Thou shalt shoot 24p mode in all USA/NTSC/HDV world

Thou shalt use screw in ND filters in addition to electronic ND filters to keep the aperature at least 5.6 or more open in broad daylight.

Thou shalt keep shutter speed between 1/48th to 1/100th unless you have a damn good reason not to... and not having a ND doesn't count. (hint buy at least one)

Thou shalt remove the stock mic and give it to small child to play with and attach a proper shock mount and Sennheiser mic with muff and forget about problems for ever after. (think $1,000 range for mic/capsule/mount)

Thou shalt turn off motion smoothing

Thou shalt use a varizoom controller for smooth zooms

Thou shalt to endless experimenting

thou shalt defend thy good name against all HVX heresy
thou shalt beam proudly in the midst of laughter when all indications are that your 135mm/brevis/stock lens/hd100 is a magnificent symbol for all to envy

---- and when conjoined with thy 50mm-500mm Sigma zoom at full extension, at the very equine, nay, very elephantine sight, shalt they tremble in their inadequacy. (an thet's enooff arf thes abseen folly Roobbit.)

Levity aside, it would probably be a good thing for all the true techical stuff to be distilled from this and other like threads and posted as a troubleshoot in the sticky threads which head this subforum.

I am only a tourist who occasionally runs up against the JVC so it won't be my lot to compile it as I would be sure to misinterpret something. (Wishing I had held off and had one but I am now beholden to Sony which came along first.).

Why?

I thought it only applied when using the stock lens? It sure seems to be related to the lens rather than the camera as I shoot with the iris wide open with the Mini35 all the time and it looks great. Both relay and taking lens.

I find turning peaking up helps to find focus.

As for the iris reference, you are right, I was referring to the stock lens.

Wide open is usually less problematic than "iris shut down" as Eric mentions. Especially with your lens rig, where the small iris isn't only showing flaws in the lens, but it can start to "see" the ground glass with the extend DOF. The grain of the ground glass and motion better be optimal, especially used with wider lenses closed way down.
Wide open with glorious bokeh blur of out of focus elements both disguises and distracts from the minimal open aperture lens issues on the rigs.