Amen Bob. The pricing on certain items of camera gear is insane and unreal. The only positive thing that I can think of if you could call it that is that the high prices on the speciality stuff keeps everybody from having it. Only the top dollar professionals have access or can justify having this gear which also helps define them from the wannabes. The funny thing is this lens will most likely not be used for any heavy sport shooting because f/4 just won't do it for many sporting events. IS in addition to f2.8 helps with sports but not with f/4. Might be a better wildlife lens for still objects. I for one see a huge market for this lens if it was to be priced in between the 2,000 to 3,000 dollar range. I never considered the 100-400 lens because of the sliding portion of the zoom. Like the EFS 17-55mm IS lens the potential to suck in dirt is and has been the deal breaker for me. I cannot justify spending 1,000 plus dollars on anything that can't be 100 percent sealed from the elements.