All shot with Nikon D70 + Sigma 50-500 f4-6.3 EX APO set at 500 mm + Sigma APO teleconverter 2x (total effective f.l. 1500 mm) Object shot: 20 feet tall trafic light array at 600 m distance.
In-camera settings: Contrast high, Saturation: Normal, Standard curve, NO sharpening. Sharpening done later in Photoshop as Sharpen More. ISO 1600 pics treated with Neat Image for noise.
Following Manfrotto Tripods, monopods and heads used: Tripod 055B Pro + 3-way head 141RC2 Monopod 680B with grip ball head 322RC2
Pics 1 & 2: shot from tripod. Notice difference due to exposure speed change from 1/30 to 1/250.
Pic 3: While lens attached to the tripod, camera additionally supported with the monopod. Only slight improvement achieved.
Pics 4 & 5: Lens (with the camera) mounted to monopod. Front of the lens (petal hood) and camera body leaned firmly to the wall. Changing exposure speed from 1/30 to 1/250 didn't made any further improvement, just raised the noise.
Pic 6: Camera and lens sitting on the plain pillow laying on the window frame! Shot the other day in different time and weather (more sun – shorter exposure), but results better than anything else.