AB 1600's for BBall/Flash duration?

[wyofizz]

ALL,

What's your opinions on the AB 1600's flash duration for use on HS Basketball?
I did some experimenting with my 2- 580 EXII's bounced off the ceiling full power
at 50 & 70 mm zoom and am getting f2.8 at 320 & 400 ISO, 320 is stopping the action a tad bit more reliably however I have to increase exposure by about 1 stop in PP to get acceptable lighting for prints. The images just aren't popping like they should with the Canon 70-200 IS.
I'm trying to decide whether I should stick with the speedlites or power up the 1600's and take a chance on motion blur. I could shoot with the 85 1.8 however I'd prefer a lower ISO and range of 70-200 for this regular venue.

Dave

[johndevane]

T.1 flash duration on the AB1600 is 1/600. Should stop most action besides hands maybe. I don't know the duration of the 580EX's.

Good thing about the AB1600's is that you'll easily be able to overpower the ambient gym lights and not have to worry about ghosting. My 2 AB800's fill my gym with light so I don't get the dark backgrounds either.

Give it a try anyway! Let us know how it goes.