For some reason, even though I think I'm in manual iris mode, when I pan into a bright background light, my foreground image goes dark, as if I'm using auto iris. I push the iris button on the side of camera, set my exposure to where I want it to stay. I want the brights to blow out when I pan and keep the foreground from going dark.
what am I missing here?
thx

Check to see if your shutter and gain is also on manual. You should see these 3 items in your viewfinder, (iris, gain, shutter speed) indicating they're in manual mode.

yeah, I think that might be the issue!
thanks! for the suggestion.
I'll check it on Monday when I get to the camera.