I often shoot live theatre productions, and sometimes have problems with the contrast between actors' faces (hightly lit with spotlights) and the surrounding light levels. As a result, the camera overexposes the actors' faces, losing the details of their features, sometimes almost obliterating the facial detail! I wonder if there are camcorders available that either (1) can adjust the light sensitivity (mine can't), or (2) can read and average light level from only the center of the field rather than the whole field. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
Well, in case anyone is interested, I learned the answer to my inquiry: Digital camcorders now commonly have a scene setting called Spot Light (or something similar) that is designed to solve exactly the problem I described. I'm getting a Panasonic HCV 700 camcorder today and will be testing this setting at a live theatre performance in another 2 weeks. It better work! I'll let you know!