Is there any danger of shorting out the hot shoe (FRONT) on the VG30 using the metal cold shoe plate on my camera light?

Good question. I have from time to time had metal on the hot shoe, but I try to avoid it. I'm not sure if the VG series auto detects flashes, but it seems to. Just went into the menu trying to access the hot shoe and it told me no flash was attached.

That - plus my own experience - leads me to believe it's probably safe. Just don't sue me if it isn't!

;)

Thanks John, I did not even think to look at the menu.

You got it - I only remembered it was there because I accidentally stumbled across it when in photo mode....