In article <4a13iv$ctj@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, cthfcs@aol.com says...
>Everyone that I know who has bought the 180mm f2.8 AF (D or not) have >had problems with the elements show prblems with the coating and cemet
>seperating. I wouldn't buy the 180mm, problem has been going on since >the lens has been in production.

This is a new one to me.....and I had an early one, and have looked at
a couple of later ones - truly superb lenses! Concerning the original poster's questions: the lens works well with the TC14A (I saw no vignette, and the images were sharp, though I rarely used the combination since 250mm is barely longer than my 70-210mm E Nikkor,
and the combination is not exactly compact); the lens design is unchanged optically in the newer version - changed only in aesthetics (the plastic body is now painted instead of unpainted) and in the widening of the MF ring (a Hoover vacuum cleaner belt added to my early version made for a better ring surface and height for MF). The TC14A
should work well with the 85mm f1.8 AF also (I have not tried the
combination), but metering MAY be slightly off since f1.8 is slightly
on the fast side of the maximum f2 limit for TC's - check to see if
using the TC14A or not results in exactly one stop metered exposure difference (if not, may need to change the aperture setting 1/4 stop
[in manual] after your meter reading).
Hope this helps.