[Chris Schwartz]

yeah, the lighting isn’t the problem, it’s the auto focus. I don’t have any stuck pixels atm, but I have had to reset them before. It was pretty simple. I may be relatively new to the manual aspects of camera equipment, but I’ve been around cameras a long time, so I can pick things up pretty quickly. Thanks for the reply. I got a DVD to help me learn some new tricks!

[Chris Schwartz]

Agreed. I’m still learning, as this is the first camera with manual controls I’ve gotten my hands on. I have been reading up on websites about the different photography terminology, so I’m getting there, just going slow. I’ll have to find a good book for photography stuff. Is there anything that’s video specific?

[Chris Schwartz]

haha, I did read the manual. The problem I have with the operator’s manual is that it only tells you HOW to perform a task, not when to, why to, and what the perfect setting is. Most of the settings I have adjusted via the manual, or similar. I searched for aperture in the user manual online, but couldn’t find that part. I do remember switching that lens controller when the back-focus got screwed up. I never knew what it really did. heh. thanks for the tip! Maybe I’ll go run back and re-read the manual…nightly…

[Chris Schwartz]

What is the setting to adjust the iris? I think that’s what my problem is with the light gradations…but even when I turn off full auto, I can’t move the spinner by the lens. I tried to look up aperture in the book, but didn’t find anything. Do I not have to worry about ISO then?

I’ve never found the need to dabble with the technical aspects of a camera before as auto modes have always seemed to work for me or the camera was so crappy I had no real control…and anything that didn’t work I could fix in post (I’ve gotten REAL good at color correction..haha).

But I’ve been around the low-end prosumer/consumer cameras a lot. I’ve shot 4 crappy indie features and over 30 short films. I’m currently part of a studio that’s starting commercials and other high end productions as well as sticking to the indie film hobby, so it’s about time I start to really learn about the things I’m doing to make sure it’s done right…and with this camera having a good bit of manual controls, it’s a good starting point.

Thanks for your help with this.

[Chris Schwartz]

Thanks! What are the main things that I should learn to adjust when full auto is off?

The ones I know for sure are:

Focus
Shutter speed

The ones I don’t know if I need to play with are:

Gain?
White balance (we usually adjust this in post)?
Anything else?

Obviously I don’t know too much..haha.