DSLR setup advice please

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 Fredt 19 Jul 2017
I have a Canon 6D, with a kit 24-110mm, and an 100-400 L , mainly because I only normally do wildlife photography and the odd landscape.

However, I'm soon to be going to my daughter's Masters degree ceremony, and as it will probably be indoors, and I don't know whether we're sitting at the front or the back, I'm not sure what to take and how to set the camera up.

I think the white 100 - 400mm zoom lens may be a bit ostentatious for such a ceremony, but may keep it in the bag just in case.

The main question is, setting up for indoor light. I thought of manually setting it at 1/125, f5.8ish, and auto ISO.
I've never really wanted much depth of field before, so I don't know if I'll need it, or what I'll get with those settings.

Any better suggestions?

 nic mullin 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

you most likely won't have a lot of light and you might well be quite far away.

That probably means long focal length and slow shutter, which is a combination you're probably used to managing with wildlife and will likely mean that motion blur is the main thing that you'll want to be worried about, with DOF, high ISO noise and shooting at an aperture where your lens is sharp being quite low down the priority list.

I'd take both lenses if you can, work out what focal length/lens you need by framing while other people walk up. I'd shoot in aperture priority, wide open, with the highest ISO you can get away with, bearing in mind what size you'll be printing/sending (for email/social media or family albums and even 8x10 you can get away with a lot of noise as you're averaging pixels from a much bigger image). Take a lot of shots, especially if you can't get your shutter speed high enough to avoid blur, some will come out sharp. It might be worth briefing your daughter to walk slowly.

Don't worry about the lens being ostentatious - you'll be in a room with a few hundred people dressed as wizards! You'll be cursing if you need the big lens and don't have it.

Have fun and good luck!
 Toerag 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

Having taken pics at a couple of weddings in churches recently (as a guest) I can tell you that you will need to go as wide open as you can because you'll struggle for light and you'll need to keep your shutter speed down to stop blurring your daughter as she walks up to the stage and back. Take the big lens with you because you can't risk missing the shot from being too far away.
As to DoF - you only really need enough to get her and the person she shakes hands with in focus, so try to find pics of the venue to work out distances in advance and gauge the focal lengths and apertures you'll potentially need.
 Blue Straggler 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

Is flash forbidden?
OP Fredt 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Blue Straggler:

> Is flash forbidden?

I would doubt it would have any effect with the distances involved.
 The Potato 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

have you got a monopod or something similar to stabilise?
OP Fredt 19 Jul 2017
In reply to The Potato:

> have you got a monopod or something similar to stabilise?

Good thinking. I haven't got one, but I may be able to improvise.
In reply to Fredt:

From memory*, isn't the 6D a good camera at higher ISO ratings? It may be worth choosing 400 or 800 rather than relying on the auto ISO setting and since the weather is currently doing cloudy, it'll give you time to have a try first.

T.
* based on what others have said here. I don't have one (I have a mk I 5D) though, if money comes along, the new model looks good.
 dread-i 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

It may sound obvious, but have you thought about getting to the venue very early? That way you could get a front (or near front) seat.
I'd also take pics of all the people going up. Then you can review and adjust your settings, so that you'll be better placed for your daughters turn. (It will also avoid the embarrassment factor of a bloke snapping away with a big camera, for just one person.) You may also get some decent pics of your daughters mates they can keep.
Heck, if you got there early and wore an ID badge of some sort around your neck, they may think you're and official photographer. That way you could wander around and snap away from any distance. (See bit above about taking pics of everyone).
 john1963 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

If you end up using the 100-400 in dim lighting you could set the camera to shutter priority mode and set the shutter speed to match what you know will give you sharp images at that particular focal length.
Then use auto ISO to achieve the correct exposure.
It really depends on the available light on the day.
Good luck and hope you have a great day.
 IM 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:



> The main question is, setting up for indoor light. I thought of manually setting it at 1/125, f5.8ish, and auto ISO.


I am sure that would work fine, I have a 6D also and I am happy to set the ISO to 3200 or so without any worry about IQ.
 paulmck 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

My daughters graduation ceremony was in Liverpool cathederal so my experience is based on indoor shots. I don't think we were given allocated seating (she was so they go up in the right order), so if you get there early you might be able to get nearer the front. If you are bold enough I suspect you could just walk down the front when the time comes. I've checked the EXIF on my photos which were all shot on an ASPC size sensor (fuji XE-2) using a 200mm lens - ended up with 4000ISO, f4.8 and 1/60 sec on avereage. The lens had stabilisation so no camera shake but the issue was trying to freeze movement of the students. With probably 1,000 to graduate they seemed to have less than 2 seconds to step up to the peson presenting the scroll (or whatever it is), smile, shake hands and then move off. It seemed like a sprint at times.

I think there may have been a professional photographer there that you could by photos off (there was definitely a video). TBH, the best photos were afterwards, outside in the sunshine with her friends in a much more relaxed and happy atmosphere. It's those ones that are framed and on display.

In reply to IM:

Agree. I would push the ISO as high as possible as shooting with a long lens will need high shutter speeds to get a sharp image. In fact I would shoot shutter priority and set everything else from that. Shoot raw too and fiddle with WB later.
Removed User 19 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:

The 6D is about as good a camera you can get for this kind of shooting. Auto ISO, maybe set an upper limit according to what you find acceptable, lens wide open and as slow a shutter speed as you are comfortable with. I'd probably choose central single AF point and focus and recompose too, but that's just me. And shoot RAW.

Your daughter's ceremony is a special and one-off occasion, so maybe think about hiring a fast lens with IS for the day? You won't get to repeat it. If you are self-conscious about the big white lens you can probably get a black neoprene sleeve to go over it, though I wouldn't worry, everyone else will be looking at their children and not much else, and if they are they will likely think you are a photographer rather than a parent.

Also, practise and test your settings an techniques before the event. Good luck!
OP Fredt 20 Jul 2017
Many thanks for all suggestions, you've given me a bit more confidence.
The ceremony is today, so I'll let you know how it went.

Cheers
Fred

 Blue Straggler 21 Jul 2017
In reply to Fredt:
How did it go?
OP Fredt 21 Jul 2017

OK. It was a huge auditorium, and we were in the circle, a long way off. The stage was very brightly lit, and after several test shots at 400mm, I set up manual 1/100 @ f5.6 (widest possible) and 800 ISO. I had to adjust the white balance to tungsten, the Auto WB couldn't manage. All this worked fine, I was following my daughter across the stage continuous shooting. She was sharp but the person handing her the scroll was unfortunately blurred slightly, because she was still and I was panning.

There was an unexpected point when the graduates in the stalls all turned round and applauded the audience, my manual settings couldn't handle this as they were not lit as brightly as the stage.

I don't think there'll be a next time, but if there was, I'd do the same, but increase the ISO to 1600 or more (though 800 was easily good enough) and have a faster shutter speed.

I was happier with fully manual because I knew what everything was set to. With TV or AV I never know what the auto bit will be doing.

So parents and daughter both thrilled with the results, many thanks for all the suggestions and advice.

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