I'm an amateur surf photographer about to purchase a Canon 20D and am having a tough time deciding what lens to get for telephoto shooting. I need something in the 500mm range. I cannot afford one of those beautiful primes, not even close. In fact I'm hoping to spend no more than $1000. A tough challenge, I know, but not impossible, right?

Keeping in mind the following:

I will use this lens almost exclusively in good daylight situations.
I will almost always be using a good steady tripod.
My subject will always be in motion and at some distance (100-300 feet or so).

So, can you recommend something?

My leading candidate at the moment is Sigma's 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX APO RF HSM zoom. I've been told it will serve me well for my purpose.

I've also been advised to look at smaller zooms combined with a TC. But I don't want to sacrifice too much in the way of fstop range and autofocus speed, so I'm hesitant about those.

The more recommendations I can get from you, the better. Thanks for your help.

Rob

Come on guys, I need those recommendations! The 20D is in the mail!

Do you mean an actual 500mm range, or a 35mm equivalent taking into account the 1.6x cropping factor of the 20D? IF the latter case, then the Canon 100-400 f3.5-5.6 L IS fits the bill nicely, is relatively quick focusing and has IS to boot. Otherwise, Sigma's 50-500 and Tamron's 200-500are really the only choices in a zoom (although for a mere 6K, the Sigma 300-800 is also available). I'd buy the Canon 400mm f2.8L and add the EF 1.4x tc before I buy the 300-800 for that level of money.
I've had the 100-400 IS lens, and it is quite sharp, and quick focusing (although not quite the level of Canon's legendary 70-200 f2.8L). The reviews I've read on the Sigma 50-500 have all been very favorable, and the few posts I've seen from this lens on this site have been impressive. I've never seen pics from the Tamron, nor have I read any reviews on the Tamron 200-500. I will probably never buy another Tamron lens again-every Tamron I've purchased has ended up collecting dust, really second rate image quality.

Well if your subject is that far away ALWAYS

The CANON 400F5.6 L will give you sharper TRIPOD mounted images

You will mostlikely need to manually focus nearly any tele zoom with a TC and IF you can AF with a TC ... it will track slower than without one.

The only zoom I can think of worth considering with a TC is the SIGMA 120-300F2.8($2000 w/ TC and you get a 240-600f5.6 zoom) or a canon 70-200f2.8(a 50-500 , 100-400 and 400f5.6 SHOULD be better though image wise)

I'm an amateur surf photographer about to purchase a Canon 20D and am having a tough time deciding what lens to get for telephoto shooting. I need something in the 500mm range. I cannot afford one of those beautiful primes, not even close. In fact I'm hoping to spend no more than $1000. A tough challenge, I know, but not impossible, right?

Keeping in mind the following:

I will use this lens almost exclusively in good daylight situations.
I will almost always be using a good steady tripod.
My subject will always be in motion and at some distance (100-300 feet or so).

So, can you recommend something?

My leading candidate at the moment is Sigma's 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX APO RF HSM zoom. I've been told it will serve me well for my purpose.

I've also been advised to look at smaller zooms combined with a TC. But I don't want to sacrifice too much in the way of fstop range and autofocus speed, so I'm hesitant about those.

The more recommendations I can get from you, the better. Thanks for your help.

Rob

I have the 50-500 Sigma. It will do the trick. It's not as good at 70-200 as my Nikon, but at 500mm, I don't know what else you can get for under $5k that is as good.

Have you looked at the Sigma 80-400 OS lens? That's around $1000.