"How can this be underexposed, my LCD had a beautiful image???"

Just this past Weekend ( July 02, 2007), I shot a wedding, like I've been doing nearly every weekend since March, but this time, upon returning home and reviewing my tapes, something was wrong - very wrong.

My images were dark, about a full stop darker than they should have been. I was extremely attentive, as usual, with my focus, framing, audio and exposure. So what could have happened?

While in my livingroom, I pulled out my Sony VX-2100 and aimed it at my dog. With a turn of the exposure knob, I quickly had a beautiful, brilliant image on my LCD screen, even though the livingroom wasn't well lit. Next, I hooked an RCA cable to my TV and was surprised to see an image at least a full stop darker than the camera's LCD. What was going on?

I checked my LCD's brightness controls and discovered that it had been set all the way to full brightness. The control buttons are on the edge of the LCD, right where my thumb might have pushed them while opening the LCD screen.

Lesson learned: Before (and occasionally, during) a wedding shoot, pay attention to your LCD's brightness setting. Be sure it is where you expect it to be and try to remember to open the LCD carefully so as not to inadvertently alter the setting.

Thankfully, my editing software brightened up the tapes and there were no noticable ill effects.

Sony should include a menu setting to disable these buttons since they are too easily changed accidentally.  Check your camera and see if it also has lcd brightness controls - it pays to be aware of them.