Circus

I haven't been to the circus since my daughter was small, but we are going to take a trip with our grandson. What lens and camera recommendations can you make? When I shot film, I used an 85F1.7. Lighting is going to be variable, so I may want to use auto ISO, TV for sure.
I can take a crop or 6D. I have the 85F1.8, but nothing longer in a lens this fast. My lenses include the 24-105, but this is only F4.
Would this be fast enough for the circus on a crop body? I have the 60D.

Hard to say what aperture you might get away with. The acts in a circus might be very well lit, if it is a good circus. Or they might be very dim.

Rather than TV, I would recommend manual mode where you set the max aperture and max shutter speed (based on focal length) and let auto ISO worry about the exposure. You may end up with some shots at higher ISO than you would normally want, but that is better than not getting the shots. I have seen one photographer suggest setting negative EC in very dark settings, in order to help keep the shutter speed up, and then raising exposure in PP. Whether or not this works might depend on how your camera handles underexposure. I would be more confident with my 7DII than my 7D.

Take the 6D. Spot metering, Auto-ISO. You'll get more pixels on target with the 60D, but you might be hitting the ceiling with ISO 6400. (ISO 12800 is not acceptable for anything other than snapshots). You can push the 6D to ISO 25600.

Alternatively, you can rent a longer/faster lens.

Agree with the above, take the 6D and the 24-105. Yes the F4 is a little slow, but it give you extra range. I have used my 70-200 F4 at concerts and gotten decent images because the 6D is able to push ISO. I would also concur with the M settings and you can make sure you are running fast enough shutter to stop the action. You only need about 1/250 to stop action of something coming right at you. So if it is relatively static, you can run 1/125th or so and still get the best exposure. And frankly one side benefit of the 6d if it does get dark, is that center focus point can almost see in the dark. You can always change the composition in post from a center point focus look, but that center focus point will help you tremendously if the lighting is poor.

I would check the arena that the circus is preforming in, this is from Barclay Center in Brooklyn NY
CAMERAS WITH EXTERNAL FLASH OR INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES (NO PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY)

I really do mean this with all the respect due a grandfather taking his daughter's kid to the circus. Take a P&S. Capture a few memories. Leave the big guns at home and enjoy the kid, the daughter, and the show. Thirty years from now he won't give two hoots about the quality of the shots, but he'll be glad you took them.

GeoKras1989 wrote in post #17459333
I really do mean this with all the respect due a grandfather taking his daughter's kid to the circus. Take a P&S. Capture a few memories. Leave the big guns at home and enjoy the kid, the daughter, and the show. Thirty years from now he won't give two hoots about the quality of the shots, but he'll be glad you took them.

+1

GeoKras1989 wrote in post #17459333
I really do mean this with all the respect due a grandfather taking his daughter's kid to the circus. Take a P&S. Capture a few memories. Leave the big guns at home and enjoy the kid, the daughter, and the show. Thirty years from now he won't give two hoots about the quality of the shots, but he'll be glad you took them.

Not bad advice, assuming 1) he has a P&S, and 2) he will be allowed to use the flash that it would probably need.

Hrm,

If I were going to a circus and it was ok to take a big SLR and big lens and all that, no fuss, I'd go for the camera with the best ISO performance and ceilling, and either a telephoto with a wide aperture, or a wide lens. I'd want both probably. Telephoto with fast aperture for detail shots of animals, animators, performers, etc. Wide for context and overall capture of everything (even a fun fisheye would be a good time here).

If I were going and didn't want to lug all that, I'd just take a little mirrorless like an EOS-M, with a little wide lens and just enjoy context photos (I'd want an 8mm fisheye with it for example for fun circus context photos of all).

In your case, both SLR's available, I'd take the 6D without a question, for ISO performance. Then figure out your lens situation. Shooting at ISO 12,800 is possible with that camera and they be still very decent and workable, so F4 isn't a limitation for light gathering. Makes lens selection easier.

