Can someone in a simple way explain to me the differences in Gain and AE shift. Through my first 5 weeks of tinkering with the Camera I have left my AE shift on "0".

I know the gain knob can add alot of noise when I start adding some light. What does the AE shift do? and when should I use it?

Guy-

This may help.

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=74676

Simple answer: the AE shift is for those times the auto exposure doesn't give the correct exposure for certain conditions, like when shooting into a strong backlight behind your subject. The camera will expose for the backlight, so the subject will be dark. Use the AE shift on one of the + settings so the camera "overexposes," so the subject will come up lighter.

AE shift is for any time you're working under conditions that cause the camera to over- or underexpose consistently. It lets you "tweak" the auto exposure.

Gain is simply like turning up the volume on your stereo, only for the video signal. I don't know how long you've had your camera, but for me, the Auto gain setting was one of the first things I turned off. Too many times it cranked the gain high enough to where it looked like I was shooting through a pink snowstorm (noise). I usually keep it at 0 or +3. The only time I go higher is for very low-light shooting, like street festivals.

Martin