I am doing something, I don't know what it is, but after a while the A1U greys out my ability to use manual shutter!!! I go through all the settings and nothing is on to indicate that Auto shutter is being used. The only way to get back manual control of the shutter is to factory reset the dang thing! Anyone having this issue or know what is causing it/how to fix it?


: I shoot full manual 1080.60i
: I use the manual exposure lever
: Manual focus
: No in camera effects
: Auto lock is OFF

If this is anything like the VX2000, and I seem to remember it is, on full manual, you first select shutter speed, and it locks in place, then you adjust iris exposure and eventually gain with the exposure wheel. If that is the case, you have to determine what shutter speed you want to shoot at first, then adjust exposure according.

I wish it was like the VX, I could lock it down totally. With the A1U it is a totally different animal.

MOST of the time I can lock it in at 60i and manually adjust exposure until my heart's content. Then, seemingly at random, it greys the shutter options out! I don't change ANYTHING aside exposure up or down... or zoom in or out.

I am doing something, I don't know what it is, but after a while the A1U greys out my ability to use manual shutter

That frustrates me too. I don't have an A1U in front of me right now, but I think the last time I had this problem the cause was the manual exposure lever. It must be set on "AE shift" instead.

When you set shutter speed manualy then use the manual exposure you can no longer select a different shutter speed until you put the exposure back on automatic (as you say the shutter is greyed out) So, no need to reset everything just set exposure back to auto then select a new manual shutter speed and go back to manual exposure. Its inconvienent but thats how it works (at least it does on my A1u)

Thanks SO much Jim, that was making me crazy. I'll give that a go next time it greys me out.

Jim's absolutely right, it's all in the order you do it. Just to make it perfectly clear:
1) Set the Exposure to Auto
2) Set your shutter speed.
3) Set your exposure to Manual.

Thanks Guys, I was beginning to think I made a mistake in buying that camera after being used to the VX2100 for so long.

its been the second time this forum save me this week and changed what I was thinking of my camera.I wish there was a direct link to dvinfo inside the sony hvr-a1.

its been the second time this forum save me this week and changed what I was thinking of my camera.I wish there was a direct link to dvinfo inside the sony hvr-a1.

Same here. It (A1U) is a totally different animal and just needs to be handled like a new parrot. I still want the V1U, but it is still a bit out of my price range. I had to temporarily "settle" for the A1U. In good light it blows my VX2100 out of the water. In low light it is the opposite, and the reason I haven't sold the VX2100 yet.

In fact, I'm betting you might be able to use the VX2100 for a B camera for low light stuff and you might be able to match it up with a little bit of After Effects magic. But remember, never edit in 8 bit mode though if you are going to color correct or use effects...

A bet you'd win Frank. I've mixed footage of the two a few times now and am starting to get the hang of it. So far, not so bad of a mix at 16:9, haven't tried 4:3 yet, VX footage stretches great in post.

I'm new to color correcting, just learning that. I'm also new to After Effects 7.0. Premiere -7 years. I just never had time to fully dive in to AE.

How do I avoid editing in 8bit? Sorry for the noob question.

When you open AE, go to File/Project Settings. In the dialog box that comes up, go to the Color Settings area and click on 16 bits per channel from the drop down list. Many people leave it at the default which gets rendered at a lower quality, even though it might get rendered back down to 8 bits. It may sound weird, but it works much better.

There are also a number of good tips in The DV Rebel's Guide that can help and you can look through the postings in the Digital Compositing and Effects forum here at DV Info.

Thanks so much Howard! I was using default, no wonder! Thanks again for the resource info as well.