and that didn't work, so I found a longer pier ...

Haven't quite gotten the hang of this new lens.  I've rented it three or four times and never had problems with it.   

Still getting a lot of noise /lack of clarity compared to my 28-300mm for the same ISO and compared to others I've rented.

I guess I'm not smart enough, I didn't think an optical issue would manifest as noise.   Gotta be something I'm doing wrong.    Ah, well, trial and err then... :)