Many thanks Steve, for taking the considerable amount of time required to explain to these slowly whirring cogs. Think I'm starting to understand what you're saying but will need to spend a few days figuring it out.

You have no idea how much you have helped clarify my thoughts for my book.Many of the things, perhaps most, I am only now able to put into words. I've been rewriting the Shooingt Guide each time we have an exchange.

Some months ago I started to realize how complicated this all was. It's been decades since I had to deal with a fully manual camera.But, maybe not dealing with buttons to bring-up menus was actually easier.

Last night I read this preview of a retro digital camera that shoots 720p24. I invite everyone to read this.

Fujifilm FinePix X100 First Look Preview: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1fT5...layer_embedded

But, could one shoot today only with a 35mm fixed lens? If it had a 2X and 3X tele-converter, it might be a winner for some.

I'm very glad it was useful to you. It's certainly been of enormous help to me - I'm self trained so I rarely consciously think about what I actually do to get a decent picture- it's just the result of knowledge built up by a lot of trial and error over the years and a lot of help from people on forums such as yourself- having read through what you've written with my camera infront of me I absolutely agree with your post.

With my old main cam, an XH-A1, I'd almost always shoot with the aperture as wide open as possible in an attempt to get decent shallow DoF (or right at the telephoto end of its range for the same reason) but had the luxury not only of a couple of stops of ND built into the cam but also the ability to use minus AND positive gain and so could afford to be a little more insistent about shutter speed as I had two other settings to juggle to get the correct exposure in addition to adding lights/reflectors etc...

Obviously the VG10 is a slightly different kettle of fish. I'm still adjusting to the idea of not only being able to dial down the iris and still have shallow DoF, but it actually being desirable to do so in a lot more situations and the knock on effect that this has on my options for the other settings. I'm really missing my ND and minus gain at the moment! So I think a variable ND filter is getting added to the long list of purchases, which should allow me a little more room to maneuver...

Having come from a cam where you almost never had to go into the menu system whilst shooting (everything was taken care of by three lovely big wheels and some customisable switches) I definitely think changing to the VG10 is a bit of a learning curve, but I'm sure by the time I've shot a few hundred hours with this cam I'll have it down to a fine art ;)

Great discussion

What may or may not be clear:

VG10 you can adjust shutter while recording directly with the wheel.

Nex-5 you cannot.

That said, all the nex-5 video I've shot comes out smooth--but I have not shot much with the slow kit in super low light.

F/2 seems fast enough with nearly any lens to keep the noise under control in typical event low light--though if it's really dark you can go faster.

Both cameras manual focus as well or better than a DSLR mirror--without magnification IMHO. Yes focus assist would be nice in video, but I would seldom bother to use it.

For whatever reason the VG10 does seem a bit better in low light and to keep steady with Non-AF lenses than the Nex-5.

Most useful primes are 20-36mm, which can be handheld, though not forever. 24 is a real sweet spot--so a fast 24 is very usefull. I use a nFD 24 f/2, which is way sharper than needed for video.

Any 20mm f/2.8 is great, but the really fast sigma would be the best for video (but not for stills).

TY for all the great theory above.

"VG10 you can adjust shutter while recording directly with the wheel."

Which, if you are used to a standard camcorder with a rotary switch or a menu item -- this can be a shock. If you feel for the Dial to find "home" so you can then move a finger to one of the other buttons, it's VERY easy to change the shutter speed.

The other GUI bug is that in Video Mode you can't use DMF. Yet the FOCUS button sends you to the Dial where you make the AF or MF choice after which your press the Dial.

Since you only have TWO choices in Video Mode, the FOCUS button should toggle between MF and AF.

Sony's lucky Canon hasn't hasn't put the 60D guts into a camcorder package.

Getting back to exposure control a bit...
My current solution for muscling both the shutter speed and DOF for daylight shooting is to leave a VariND filter on the lens.
I put the cam in shutter priority and set whatever speed I need, then I dial the VariND filter to produce the desired aperture, creating the DOF Needed for the shot.
It's very quick and easy with no downside in my experience.
There have been some reports of possible slight color shift, but I've seen nothing that is a problem for me so far.

If you have one lens this works really well. But, it's tougher when you have multiple lenses with different filter sizes.

I too have always been worried about color shift and vinetting and step-up adaptors, etc. Plus, they are not cheap. Or, rather some are cheap and some are expensive. Which one do you have?

These look reasonably priced.

Filter > Fader ND mark II -


Were Sony to really sell a HDDSLRas a camcorder, built in NE filters should have been the first thing they included.

I have the Singh Ray VariND.
It is expensive, but I primarily use the 18-200mm stock lens for daylight shooting.
I could get costly if you're using a variety of lenses.
I've read user reports re the less expensive versions- people seem quite satisfied with them.

That's the one I got.

No vingneting (however you speel it), hehe

You get the 67 I think--what screws straight on..I tested at 18mm..perfect. I think the outer ring on the adapter is maybe 72, in case you want a screw on hood.

Thank you for the confirmation.

Re: Why no Focus Assist?
 

Steve-
Coming from a PD170 to the VG10, I found your posts in this thread to be extremely helpful. I'm going over to d/l a copy of your 'Shooting Great Video with Sony Nex Cameras' right now. Many thanks.
Vin