General AG-DVX100P help

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I'm going to be the cinematographer on an independent documentary in January and will be shooting it on the AG-DVX100p camera. This'll be my first time using it, and I would like some help with the settings.
The documentary will take place mostly inside a conference room of a hotel and the lighting will be awfull, probably all halogen lights. anyway, I will have to be able to pick up dark colored details on the black clothing of my subjects. Could anyone out there suggest the best settings I could use?

Also, any and all tips would also be greatly appreceated!
Plus, I want to set the timecode to correspond with wich tape is being used (01:00:00:00 for tape one, 02:00:00:00 for tape two etc.)

I am in the middle of studying the manual but would still like to hear from people who have used this camera and know what they're talking about!

Thanks!
 
Re: General AG-DVX100P help

Under bad lighting conditions, and at a conference, I would probably recommend not shooting in 24p or 24pa. Maybe 30p, possibly 60i. How awful are we talking about for the lighting? I'm not a big fan of the DVX100's low-light capabilities (although many will argue with me, trust me, this camera does not handle low light well, even in 60i).

My best recommendation--shoot 60i. Keep the gain as low as a possible. Manual focus. And do some tests of the master pedestal to match the black detail you need. there's a great comparison page of master ped somewhere on this site, but i can't remember the link.
 
Re: General AG-DVX100P help

"(although many will argue with me, trust me, this camera does not handle low light well, even in 60i)."

I strongly disagree with this, I've done a lot of low light shooting. I'd rate it the same as a PD150's with a slight nod to a PD150, of course the PD170 should be out soon and supposedly will improve even more than the 150, but right now the DVX100 is about as good as you can get in the price range in terms of low light.

One caveot with the DVX100, it's blue channel is the noisiest so warming up your image in low light conditions will go a long ways in eliminating grain.
 
Re: General AG-DVX100P help

interlace video? what is it video art here ??
stevten, go progressive, if you stay in one location, set up some additional lighting. if you have a chance to get in there, make some tests to see how terrible it is.
you mentioned timecode, this issue needs a little attention to avoid TC breaks later. make sure you push the rec. check button before shooting. if you turned off the camera and on again, a little push on the rewind will bring the TC back (leave a "tail" each time before you stop shooting, that will make it easier to do). after you made your preset TC and ran your bars (or whatever you do with the first 15 sec. of the tape) change it to regen. this hassle will save your editor some headaches.
my 0.02 €

good luck with the shoot.. to me that's the number one documentary camera.. don't give up on the 24P.
 
Re: General AG-DVX100P help

Thanks guys, this is exactly the kind of advice I weas looking for, keep it coming.

Unfortunately I have no way of getting to my location beforehand, I'm in Savannah, GA and we will be shooting in St. Louis in about 4 weeks. So tests at the location are out, and I won't have access to the actual camera until January 5th......

Other than that, thanks for the help so far and I hope I keep getting lots of helpful hints and info!
 
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