> 1. Which lens are you willing to get beat in a harsh environment > when you don't want to take the nice lenses out to play.
For me, the harshest environment is whale watching. For the last few years, my solution to this has been a couple "user" copies of lenses that are really good (which "spares" the prettier copies of those lens designs). For several years I have used two bodies, one with a "scuffed up" A* 300/4 and the other with a "grizzled" A 70-210/4. More recently, I have sometimes, for the long lens, used a "veteran of many wars" F* 300/4.5. In all cases, these lenses are in good shape optically and mechanically - their only defects are cosmetic. For me, using such extra "user" copies is the best solution... Fred
