Ironman is a great excuse to drop a thou plus. Or so it seems.

I think I bought mine used for $1200 on an astro site. Was pissed because guy was a smoker, and it took forever to get rid of the smell, and then sold it a couple years later for $1500 to a guy on a photog board. I was able to get the original purchase down because Canon was doing the holiday sale at the time (this seems to depress used gear prices, too).

I was going to do a safari with it in South Africa (I did take it there, but didn't end up on a Safari), and when I got I was surprised at just how 200mm does go as far as you'd hope it would. Probably not enough FL for a safari, even on a crop sensor. But then again, it was the most I was willing to lug around on my trip.