Canon 430EX II settings

[schwanz583]

What are some good settings for night shooting a soccer game? I have a 7D and the 430EX II flash. Thanks

[Daniel W.]

Well, "On" is a good place to start.

When you get into using flash with sports, you run into a nasty critter called flash duration, or "how long the flash is popping, when it pops." If the strobe is on longer, it exposes more of the subject to light, and blur is visible because the camera sees this. But a shoter burst of light is more likely to appear as frozen action.

Logic states that in turn to combat this, we could use a higher shutter speed - but most top out at 1/180-1/250. Now, since you are using an E-TTL connected set, you could use High Speed Sync, but that sucks up alot of energy, cutting back on your recycle time and battery life.

For the most part, I avoid strobing. Without brackets and modifiers, it causes red eye, blows out the whites of a uniform, and on camera it rarely lights up the faces (which is, what we want to see). Most fields (depending on where you are) are usably lit. The color is crap, but we can jump to ridiculous ISOs (especially on that 7D!) to make an acceptable image.

However, there are fields where strobing is necessary. So, here's what I do:
-Maximum aperture (2.8 for me, depends on the lens)

-Acceptably high ISO (Depends on your camera, I usually stop at 800-1000, the 7D may differ)

-Maximum shutter speed, for me 1/200 (I think, or is it 1/250? Check your manual.)

-Flash on manual, at lower power settings. (With a fair number of good quality strobe devices, the lower the power setting, the shorter the flash duration, the more likely to freeze action.) For me, I usually stick to 1/128, with two flashes ganged together. You'll just have to play with what works for you.

-Color temperature - just...try your best. You'll get a mix of both ambient color temp. and flash color temp, and it's nasty. I usually end up working on this in post.

Now, the temptation is to want more light and to crank up the power on the flash unit, but this will increase flash duration and you will see motion blur. So insteadmake your flash work "harder" by raising the ISO. The sensor with a higher ISO is more receptive to light and thus, more light without sacrificing speed-stopping ability. In addition, don't lower your shutter speed too much, unless you want to go for a creative effect called "dragging the shutter" (google that bit, it's fun stuff but not for all sports).

All in all, just take the time and play around. See what works best for you!

[schwanz583]

Thanks for the tips Dan!