All items in our inventory would be new, unless clearly stated otherwise on the item's page. And for the most part, no used or refurbished items will come up in a search unless you are specifically looking in our Used Department. That being said, this AF-S 200mm f/2 VR lens is a new lens.

I did comparison shots between Nikkor 200mm f/2G VR II + Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17 II (340mm f/3.3) vs Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D AF-S II without TC. I would never consider using Nikkor 200mm f/2G VR II with teleconverter attached. The images appear soft.

Yes, the lens hood is included.

This is a prime lens that does not zoom. It has a focal length of 200mm and a maximum aperture of f/2.

On the right hand side of the Specifications tab on any product link of our website, just to the left of the tabs entitled Customer Reviews & Accessories is a tab entitled In the Box where it will list all of the items that ship out with the lens. That being said, the Nikon AF-S 200mm f/2G VR II comes with the following: Dedicated Slip-On Front Lens Cap LF-1 Rear Lens Cap for F Mount Lenses HK-31 Lens Hood Dedicated Slip-In Filter Holder 52mm Screw-In NC Filter Semi-Soft Case (CL-L1) LN-1 Lens Strap

The front element of glass is supercoated and protective in its own right. There is no option to mount filters on the front. It does have an option to use drop-in type filters.

A 2x teleconverter lowers the amount of light by two stops which will in most cases lower the focus speed. The converter optics so adding a lens to another lens which is what you are doing is not going to improve a lens. The converter is one of the best so it will change any lens using it but about the least compared too many others of this kind.The 200 and 300mm lens are really very good and optically very similar. The 200mm is a faster lens at f/2 compared to the 300mm which is f/2.8.

The short answer is primes are sharper, BUT.., maybe not by enough depending on your intended uses. The simplest reason is a prime has less glass to distort the light. The 70-200 has 21 glass elements in 16 groups. By comparison, the 200 prime has only 13 elements in 9 groups. One way to think about this is that there's a lot less glass doing things like correction and the lens is zoomed. A prime will typically focus faster too.That said, advances in lens design and construction have made the difference much less noticable than say, 20 or 30 years ago. It is even possible for a zoom to outperform a prime, but in my opinion, these cases are still outliers. With specific regard to the 200, I can tell you it is (by far) the sharpest lens I have ever owned that shoots at 200mm (zoom or prime). I am very glad I purchased it. It is a bit heavy and chubby , but it takes incredible shots. Even wide open at f/2. I did a recent comp card for a friend (actor) using the 200 f/2 and we were both very satisfied with the results. Auto-focus is lightning fast. Downright impressive. And of course, VR-II. I should also mention that (for me, at least), this is about as large and heavy a lens as I would want to carry all-day on a walkabout.Now, all that said: I must also say that my Tamron 28-300 probably spends the most time on my camera - and it's a zoom, obviously. When you're just out doing walkabout, having zoom capabilies is really nice. Otherwise, you get to zoom with your feet, which isn't always possible or convenient. Like they say: You only live once. So try one out, rent or borrow one, and if you're as impressed as I think you migth be, then go for it. The 200 f/2 is a bit pricey (i.e., investment), but it's not one you're apt to part with once you acquire it. You will be shooting with it the rest of your life. Hope this helps, and Happy Shooting!