Night football/soccer + flash + f/4 ??

I have a night soccer game to go to in 1 1/2 hours. My 70-200mm f/2.8 is out for repair so all I have to try to shoot it is my f/4. I had hoped to test my flash monopod rig tonight.

So my question, with the 300mm f/4, do I have *any* chance of making the flash work tonight or is it pretty hopeless and I should forget about it until my 70-200 is back?

Why wouldn't it? You can shoot at F4.

I'd be curious how it went. We're you able to get anything decent with the f4 lens and a flash?

I shoot with my 300 2.8 and 1.4 TC @F4 all the time. It will work fine.

Thanks guys! I was worried that the flash might not be able to provide enough juice. Overall I think it worked well. The 300mm seems a bit too long for the flash. When the action got close the flash worked fine, but when it got too far away (still in cropping range) the flash output seemed to drop off quickly.

With the 70-200mm back, I can shoot closer to me so the flash should have power to spare.

You can see some examples from today in this thread:
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?p=8825048

Thanks for your help guys!

I tried to shoot some pics at my grandsons high school football game last night and they were mostly blurry. I was shooting in the auto mode with a Canon eos xs rebel with the 55-250 IS lens. I had previously shot another game in the afternoon and they were great. I had a Vivitar flash attached, but was not using it at the time. I am a complete amateur looking for some advise. Thanks

avmechguitar wrote in post #8841750
I tried to shoot some pics at my grandsons high school football game last night and they were mostly blurry. I was shooting in the auto mode with a Canon eos xs rebel with the 55-250 IS lens. I had previously shot another game in the afternoon and they were great. I had a Vivitar flash attached, but was not using it at the time. I am a complete amateur looking for some advise. Thanks

Here are a couple I shot last week with the 100-400 L ....

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Mark II wrote in post #8849458
Here are a couple I shot last week with the 100-400 L ....

Those are showing ISO 4000 (avmechguitar's XS maxes out at 1600). Did you use a flash at all?

avmechguitar wrote in post #8841750
I tried to shoot some pics at my grandsons high school football game last night and they were mostly blurry. I was shooting in the auto mode with a Canon eos xs rebel with the 55-250 IS lens. I had previously shot another game in the afternoon and they were great. I had a Vivitar flash attached, but was not using it at the time. I am a complete amateur looking for some advise. Thanks

Are you in the stands or down by the sideline?

You'll need to max out your aperture and max out your ISO, but I suspect you'll still be struggling to get a fast enough shutter speed for night football...

Your XS only can only go up to 1600. And the 55-250 lens is f/5.6 when zoomed.

So you'll need flash, but the action has to be within range.

if you're in the stands... to make the most with what you've got without flash, set the camera to Av mode, set the aperture wide open (f/5.6 on that 55-250mm lens), set the ISO to the max of 1600.

If you can get down close to the sideline... set the camera to M: Av=5.6, SS=1/250", ISO 800. Set the flash to 1/1 full power, with the flash head maxed out to 105mm.

Thanks Clarnce for the info, I'll try those settings this Fri. night. I was on the side line and when I did use the flash it helped with the blur, but they were darker with the flash than without. I might be asking for more than the XS can deliver, but I want to get the best I can. Thanks again.