I've had this lens for only 2 days, but after using it to photograph a few birds in trees, I am very impressed. It is much sharper than my old Sigma 400mm APO, which just quit autofocusing. This is a fairly big, heavy lens but I use it on a homemade gunstock mount with my Sony Alpha 100 camera, which has built in image stabilization. The price was $110 cheaper (through 47th St. Photo) than Nikon or Canon mounts since it does not have (or need) image stabilization. That should be of interest to you Sony users. I've been photographing birds for over 20 years and can definitely recommend this lens. From the online reviews I've seen, you might try stopping down to f7.1 or f8 to get the best quality. This lens is very quiet in focusing and only "hunts" for focus when there are a lot of confusing tree branches. It's best to use manual focus during these times anyway. There is no lens creep at all. If in doubt, buy it. You won't be disappointed.