Hi Homer, congrats on your purchase of the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM! This great lens will bring you into the world of Canon Super Telephotos without breaking your bank account. To keep things sharp I recommend you using the shutter speed of at least 1/640 sec for static subjects and 1/1000 for moving ones, dial up your ISO if you need to, like Bob said noisy image can be fixed in PP but blurry images can't. One trick that I always use is shooting a burst of 3-4 images, I usually end up with a sharp image. The more you hand hold the lens the steadier your hands will get, I can get as low as 1/250sec for static subject, so work on your hand holding ability. The lens is small and light, it's made for hand holding and mobility so don't take those advantages away from it by putting it on a tripod