Hi,

How to check if the Auto SHTR feature is functioning? What's the actual purpose and when to use and not to use this feature?

This feature is not much explained in the user guide.

Thank you.

The Auto shutter is an on/off switchable feature in the menu. The reason it's there first:
If you shoot in bright sunlight and ignore the silent scream for the ND filters to be switched in (on the TRV900 and the VX2k), then the camera will stop down to f9.5 and at that point (if the scene continues to get brighter) will start to up the shutter speed.

This is a no-no for the staccato effect high shutter speeds have on subject or camera movement, so I advocate keeping the auto shutter OFF in the menu, and using the built-in ND and a further ND8 over the lens. This way you'll have smooth pans and great apertures, as f4 is a noticeably sharper aperture than f11.

How to test if Auto Shutter is working? Go shoot bright light footage and turn on "Display" behind the side screen on replay. Each frame is identified with the shutter speed and aperture that were used.

tom.