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<blockquote data-quote="BackdoorArts" data-source="post: 544631" data-attributes="member: 9240">Still collecting data and impressions.&nbsp; Hooked it up to the dock yesterday and upgraded the firmware (lens shipped with v1.0 and is now on v1.3) which seems to have improved both focus and OS lock (initially I was underwhelmed with the effectiveness of the OS handheld at 600mm).&nbsp; There are two user custom settings on the lens that allow you to manipulate the aggressiveness of the OS and also the AF speed.&nbsp; I changed the OS first and the more aggressive setting (it's slightly slower to lock) really stabilized the lens while the other is less effective than the default, but this may work well on a monopod and engage more quickly (I can see using this setting for panning stability shooting sports or birds in flight).&nbsp; I suspect I'll eventually use the aggressive setting for both C1 &amp; C2 and vary the focus which I'll test next week.After shooting yesterday it became clear that the investment in this lens was definitely worth it for the gain in IQ.&nbsp; I've shot thousands of photos just like this one with the 150-500mm and never got this level of smoothness in my OOF areas.&nbsp; Bokeh for a zoom lens like this is outstanding from what I can see.&nbsp;&nbsp; This handheld shot is SOOC, not edits other than resizing for export.&nbsp; [ATTACH=full]204568[/ATTACH]And one with a little busier background.&nbsp; This is where I can really see the difference in the quality of the bokeh.&nbsp; On the 150-500mm the noise around the background branches would be soooo bad.[ATTACH=full]204572[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BackdoorArts, post: 544631, member: 9240"] Still collecting data and impressions. Hooked it up to the dock yesterday and upgraded the firmware (lens shipped with v1.0 and is now on v1.3) which seems to have improved both focus and OS lock (initially I was underwhelmed with the effectiveness of the OS handheld at 600mm). There are two user custom settings on the lens that allow you to manipulate the aggressiveness of the OS and also the AF speed. I changed the OS first and the more aggressive setting (it's [I]slightly[/I] slower to lock) really stabilized the lens while the other is less effective than the default, but this may work well on a monopod and engage more quickly (I can see using this setting for panning stability shooting sports or birds in flight). I suspect I'll eventually use the aggressive setting for both C1 & C2 and vary the focus which I'll test next week. After shooting yesterday it became clear that the investment in this lens was [I]definitely[/I] worth it for the gain in IQ. I've shot thousands of photos just like this one with the 150-500mm and [I]never[/I] got this level of smoothness in my OOF areas. Bokeh for a zoom lens like this is outstanding from what I can see. This handheld shot is SOOC, not edits other than resizing for export. [ATTACH type="full" width="60%"]204568._xfImport[/ATTACH] And one with a little busier background. This is where I can really see the difference in the quality of the bokeh. On the 150-500mm the noise around the background branches would be soooo bad. [ATTACH type="full" width="60%"]204572._xfImport[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

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