I have the 500 AFS II and it is outstanding. It is actually the short lived AFI motors that are scarce, not the AFS II. The AFS motors are readily available and this can be confirmed by placing a quick call to Authorized Photo Service (APS) in Morton Grove, IL.
I just saw that this image was made with the old D300s ?
I have the D3S and the D300S and very rarely bother to use the crop sensor body, from the results shown here, I think that I should dust it off and get it back out into the field?
Beautiful photo man. . .love it !
Sadly this Forum Thread seemed to have fallen in the wake of the 'new' kid on the block, the 500 F5.6 PF and it's a very big shame because the new lens is certainly good, but doesn't hold a candle to the older 500mm 'Prime' lenses.
Your last posting of the Oyster Catcher shows the creamiest of bokeh that no 5.6 PF could ever show.
Thanks for sharing. . .