The A3 print of this picture is quite good, even when examined very closely, despite it was taken with a 6 Mpix body and the 'old' 80-400 ... I think this tells how large we can print with today cameras
D100 w/80-400 AF-D @ 260 mm, f/8, 1/200 s, ISO 640
I recently picked up a copy of this lens, and it is really an excellent Nikkor-zoom. On Canon I can hear IS spin up, but VR is completely silent. This was just a test of VR. I'd shoot one off - then on. Every single "on" shot was much sharper. From approximately 7 feet to 100 at 400mm