This is the sharpest long lens I've come across, and I have the fabulous AF-S 80-400 VR II N! Nothing compares to it, not when one consider its compact size.
It is designed as a collapsable unit, so it is surprisingly small, when the lens is in stowed position. Ready for use (a matter of pressing a button, and turning the lens a quarter turn), it delivers the best images I've seen under almost any circumstances, even when used from a car speeding at 70 mph.
It isn't without its flaws, though, as it is not the easiest to use for BIF (birds in flight), as it has a tendency to pump a bit. The manual focusing ring, forward of the zoom ring, takes immediate command, so manually resetting the focus to infinity often improves things a lot.
But just having a lens and camera combination, that is just as sharp as the best zooms around, covering roughly 200-800mm on a full frame, is amazing.
And as proven by numerous users the results are amazing, with about 100% sharp images when photographing birds on the ground, or water, and with training, and using the best settings, producing awesome BIF shots, too! That in a lens that weighs just a little over a pound (550 grams, to be exact), is truly amazing!
