<p>I found it to be a useful sunny day lens back in the film days. It was a bit heavier than the 300mm F4.5, but it still weighed less than the 80-200 mm f2.8 or the monster 300 mm F 2.8. The lens is quite long, and unfortunately it does not incorporate a tripod mount, so there is a lot of weight hanging way forward of the lens mount. It takes a very sturdy tripod head to keep the setup from drooping, but I managed to use it with some success on my F3 mounted to a Foba Superball head.</p>