There are several possible reasons for this.
You may be seeing haze. With such a long lens, you're often taking pictures of things very far away. In such cases you're going to get haze (smog, smoke, fog, and other stuff in the air). A UV filter can reduce the effect somewhat. To see if this is the cause, try taking some pictures of something closer (like the opposite end of your living room) and compare.
If the sun or other bright light source is shining onto the front of the lens, that will reduce contrast and produce a hazy look. Use your hand or a piece of black cardboard or something similar to shade the lens (being careful not to get the object into the picture). Take pictures away from the sun and toward it (not directly toward it, just in its general direction) and compare.
The lens may be dirty. Clean the front and back with lens tissue or a microfiber cloth. Don't take the lens apart to clean its innards unless you have a lens collimator and other gear needed to put it back together properly.
Even with a tripod and remote, you may be getting some camera shake. If your camera has a mirror lockup or exposure delay mode, use it to damp out the mirror slap. If your camera doesn't offer either of these, try using the self-timer.
Also, make sure your tripod is sturdy enough. It's a heavy lens, and even if your tripod holds it, it may not be holding it very steady. Try putting your camera on a tabletop and shoot something at the other end of the room and compare the results.
Great answer from Kakima... and you should definitely try those tips first.
One other thing to add. When you take your photos, make sure the shutter speed is fast enough. To do this, you can switch to 'sport' setting if your camera has one, or 'S' setting (shutter priority). You should select a shutter speed that is equal to the effective focal length of the lens - so if you are zoomed right in on your lens, you need a shutter speed of at least 1/1200 if you are not using a tripod.
Google for 'Reciprocal rule' if you want to find out more.
If you can't get a fast enough shutter speed, you can adjust the ISO setting on the camera - the bigger the number, the less time needed to expose the image, so you can use faster shutter speeds. The trade-off with high ISO settings is that you tend to get more 'noise', which results in a grainy look.
Assuming you've tried everything mentioned, it could be:
* Grease on the lens - also check the back-end that attaches to the camera. Even if you clean it with lens tissue, you may still need some alcohol cleaner to remove finger print grease.
* Does the lens or camera have an Image Stabilizer or Vibration Reduction function? If so, try turning it off! Sounds crazy, but if you are using a tripod the VR feature will likely make the image more blurry rather than less.
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