Although I'm not proficient enough to goto total manual settings as of yet, I'm slowing migrating from letting the camera adjust everything...in this case/question is exposure. When setting up for a shot...would it be best to let the camera set the original exposure and them hit exposure lock to keep the camera from adjusting the brightness of the image?
Mark

No, not a good idea. If you move the camera (pan, tilt etc.) then the exposure will change. Try going full manual. Set the shutter speed to 1/60 of a second and leave it. Use the zebra bars in the viewfinder to judge exposure. Open or close the aperture till the bars just go away. This may be a little too dark (or light) so adjust for personal taste. Once you start shooting this way you won't go back. But you'll have to practice at first, to learn the exposure level that you like.

Thanks for the quick response Jeff...I would assume with the process your described, if the overall exposure was a tad off, a simple post production tweek would be all that is needed?

One more thing/question with the manual mode...the epxosure meter that pops up in the view finder...you try to center the meter...is this correct?

I hit submit before asking this also Jeff/all...what percentage of zebra do you typically have the camera set for? 80...90...100?

depends on what your highlights are. normalskin tones are around 70, for bright light, plus a little margin, I use 90%

As Bill pointed out, it varies. Go out and shoot some footage and experiment. You'll quickly find the settings that work best for you.

Thanks Jeff...last night after I finished with some editing work I hooked up the XL1s to a NTSC monitor and played/experimitted with different setting in manual mode...I learned allot of what the camera is telling me...via meter/zebra (and how that translate to picture quality)....

Not sure why I ever used the auto settings in the first place....LOL
Mark

Keep practicing, indoors, outdoors, different light levels and types. It's not too hard, you just have to work at it a little. I'm glad it's working for you.