Thanks for the feedback. I had to crop 3 of them pretty significantly. The black bird against the bright background and the last pic with the nice composition were not cropped very much. The others had to be because I was pretty far away and it was the closest I could get with my 200mm focal length. Sharpness was affected on these heavier crops. I have heard some good things about the better Beamer. I found some knock offs on eBay and wondered if they would do the same job. Here's a link.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/150675949396?...#ht_4754wt_949
Size and functionality look to be comparable. Have you heard or read any feedback on sticking with the brand name vs going generic?