Best settings for Shooting at Parties

I have been asked to take photos at a 21st birthday party.
It is in the night, there will be low light and sometimes disco lights.
I need to take both group and action shots.
What would be the best settings to use?
I have a 40d and 5d and speedlite flashes.
Also have a 24 to 105 F4L, and a 24 to 70 2.8L and 50 1.8:o

Ideally, you want to expose so that the background is only a couple of stops below what it meters. For instance, if you go into the scene and meter on some carpet or even the palm of your hand and you get something like ISO 1600, f4, 1/25, work at something like ISO 1600, f4, 1/100. With your flash in ETTL, the subject will now be properly exposed against a slightly darker background, but you've also prevented the background from going completely dark. You will probably need to make adjustments to FEC along the way.

The 50 is already a slow focuser and will probably be even worse in dark conditions. You'll probably want to be around f4 for groups anyway so might as well take advantage of the extra reach with the 24-105.

Finally, you'll want to bounce your flash or somehow manage it so that it's not hotshoe-direct.

lindagorin wrote in post #10215206
I have been asked to take photos at a 21st birthday party.
It is in the night, there will be low light and sometimes disco lights.
I need to take both group and action shots.
What would be the best settings to use?
I have a 40d and 5d and speedlite flashes.
Also have a 24 to 105 F4L, and a 24 to 70 2.8L and 50 1.8:o

What do you normally shoot with your 40D/5D, speedlights, 24-70L, 24-105L, and 50mm f/1.8?

Some good threads on this topic -
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=405639

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=503099