Need Help With Canon Speedlite 580 EX II Settings for Night Sports Shots!

[Wh1tney1]

Hi! I'm new to the forum. I have a lot to learn. I take sports pictures for local youth and high school teams.

I just purchased a Canon 580 EX II Speedlite but I don't understand how to set it up properly to get night time action shots. I have a Canon 5D, a 70-200 f/2.8 Lens and a 400 f/2.8 lens that I use for sports photography. I have been shooting without a flash but I am now required to shoot at ISO of 800 or less in order to turn in my shots. The field I'm shooting on is ridiculously dark (friday night football). I am learning as I go but I really need help understanding how the flash works. I have a Quantum Battery pack as well. I'm wondering how many shots I'll really get out of it during the game. I tend to take a lot of shots during the game.

Any help would be extremely appreciated. Thanks.

[JSPhoto]

Wh1tney1,

Go to the Sports Forum (scroll down farther from the main Forums screen. We have lots of threads on shooting night action and several of us use the 580EX there, ncluding myself.

Make sure you tell us what body and lenses you will use as well as the type of sports you will be shooting.

JS

[Wh1tney1]

Thanks for your response. Actually, I did read through the bulk of the sports photo forum. It was very interesting and I did get some tips. I didn't find anything that would help me with the flash question. I'll look through again. I'm just anxious about getting my settings sorted out before this Friday evening. I've avoided using flash at sports events. Everything I've read and experienced seems to indicate that flash (unless you have access to strobing the whole field) is not the best method. I don't have that big a budget so I invested in the one speedlite to get started. I have to shoot at 800 ISO or less. I'll look through the sports photo forum again and see if I missed something. If you have any insights into what would be the best overall flash setting for the equipment I have that would be very helpful. There is virtually no light out on that field.

[freygr]

If you are using Canon, I've seen very good low noise results at Canons high ISO of 1600. That alone will give you another stop. At poor light levels a correct exposure is a must to keep the noise levels low!