....do you people even bother helping?
Im sure you would like to know why this lens was put out of production.
1.) There was lead coating on certain elements in the lens to mantain sharpness due to large aperture and focal length. Since this is deemed enviromentally unfriendly that killed it.
2.) Most people would buy the 300mm f/2.8 and such becuase thats good enough for outdoor sports. Apparently there wasnt a market for the 200mm f/1.8 which is by far a superior and useful lens.
This is the best lens Canon every produced. Invaluable for indoor sports.
I know a Canon service rep dude who owns a 200mm f/1.8 (no, he wont sell it and its pretty beaten up).
If you want I could query this to him and see what he says about trying to get one.
BTW Common Sence dictates that some Canon factory in Japan has 1000 of these lenses sitting in a volt along with multiples of every product that Canon has every manafactured brandnew. Yes, I wouldnt doubt they have brandnew F1's, and brandnew FD system stuff. You wouldnt be able to get anything (unless you offered them 1 billion $$$) but its like everyone is saying they do not exist. Yeah right.
Im sure youve already checked but IF you havent I would look at eBay becuase I know you can get them (lots of people sell em cus they get good money). Wether you could get a mint one is anyones guess.