nope, why?

I just received my new 100-400. My old one is being repaired (I'm giving it to my son), because the barrel is stuck and no longer moves. Unless you shoot in a pristine environment, that barrel can suck dust into it. So besides having much faster auto focus (at least it seems to me), it's nice to be able to use the zoom simply by turning it. It made several trips to Africa before it finally stopped working perfectly. I'm glad to have the new one.

thanks all for the suggestions!

thank you!

This reply was to the first suggestion of the Slik tripods..

thanks. I'm not likely to have to carry a tripod long distances so I am not a concerned about weight.

thanks... I just checked them out. Anyone know the difference between the 700dx and the 580dx? The 700 extends further and is about $60 cheaper (looking at B&H).

I'm looking to purchase a new tripod. My heaviest lens is the new canon 100-400. I'm 5'8" and don't like bending for very long (age is catching up with me!), which I found bothersome when I was trying to photograph the moon (which I learned from this forum, thank you very much!). There are so many choices I don't know where to start. I'd appreciate it if I could get a few recommendations from folks here rather than just read reviews online.
tia..

Not sure what the context is of Brian Anderson's suggestion, but unless you have no other alternative (focus stacking, shorter focal length, etc), you really want to avoid an apeture smaller than F11 on most modern digital cameras, as diffraction will start to soften the image. There is little value in a great depth of field if the overall image is soft.[/quote]

Can you please explain this statement? As much as I want to understand all the technological explanation for things, I find I am sorely lacking.

I have both. Each recommended to me by a professional wildlife photographer. I'm happy with both for the reasons you mentioned and were mentioned another reply.
Btw, I read this daily and have been since sometime this summer. I appreciate all the information here. In fact, because of that, I was able to take some photos of a full moon that actually came out okay. I never figured out how to do it before.