IS shooting in night mode a reasonable option for shhoting in low light situatons such as a wedding reception or any other place where the lights are briht enough?

Hi Kevin, I think you mentioned in another thread that you have the camera in hand, so the best way to get this question answered is to try the night mode out for yourself in conditions that will be similar to what you're shooting, and make the determination for yourself. Hope this helps,

Night mode uses a very low shutter speed and anything moving will blur; it is also very hard to hand-hold because of this. I have used it in a pinch in available-darkness news situations but the image is highly compromised. Probably nice for non-moving subjects if you are on sticks, but that's not weddings...you might find the +12db boost about the acceptable limit, some people say it's +6, depends on your needs, I guess. But the gain boost probably will give you a better image...my two cents / Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com video team

Thanks Battle, that is exactly the kind of input I was looking for.

Here is link to a thread about a preset(PFVISION) Randy made for shooting at receptions in low light conditions. I have a link on the thread showing some of my test footage with the preset.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/xh-series-sample-clips/140962-new-preset-pfvision-sample-included.html

Hope this helps.