Hello XL1s users, any advice is appreciated. I am shooting some ballet and using an unmanned XL1s for the coverage/long shot, the "proscenium" shot as they call it. Then I will shoot CU's with my DVX.

My question: is there a setting to make the XL1s control exposure automatically, to deal with the extremely dynamic lighting situations of live dance? Also, is there anyway to "lock" the focus? I am pretty familiar with the camera but have only shot manual, always, and don't have days to experiment.

I know it is not ideal to have a camera unmanned but that is the situation I am dealing with on short notice. Again any advice welcome.

To lock the focus, just set the camera to manual focus. This switch is on the lens itself. You will be required to focus the camera. or you can press the auto focus button temporarily.

There are multiple setings on the camera which allow automatic exposure control. The Auto, AV and other settings will accomplish this. The "M" for manual will not.

You can experiment with these settings in just a short time. You will not need days.

Thanks. It is the 20X Auto zoom lens..so I'm not sure it'll actually "lock", what with that free-spinning ring...but I've figured out the AE settings. Thanks again

On the 20x Lens, just set the AF-M switch to the manual position. This will put you in manual focus.

Then focus manually. It is usually best to first zoom in, then focus, then zoom back, if desired.

Even though the focus ring will spin freely, the focus will remain as set, unless you move the focus ring.

The XL1s has a Spotlight mode at the far end of the mode ring control. You can still use manual focus but in my experience, the Spotlight mode does a better job of exposure (than Av or Tv) for stage productions where the subjects are very brightly lit vs the background.