Comparison pix. Rather than try to post small versions. I have uploaded a bunch to Flickr - the comparatives are 0,0,0 in sharpness, etc.
The pic 'Tam bird...' are center crops at 600 and
No real change from my initial impression. All in all, I stick w/ a lot of bang for the buck.
Take a look
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77760916@N05/
Oh yea - basic set up was 2 tripods with the lenses mounted and moved camera back and forth. Used live view w/10x for focusing.