Okay, so I pulled the string and ordered the x70 from B&H with the audio technica 875r. It is currently in route. What I am looking for is any tips and tricks that might be found on the net. I have pretty much read the manual online but I am looking for more useful insight. I have googled tips and I have googled tricks without many results. I mainly get reviews. Does anyone have anything they could share or know of a site that might have more information?

This thread is full of useful information, just scroll through

Bunch of random thoughts...

Customize the user definable buttons to get quick access to the functions that you use the most.

I recommend going back a few months in the thread and using Paul Anderegg's custom color adjustments.

I find the blacks super crushed in all factory PP settings, but the camera has a lot of options to get the PP look you want. Early on in the threads Christopher Young has some good settings to start off with that do some shadow de-crushing and highlight control.

Don't be afraid to use some exposure Gain - it's really pretty clean and makes the camera better in low light than it has a right to be. If you like a sharper image, I've found that I can up the general sharpness (by increasing Detail and lowering Crispening) a surprising amount without artifacting.

The image stabilization is good but not great - just plan for that. Auto focus is good but a bit slow - but the upside is that once locked on it's not easily thrown off.

The Clear Image zoom can suffer in low light, but in decent light it's surprisingly usable and much better than a digital zoom.

But, yes, read through the thread - several of us have sample videos posted as we've worked through getting the X70 dialed in over the past few months.

Good points from David,

I have my 'Auto Gain limit' set to 21db - it's fine for most circumstances I encounter, if I need higher I simply press the gain button & bump it up manually.

Definitely up the black levels in the 'Picture Profile' menu, I want a graded look straight from my camera & run at +8 (& they still sometimes look a little crushed).

Never forget to stop recording before switching off by shutting the screen - the camera will keep rolling in your kit bag.

If you're a run 'n' gun type of shooter - try trusting the tech & use focus magnification, face detection, touch spot focus and the other gimmicks - you might like them.

Set the peaking to middle or low, as high can give false positives in some situations.