Nice review from Rick Young at Movie Machine here:
I rented the HM200's big brother (the Super 35, interchangeable lens JVC GY-LS300) last weekend and these are terrific cameras for the price.
The color space for the codec is only 8-bit, but the sub-sampling is 4:2:2 – and the UHD compression is really nice.
As Rick says in the video, because of the efficient compression, it records to affordable cards and it edits easily.
His criticisms of the camera are minor and the same as mine – e.g., a 'plasticky' body.
There is one downside to these cameras that Rick doesn't mention, however – the tiny viewfinder. Coming from the nice, bright 2.56 megapixel OLED viewfinder on my Panasonic GH4, looking through the tiny 0.25" 1.56 megapixel viewfinder on the LS300 was like looking through a fuzzy, dimly lit soda straw. The expanded focus button was helpful, but peaking (although present) was hard to see.
But at least it has a viewfinder – a lot of cameras and camcorders are doing away with them.
After renting the camera, I am still planning to buy it (either that or a $4995 URSA Mini 4.6K, if I can afford it) later this year.
If you do buy one, you should seriously consider buying from an authorized retailer at the $2695 price. There are less expensive units out there, but they are usually gray market imports.
Hope this is helpful and good luck!
Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution
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