Alright, so the weather has been pretty gloomy, and I have been busy working during the daylight hours doing landscaping, so I haven't really had a lot of time with the lens. However, first impressions are great.
The thing is built like a tank, and I love the way it feels in my hands. The weight for me isn't much of an issue, but I could definitely see it being a bit bothersome if you had to handhold it all day or carry it from a neckstrap. It is balanced quite well, especially with the zoom ring on the front. I know a lot of people aren't too keen on that because it's different than the norm, but it works out because the lens extends. I have seen people voice concern about bumping the focus ring with their palm, but I have tried to do that in normal use, and its not as easy to do as it seems. I wouldn't view it as a problem personally, but maybe for someone with bigger hands it could be an issue. Working both at the same time isn't too difficult assuming you have the zoom tension lock set loosely. I can operate the zoom with my thumb and index and ring fingers, and work the focus with my pinky and the meat of my thumb. Not an ideal way to do it, but certainly doable.
All the things that move, move well. The switches are tight enough you wont accidentally move one, but not too tight that you are ripping your nails out trying to flip them to the desired position. The zoom tension ring is great. there is no lock though when it is tightened all the way. There will be no lens creep, but you can definitely still move it. The focusing ring is smooth and takes just over 180 degrees to go from one extreme to the other. The tripod ring is easily and quickly adjusted, and the foot is easily removed but does take a bit more effort to put back on.
I have not done enough shooting to comment on the autofocusing and image stabilization abilities nor the image quality, but truth be told, there are much better people that can weigh in on that with me. The few pictures I have snapped off so far have been great, and I have included the first picture I ever took with the lens, straight from camera, no edits other than changing the size.
This is my roommates cat sitting across the room from me, waiting for me to discard the Adorama box so he could play in it.
Handheld at 1/15 a second
ISO 1000
400mm f/8
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Originally Posted by DavidWare
