This lens has been giving me a mixed bag of soft and sharp pics in extreme telephoto. Finally, I decided to put it on a sturdy tripod, 12 sec timer, Oly omd1 mk2, all IS off. What I discovered is the first AF frequently will produce a soft pic. If I AF twice or three times very quickly, the next pic is much better. Strange. But now I know how to get a more reliable sharp pic. I think a burst with continuous AF would also work along the same logic. Note, on the tripod the shutter speed was at least 1/1000 in bright sun and F8-9.5 was best. I always try to use a very fast shutter speed and monopod but still got soft/sharp pics. Now I know why but not why.

Greg