everything was on auto, haven't tried manual focus or manual exposure yet. Compared to the other consumer cams I've owned (Sony HC21, Sony PC100, Sony PC1000) this dialed into the contrast of bright lights/dark stage pretty well. There is just a slight delay while it readjusts, compared to the others which took a couple seconds to dial in.
I've just done the HDV 1080 setting so far. Haven't tried HDV 24p 1080 but apparently that will brighten things up if you're concerned with low light.