Thanks Koen, BirdPhotog, Thomas_1950, Nugeny, Dorian, Paul, and Tom_1962, for the kind words.
Mastered the lens? No, not by a long shot. But I do have to say that it is almost idiot-proof. It focuses faster than any of my other lenses. In fact, when I recently put my 300mm f/4 lens on the camera, I noticed right away that it doesn't focus as quickly as the 500.
Thomas_1950 -- is that the year you were born? If so, me too. It's nice to know that I may not be the _oldest_ guy here.
