What allows for the most work to be put into color correction post?
 

Cinimode or tv shutter speed 50?
Should I blast all the inbuilt color options to -1?

two more questions
A) how good are the white balancing tools used in post? Does it allow for such versatlity that I can film it with neutral white balance and worry about more blue/orange in post?
B)If the scene isn't lit enough to my liking, adding gain would be the best option or adding brightness in post? Adding gain isn't that much or a cardinal sin is it?

This has been discussed to death. But in short, Cinemode seems to give the most detail in the shadows and highlights. It Tv mode, the camera is doing alot of processing, like contrast. Adjusting the contrast in Tv mode is still not as good as Cinemode. In Cinemode, ntsc cams will want to stay at Tv 48 and Pal at Tv 50, while adjusting everything else first (aperature, ND filters, gain, etc).

As for white balance, I white balance with the cam at each scene to keep it constant in post. Makes it easier to match camera angles.

Gary,

If you are shooting hdv and are going to be doing color correction it is highly benificial to get Neoscene (129 dollars) convert the m2t to cineiform AVI (changes the chroma from 4:2:0 to 4:2:2) make your color corrections and then go to your blu ray or DVD.


Cineform NeoScene : Features