Guys .. with power off shut your eyes and feel for all the switches for a few minutes a day. eg: on the A1 dial the manual position is 4 clicks forward.

That does help learn 'em, especially for when you get in a rush in a low light situation. It works.

Cheers.

Words from the wise...now if I could only find the discipline to follow through with those wise words!!!!!

Thanks Allan,
Randy

EDIT: I just marked my calendar M-F at 9am to learn cameras blindfolded (with lots of !!!!)... I will abide!!!!!!

GR .. another thing to do is use a stopwatch and time how long it takes you to set the rig up ie: get all the stuff out of the car get it parked, gear into the venue, set the tripod up with the A1, maybe connect an external mic and lights up and quickly check it all.

The reason for this is if you get to a gig late, maybe a traffic snarl etc. the client is likely to say ..

'This is just great! where the blazers were you?'

After you explain they'll probably say 'Well Ok .. how long now before we video?

If you say, 'Sorry it'll just me a couple of minutes' and you take 10 or longer that's just going to make the client madder and the talent lose what's left of their confidence. Of course you'll get faster with experience but time it now.

And that's another reason to have a tape loaded and all checked prior. That goes for weddings, conferences, anything. HTH.
Cheers.