Very best,

pknight wrote in post #17459584
Not bad advice, assuming 1) he has a P&S, and 2) he will be allowed to use the flash that it would probably need.

True. But not really my point. The kid will remember grandpa if grandpa is part of making the experience memorable. Fiddling with a camera, changing lenses, and trying to protect it from spilled drinks and grubby fingers necessarily means grandpa is spending time with a camera that would be better spent with family.

I'm not knocking cameras or photography. I take lots of shots of my grandkids' sports and activities. I take them while they are playing, or prepping, or post game activities. The grandkid(s?) here won't be participating in anything. The way I see it, grandpa can either enjoy the circus with family, or he can get photos of his daughter and grandson doing so. He can be part of the event, or he can document it. I still remember my grandfather taking me fishing and letting me sip his beer, or turn green puffing his cigar. No photos involved. Good memories 50+ years on, though. He was fishing with me, not taking pictures of me fishing. Big difference.

My old point and shoot tops out at ISO 400. That is going to be a problem for the circus. I plan to call the arena later this morning to try to find out if I can tote my SLR.

GeoKras1989 wrote in post #17459797
True. But not really my point. The kid will remember grandpa if grandpa is part of making the experience memorable. Fiddling with a camera, changing lenses, and trying to protect it from spilled drinks and grubby fingers necessarily means grandpa is spending time with a camera that would be better spent with family.

I'm not knocking cameras or photography. I take lots of shots of my grandkids' sports and activities. I take them while they are playing, or prepping, or post game activities. The grandkid(s?) here won't be participating in anything. The way I see it, grandpa can either enjoy the circus with family, or he can get photos of his daughter and grandson doing so. He can be part of the event, or he can document it. I still remember my grandfather taking me fishing and letting me sip his beer, or turn green puffing his cigar. No photos involved. Good memories 50+ years on, though. He was fishing with me, not taking pictures of me fishing. Big difference.

I understand what you are saying, and I don't necessarily disagree for myself. However, the OP was asking for advice about taking photos at a circus, not advice on his relationship with his grandchild. Whenever somebody asks for input on gear to take on a vacation, people pitch in with well-meaning advice to forget the photos and enjoy the kids. I don't think that answers the OP's question, and I suspect that the OP is capable of deciding what is appropriate for him and his grandchild, and how his time is best spent.

Again, I have the same opinions as you expressed wrt what I would do at a circus with my grandkids, but I am not the OP, and he can work those issues out on his own, or on a grandparenting forum.

I called the arena and booking agents for the circus, and there are no prohibitions about cameras. Not surprisingly, they don't want flash. I can see the value of the 24-105 and the 6D, but I wonder about image quality with ISOs over 6400 and F4. I may try some quick experiments in advance of the show, but I would be hate to be over ISO 12800. An initial check showed a loss of color quality when you go that high.
My wife already told me that I am expected to get photos of my grandson, preferably riding on an elephant.

pknight wrote in post #17460079
I understand what you are saying, and I don't necessarily disagree for myself. However, the OP was asking for advice about taking photos at a circus, not advice on his relationship with his grandchild. Whenever somebody asks for input on gear to take on a vacation, people pitch in with well-meaning advice to forget the photos and enjoy the kids. I don't think that answers the OP's question, and I suspect that the OP is capable of deciding what is appropriate for him and his grandchild, and how his time is best spent.

Again, I have the same opinions as you expressed wrt what I would do at a circus with my grandkids, but I am not the OP, and he can work those issues out on his own, or on a grandparenting forum.

Thanks for pointing that out. Point taken. Apologies all around. I was out of line.

artyH wrote in post #17460048
My old point and shoot tops out at ISO 400. That is going to be a problem for the circus. I plan to call the arena later this morning to try to find out if I can tote my SLR.

I do believe this is a great case to own something like the LX100, which takes pictures that won't make you cry. Not cheap, though. And I imagine they might be ok with an SLR that had one lens; the concern might be about big bags of equipment. Certainly there are superzoom P&Ss that are pretty big.