digital stabilizer by moving the readout area around? I guess it would be missing hardware, like accelerometers for that..

I'm curious to see if like Samsung they go big one time... where a successor could really nail it, but give up on the segment, or if they'll actually bring out something new and exciting at some point...

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Another interesting anamorphic option for the LS-300.... the new SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x - 40 MFT adapter announced this week is specifically designed to work with their HyperPrime CINE 25mm T0.95 III lens.   Guessing the price for both will be around $1200 US when the new adapter is available.  

Based on user comments I read, the previous Anamorphot was optimal with 50mm lens and ok at 35mm.  This gives a bit wider view at 25mm and hopefully sharpness isn't compromised too much if the adapter was developed for this particular lens.

Looking to pick up the LS-300 myself and test this combo when available.

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I am eager to see the full review :)

As I have many lenses from super 16mm to full frame, it would be a great camera for it :) (plus super 16mm zooms are quite fast and super cheap !)
I guess B4 lenses would be an option too :) (but the image circle is still a bit smaller than super16mm, would B4 lenses cover a sufficient amount of the LS300 properly ?)

But I just bought an AF100 and 4k$ isn't an option right now :s I still have to rig my AF100 and buy an external monitor :s 

BTW, I just began on working on review for the lenses I own (a bunch minolta primes and some M42 lenses)

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Yeah Ive been working out of Sweden for over a week so I haven't been able to do much.
But now Im ready to get back on track and get the review done. There is so much cool feature framed in that thing, I want to show them all.
Also I think my Chinabooster is here tomorrow, and hopefully my adapter for my Canon TV-zoom :)

Meanwhile I just fell in love with a camera today. Did the stupid thing an asked to see it in a store. It was like when I got Gunpowder.
I was only there to "look" at puppies ;)

I shot a cheesy little unboxing with the LS300. Graded it totally over the top. It was shot in C4K 24p and Cine Gamma, which btw Im staring to really like.

 

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