When recording indoor sports events under lights that are not well-diffused I have run into the problem of hot spots of excessive lighting intermixed with darker areas. Are there gamma or other adjustments that will help reduce the overexposure in the hot areas ?

Send a PM to Barry Green. He's the DVX guru.

For maximum latitude you'd want to use cinelike-D gamma, and keep your zebras on 105% and make sure nothing clips out. You can also stretch your shadows a bit by raising the master pedestal up a notch or two.