Ahhh ....
focus distance .... yes, I forgot to mention that, Andy. Two metres to 4.5 metres, that's a major change, and not a welcome one. I bought a 12mm extension tube and fitted it before I started, expecting to leave it on pretty much all the time and thus get a 3.8m MFD, but wouldn't you know it, the very first bird I spotted on the first day with the new lens was a White-faced Heron and I couldn't get it in frame and in focus with the tube on. (Murphy's Law!)
As for camo, that looks like a necessary step. I don't want to spray paint my shiny new lens, so I guess I'll be asking Belinda (she of the garden with the beautiful bronze-cuckoos) to make one up for me out of canvass or some similar material.
Hmmm .... I don't suppose dispensing with the traditional nitrogen fill and replacing it with helium would make it lighter and easier to carry?
PS: are the big Nikons similar so far as MFD goes? And, for that matter, the big Pentax?