Gary Senda

It is normal that in 4k this camera has a wider zoom than GH4: when in 4k, the GH4 uses a smaller portion of the m43 sensor. In addition, some m4/3 lenses (as the zuijo 14-35 f2) produce a bigger circle than the standard m43 one and you can set VSM at 86% without vignetting. The downside of this camera is the poor support for manual exposure: only one zebra position, no waveform, no histogram and for this reason my trend is to underexpose. (If they only could add a waveform in a future firmware update). For the remaining, I like this camera and it is enough for my needs Regards Gary

​

Hi Ebrahim, Here's a little review about the camera. If you go on dvxuser or other forums, you can read negative comments by panasonic fanboy: I can understand them, they are very frustrated and without any perspective for the future (as me 2 weeks ago). I think this camera has many advantages: 1) the VSM, the S35 sensor and the micro4/3 mount give you a unique lens versatility: you can mount every lens you want, digital or manual focus. Furthermore, this camera has allowed me to save all the money I've invested in M43 lenses 2) VSM is well enginereed: as you can see in the first frame, there are not evident artifacts 3) someone has said: this camera has not a filmic look. Sincerely, I cannot understand this kind of opinions by people that has never tried it. Surely S35 sensor is more filmic than m43 one. Secondary, the camera is fully configurable, has a cinema gamma and a cinema color matrix and you can achieve the look you want. You can even set the gamma value, but no scene files. Finally, in PP you cam make what you want 4) EVF is terrible. On the other side achieving a perfect focus is very easy. All my manual focus clips in 4k were simply perfect, without any external monitor or viewfinder. There are 2 focus assist: magnify and color peaking with B/W screen: you can use them in the same moment, they are fully compatible. If you use the 2 FA at the same time you have always a perfect focus, even in 4k and even with a fully open iris 5) Achieving the right exposure is not as easy as making focus: no waveform, no histogram, only one zebra position, in wich you can set the lower and the upper limit: you need to practice 6) the use of the dual slot is very clever: you can make a. series recording (with hot swap); b. parallel recording (a copy of the clip in the second card, very useful in important productions); c. normal recording in slot A and proxy recording in slot B and d. you can record continuosly on the second slot, regardless the pause button 7) there's a connector for external power supply (no false battery), very useful. If you connect an external power to the camera you can charge the battery while shooting (good) but no battery charger in the package. On the other side, a shotgun mic is included. No remote control also. If you need remote, you can use your smartphone. The camera is small an light, but if you use a serious lens it is unbalanced and is mandatory that you put an hand under the lens in handheld shooting. Finally there are the streaming functions, but I have never tested it. The biggest lack? An effective monitoring of the manual exposure. This is my first request for a future firmware (if that were possible with a simple firmware update) Regards Gary

Hi all, this is my first post, so let's introduce me. I'm from Italy, and I'm not a professional but simply an advanced video hobbist. I've bought one of the first Panasonic AF101 and I was an enthusiastic (and now an orphan) of this project. Two weeks ago my seller has given me a LS300 to test and after a few days I've decided to buy it. It is really a great camera for the price and VSM works really well (it is not continuous, it is in steps because remapping is optimized. Hera are two screenshots straight from VLC. The first one with a zuiko 14-35mm f2.0 (set at f5.6) and VSM 86%, factory settings (video gamma and color matrix normal), manual focus and manual exposure https://www.dropbox.com/s/evahlifkdyh78f7/vlcsnap-2015-05-17-11h04m27s200.png?dl=0 the second one is an indoor shooting, no lighting. The lens is a canon FD 85mm f1.2 (set at f8), full S35 frame (no vsm). https://www.dropbox.com/s/ksj9h8cy3o1scpb/vlcsnap-2015-05-17-19h51m59s127.png?dl=0 After 10 days of testing I can say that the LS300 is a big step over my previous AF101: less video noise, better resolution in FHD also, better latitude, better highlights holding, better performance in low-light, better focus assist, better use of the dual slot, 4:2:2 sampling in FHD and much more. For the price this is really an honest camera for the budget advanced filmaker. Regards Gary