I use this combo ( 200mm f2 + TC14EII ) all the time on a D2Hs and it works wonderfully . I can't really even tell if the TC was on or off ( no IQ loss at all ) .
However I cannot compare it to a 300mm f2.8 simply because I do not own that lens . It did compare it to a 300mm f4 AFs and a 70-200 VR and it is WAY better .
On my copies , the 200mm f2 with TC shot wide open is better than the 70-200VR shot at f4 with no TC .
You can probably stick a peice of frosted glass in front of that lens and it'll still be sharper than most of lenses wide open
From what I've seen on here in teh past its very very sharp, but I doubt it will be able to compete with a pristine 300 2.8 for speed and sharpness wide open.
I have a slightly different experience to outoffilm. without the TC the 200/2 is very sharp at f2. Stick the tc1.4 on it and you have to stop down to F4 to get back to the same level of sharpness - all other aspects of IQ are fine with the TC1.4 on board. I have no idea about the 300/2.8 as I have not shot with that lens
I tested this out last year some time and against other lenses like the 70-200vr and the 200-400vr to see the differences... From what I can gather it's very close..as you know - if you stop down a lense - it will look a tad bit sharper compared to one that's wide open. I got those results with the 1.4x TC on the 200vr. Here's a few un-scientific shots on a cloudy/sunny day...
200vr lens + 1.4x teleconverter f2.8 at 280mm 100% crop:
The 200 f2 is an amazing piece of glass... I use mine with a 1.7 tc wide open
and it compared to my 300 2.8 vr at the same aperture... 3.5...
image quality was the same...
sold the 300 2.8.... now I have the 400 2.8 and 200 f2... if I need a 300... the 200 takes over.... very fast to focus, focus is precise...IQ is second to none..
Thanks for the information everyone. It looks like I will grab a 400mm F2.8 and then a 200mm F2. Should be a nice combo for most field sports when adding in a 1.4x.
