I didn't like the zoom ring being so small and scrunched towards the camera end

I love:-Smooth zoom\focus rings

The zoom and focus rings are solid and had have just the right amount of resistance.-Solid construction

The zoom ring is stiffer zooming in than zooming out

Now the zoom ring is close to the camera and smaller, and it's slightly awkward to zoom.

In the moment you hold it in your hands you can feel it's built quality, the zoom and focus ring are so smooth and great to work with, and it looks so PRO when you attach the lens hood

5 business days after I mailed the lens to Irvine, CA, I received the lens back with a loose focus ring and the accompanying letter said "Your product has been examined and it was found that the internal component was broken and therefore the image was blurred

The fixed the loose focusing ring and also stated that the "mechanical chassis was inoperable".

it is much harder to zoom back in by turning this lens, I assume because I am moving a lot more glass when I twist the ring.

Can't figure out why it's opposite.- the copy I got had a slightly loose focusing ring and i sent it back under warranty and it was fixed.

That others had suffered the same problems as I, with older bodies

but that's fine as I either shoot wide open or stopped down to

And that is all the positives I am going to report on