''In any case, I would suggest you try to underexpose most of your shots by 1/2 to 1 stop.''

I think you mean that if you're pretty sure you can't guarantee 'correct' exposure, this is the way to head, Waldemar. I find your advice just a bit frightening, as correcting footage in post for a one stop under-exposure always results in loss of quality.

If you say 'under-expose in an effort to retain some highlight detail', then of course I'm with you, but a blanket 'under-expose' recommendation will be giving the newbies false hope and muddy footage.

As to the spotlight function Alessandro, I too think it's a very clever program. The only problem (and this is a very big problem) is that when your camera's in the spotlight mode it's in the auto-exposure mode, and we all know that movie cameras should only be put in the auto mode for 0.5% of their lives. And that 0.5% should be after you've sold it on.

tom.

Not on my camera. I get the luxury of the spotlight function plus manual exposure, that's why I like it!

How does that work? Surely when you're in manual exposure you can choose any aperture, shutter speed or gain setting you like. How does 'spotlight' enter the room under these circumstances?

BTW, what camera has this facility (that I can't get my head around)?

tom.

TRV-350 Digital-8.

The spotlight icon appears in the bottom left of the viewfinder as an icon and stays there even when I switch to manual exposure mode. Additionally, I have an actual videotape edit suite complete with waveform and vectorscopes and I have studied the signal with and without the spotlight mode on. About the only time I wouldn't recommend the spotlight switch would be if one were shooting in a foggy, hazy, overcast environment.

The spotlight function allows me to expose for the peaks as it lifts the darker parts of the picture via black stretch. By the way, this is what I would recommend for those who want to attempt a D.I.Y. film transfer.