Whenever I film inside towards a bright window the complete picture goes a lot darker, what setting do I need to use to make this stop happening and I would like it to be automatic if possible so the room stays normal and the window just stays bright. any ideas?
thanks.

You have to use the manual mode or Tv mode,
M-manual mode, you can set your aperture to make your subject bright and the window behind them will be washed-out.
Tv-mode, you can zoom in on your subject then push the EXP.LOCK button to lock your exposure then zoom out and your subject will stay bright.

Auto gain must be off too.

Turn ALL the auto stuff off--auto gain, auto iris, auto shutter, auto white balance. Shoot on manual.

The camera metering is reflective, which means it reacts to light coming to the lens from the source. If you're in auto iris, the camera thinks there's too much light when it sees a white wall or window, so it stops down. Conversely, when it sees a black wall, it thinks there's not enough light, so it opens up. Learn to shoot on manual, use the zebras and your problem is solved.

You don't have to switch to other mode.. still continue the shooting. Then hit the exposure lock button (the round button on the left side.. very easyto locate). then rotate the iris ring counter-clockwise. It works very well.

My best advice is turn off AGC, AWB, and never shoot in any other mode other than M.

My best advice is turn off AGC, AWB, and never shoot in any other mode other than M.

Does the AWB hinger low light shooting? Or are you explaining this as generally good practice overall?

I found the AWB works quite well on XH-A1. I left it on all the time.

Does the AWB hinger low light shooting? Or are you explaining this as generally good practice overall?

Anything auto has the chance of shifting/making changes when you don't necessarily want it to. Just like panning past a subject in front of a bright background with an auto iris. It will meter the frame as whole and stop your image down causing your subject to be a silloutte.

The same concept goes with AGC. Your footage will have no continuity if it's constantly riding gain up and down. I'm very against anything auto when shooting, apart from relying on auto focus to track subjects walking toward your camera with your iris wide open (ie during a precessional).

Thanks for the help guys. I was able to fix the problem now!!

Mind sharing with us what you did to fix that?