For some years I own the A version which is one of my favorites. To my eyes it can deliver really excellent pictures. But recently I got the F (an offer I could not refuse
) and I feel I have to choose between them.
The handling is obviously completely different. The A is compact compared to the F beast. AF in the F is nice (in particular on larger distances where the focus turn gets very precise), but the manual focus suffers badly which is important for a macro. The A is beautiful with MF. But these are all things that I can judge myself.
Harder to judge is the IQ. The design is different, I know that. The F/FA is much praised, but I do not see that much data on the A version. Although I would obviously find out over time, does someone have experience with both these lenses?
Please note that I am not a hard core marco shooter. I like to do flowers and butterflies at 1 meter range or so.