Mr. Mullen, I do not recall mentioning at any point in my posting anything whatsoever about wanting to make traditional narrative movies on DV. The upcoming features upon which I am DPing will be shot on 35mm film which, along with 65mm film, in my book remain the only serious and professional formats upon which to shoot narrative features (bar none).
As you might gather, your apparent implication that I am a beginner is fundamentally incorrect. Your assumption that some of the projects about which I am enquiring are documentaries however is correct.
"a few Kinoflos and a 100 watt Dedolight" are not "too high a light level for" myself, but they might be for the criminal gangs that I will be filming undercover as part of one documentary. Which brings me back to my original question, which it would be extremely helpful if someone could actually answer....
(although the point may be somewhat moot now, bearing in mind today's announcement by Sony of the HDR-FX1).
Incidentally, to suggest that the whole of Barry Lyndon was shot by candelight is a gross exaggeration. Much of the film was illuminated by natural light, apart from the candlit scenes, which were shot by candlelight (using a lens supplied by NASA), not that I presume to lecture people about Kubrik...
