I am planning to do an interview with G6 in the upcoming days, and I was hoping you could help me to check the optimal settings for this. I would really appreaciate all your helpful comments, and sorry if this post belongs to somewhere else.

Exposure mode: M

1. First of all, I've been thinking about AVHCD/MP4 and not sure which one I should use. I think I am going to use Premiere Elements 12 for editing (at least to combine the video with the separately captured audio track). The file size seems to be pretty same with these different formats. Any reason why I should pick one instead of the other?

2. I'd like to have the "film look" so I've been thinking of shooting either 24p or 25p (I know the film look is not just the fps, but also the lighting, DoF etc.). I should use shutter speed 50 with 24p or 25p, right? I live in Northern Europe, does that matter when choosing the 24p or 25p and the correct shutter speed? We have PAL.

3. I have to choose between AF and MF. I've been testing the AF with AFF and face detection, and it seems to work pretty well when the exposure meter shows the exposure is spot on. But when it's even little underexposed, it does not track the interviewee if he moves (leans forward etc.). Maybe I should just use MF, set it at the beginning, and just accept that the subject will be out of focus every now and then if he moves. I cannot keep checking whether the subject is focused or not, because I also have concentrate on doing the interview.

4. I have to set the Depth Of Field really shallow (F1.8) because there is not going to be much light. My lenses are Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm & 45mm F1.8. Especially if I shoot with shutter speed 50, I have to get as much light through the lens as possible. Do you agree? So if there is very little light, my options are to set the ISO as high as possible (which means more noise), or to switch to 50p and shutter speed 100, right?

5. Which Metering mode do you recommend: Multiple, Center weighted or Spot?

6. How long have you been able to shoot with one BLC12 battery?

Other:

I've been reading other threads about G6 and set the following settings:

I've set iDynamic and iResolution OFF. Photo style: Natural -1,0,0,0 White Balance: Do not use automatic setting.

Any other recommendations?