Digital zoom settings for Panasonic PV-Gs39

Hi, You have a tough one to manage because these cameras were not meant for low lighting situations. I have tried on a few occasions with varying degrees of success. Smaller cameras like these are light hungry; the more the better. But you can try some things. If you have the camera's user manual, go to the secition on "Recording in Special situations". It will tell you how to change your camera to manual focus, and change the auto exposure (AE) to something like spotlight. But you may have to test this. If you had a high-end professional camera you would change the "gain" but this camera doesn't have that feature. Here's a link to the user manual if you don't have it: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vProdSupportModel?displayTab=R&surfModel=PV-GS9&modelNo=PV-GS9&storeId=15001&catalogId=11017&itemId=68628&displayServiceCenter=true# The stage lights will mess up your auto focus, so it's best to change to manual focus. The stage lights will make the camera continually change focus which wil be very annoying when you view it on the television. In other words, the person you are filming will be in focus for a few seconds, and then the camera will spot something else and focus on that, and then back to the main character again. And again and again. I do not recommend the digital zoom. This creates an interpolated image, in other words, it's the "computer chip" that changes the pixels. The inmage quality won't be very good. Your a camera operator. Get in there and get the footage. : ) You don't have to be rude like the popparazzi, but get as close to the stage as possible. I would recommend testing during a rehearsal if at all possible. That way you can change the settings to get the best possible image, rather than during a live performance. Good luck. Thanks for reviewing me. NewMediaMan