Originally posted by bdery I don't have MTF data, but I owned an A50 f1.4 and an F50 f1,7, and the difference between the two was obvious until f2.8. You can believe me or not, that's up to you.
Now, of course, both lenses are fine by themselves. But since we're comparing, I'll telling you what my experience taught me.
I posted the F f1.7 mtf compared the F f1.4 above. I didn't ask you about your A lens. Nor did I ask about your anecdotal comment. There's plenty of that on flickr and PBase. The fact is, the F is a better choice if the lens is in good shape because of the price.
Edit: I'll post if for you again since you didn't see it the 1st time.
Here is the mtf from the test of the F f1.4 and f1.7 from above.
F 50mm f1.4 Weighted MTF 50 mm: f1.4 0.52 | f2 0.71 | f2.8 0.80 | f4 0.85 | f8 0.87
F 50mm f1.7 Weighted MTF 50 mm: f1.7 0.65 | f2 0.71 | f2.8 0.75 | f4 0.82 | f8 0.86
FA 50mm f1.4 Weighted MTF 50 mm: f1.4 0.50 | f2 0.66 | f2.8 0.75 | f4 0.82 | f8 0.84
FA 43mm f1.9 Weighted MTF 43 mm:_______ |f1.9 0.56 | f2.8 0.72 | f4 0.75 | f8 0.81
They don't have the data for the FA 1.7 lens (or the A 1.4 and 1.7.