10D Lens Help

[JoeMcLaughlin]

I just upgraded from a Rebel to a 10D and need some help with teh right lens. I take action sport pictures of jetski racing and surf riding mostly so the subjects are moving fast with the sun high in the sky or overcast at 100 feet or more at times away. What lens should I try first. I am on a budget or I would have picked up a 20D:) You can see a lot of the pics I have taken (15,000+) on my web site (http://tripleateam.com).
Joe...........

[Dante King]

Welcome to POTN, Joe. How far away are you from your subject typically?

Good choice on the 10D, while it uses the same sensor as the rebel, you are going to have so much more control over exposure and better frame rate. Hey that nice for what you are doing.

I would think a nice 70-200 would be nice, but again knowing how far out you shoot would be quite helpful.

[JoeMcLaughlin]

At the surf rides I am around 80 to 120 feet away. For races I can setup 50 feet away but some of the good race action is 100 to 200 feet out.
Joe..........

[JoeMcLaughlin]

The new gallery software I am using rocks. When you drill down to view a picture you get all the details on the camera. For example check out this picture I took at the last surf ride a couple weeks ago, http://www.tripleateam.com/jetskinews/v/Events_0/album11/Longbeach+WA+Nov+05/IMG_5762.jpg.html

Joe.........

[jediforce4ever]

how bout a sigma70-200mm2.8 +1.4XTC?not too expensive and yet gives you good quality

[tim]

Canon 100-400L would do the job nicely.

[Music to my eyes]

One of Canon's best budget zooms is the 70-200f4 L . Extremely sharp. Lightweight. Fast to focus. Seeing you're shooting in bright overhead sun, an f4 maximum aperture will not be an issue.

[22littlereasons]

Well, it's not jet skiing, but it's on the water. I'll vouch for the sigma 70-200mm f2.8 with the 1.4 extender.

Here's a picture with that lens on a 10D shot this past summer.

[Jon]

She looks like she's having a good time! Not!

[JoeMcLaughlin]

Some real good options here, Thanks a bunch for all the input! Jere is a picture from early sping 2005. This is a good example of one problem. This is a simple close up shot with little lens needed. I find the background so much lighter making faces way dark. I can edit these on the PC but editing 100's of pictures get way old. I know this is a bit off topic from a lens but what tricks could I try to get brighter faces without making the background super bright?
Joe............
http://www.tripleateam.com/jetskinews/d/27487-2/IMG_1557.jpg

[hotolds442]

Sure, use one of MY pictures as a bad example...............

The first link Joe posted was a picture he took with my 75-300 f4-5.6 III USM, and it was fully extended. I was on the beach at the same time, and my 70~200 f4L just wasn't cutting it, I needed more focal length. I'm shopping for the 100~400 L-series as I type, but will probably wait until after the holidays to pick one up.

The second link was a picture I took earlier in the year, and didn't turn out as planned. It still made the magazine, only because it showed the look of self abuse, rather than image quality. Exif info is at the following link: http://www.tripleateam.com/jetskinews/v/Events_0/album11/album124/IMG_1557.jpg.html

Dan..........

[Icecamp]

You might want to look at a used 35-350 f/3.5-5.6L. This would be one lens you could leave on your camera for all shots. The quality isn't up to a prime, or even L lenses with a smaller range, but the image quality is quite good.

[mwinog2777]

Some real good options here, Thanks a bunch for all the input! Jere is a picture from early sping 2005. This is a good example of one problem. This is a simple close up shot with little lens needed. I find the background so much lighter making faces way dark. I can edit these on the PC but editing 100's of pictures get way old. I know this is a bit off topic from a lens but what tricks could I try to get brighter faces without making the background super bright?
Joe............
http://www.tripleateam.com/jetskinews/d/27487-2/IMG_1557.jpg

Fill flash

[hotolds442]

Fill flash

Good point! When shooting in the sports mode, flash isn't available - switching to a mode that allows flash would have worked perfectly for that shot.

[JoeMcLaughlin]

Any thoughts on the Sigma APO 135-400mm F4.5-5.6??
Joe.........