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