I have just compared my Nikkor AiS 4/80-200mm (at 200mm / f4) with a few other legendary tele zoom lenses from that time. IN fact you are right saying that the Nikkor @ 200mm/f4 is a it disappointing, at least in the infinity range! Both Carl Zeiss C/Y Vario-Sonnars (the earlier 3.5/70-210mm and the later 4/80-200mm) have visibly more detail, both in the center and in the corner of my 24 MP FF camera. The Canon new FD 4/80-200mm L with its Fluorite and ULD lenses has much less longitudinal and lateral CAs than the other three zooms mentioned above. Central resolution is excellent, and there’s no color fringing at all. However, the Canon nFD 4/80-200 L must be stopped doen to f8 to get really sharp FF corners. Since there are no lateral CAs visible on 24 MP FF, at f8 the Canon has the best image quality of all four lenses mentioned here (remember i’m only talking about 200mm focal length and infinity).
Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Repair and Review 
Jul 12, 2020 @ 11:07:41
I have just compared my Nikkor AiS 4/80-200mm (at 200mm / f4) with a few other legendary tele zoom lenses from that time. IN fact you are right saying that the Nikkor @ 200mm/f4 is a it disappointing, at least in the infinity range! Both Carl Zeiss C/Y Vario-Sonnars (the earlier 3.5/70-210mm and the later 4/80-200mm) have visibly more detail, both in the center and in the corner of my 24 MP FF camera. The Canon new FD 4/80-200mm L with its Fluorite and ULD lenses has much less longitudinal and lateral CAs than the other three zooms mentioned above. Central resolution is excellent, and there’s no color fringing at all. However, the Canon nFD 4/80-200 L must be stopped doen to f8 to get really sharp FF corners. Since there are no lateral CAs visible on 24 MP FF, at f8 the Canon has the best image quality of all four lenses mentioned here (remember i’m only talking about 200mm focal length and infinity).