The most important questions are:
1. What does it look like on your TV set?
2: Is your TV set even close to being properly calibrated?

Mike

Your camera has controls for LCD brightness and you must never assume that the default setting is a useful guide for setting exposure or colour. In Vegas you should check your images using the luminance waveform monitor or histogram (video scopes) and check the distribution of brightnesses; whites should be at 100 (not greater than 109) and blacks about 16 (not less than 0). If you need to adjust your clips use Sony Levels rather than brightness/contrast. If you need to adjust colour use the Sony colour corrector.
Setting exposure by your camera LCD is unreliable. Your camera has a light metering system, so that should be your primary method of measuring exposure; I've no idea how useful that is.

It seems that all the possible issues have already been covered:

1) Make sure that it is set to automatic exposure since you are just starting out. Later you can adjust it manually if you need to. If it is set to automatic then it is probably good.

2) Before doing anything else check it on your TV.

3) Make sure your monitor is adjusted correctly on your computer. Make sure blacks are really black and not gray. I'm going to assume that this is all correct or you would have likely noticed it by now.

4) You will also need to adjust your LCD screen to be as accurate as possible. What I do is hook up my camcorder to the TV and adjust it while the camcorder is on auto. Once they look about the same you will be fine.

That's about it. Everyone else really gave some great tips.

Wow, thank you all very much for these great tips! I only get to do video work occasionally, and it's very reassuring to come back and see that this is still such a helpful forum.

- Frank

Under NO circumstances should you ever make color or brightness corrections unless you are doing so on a monitor that has been calibrated.

I have just purchased a Canon HV30 and, yes, it has a very bright LCD screen. My former camera was a Panasonic - same thing. And both seemed duller in Vegas. BUT .... they both look good on the lounge-room TV and that's what matters isn't it?

As other have mentioned, all the devices in the chain need calibrating and hopefully they will then all give the same picture. All pros would presumably do this, but hobbiests might not bother.

regards,
Noggle