Listing both numbers gives you a way to accurately compare lenses made for either sensor format. Filter thread: 77 mm Before Sony’s release of its flagship 16-35 mm f/2.8, I’ve been using the Tamron A-mount SP 15-30 mm f/2.8 Di USD Lens with an integrated electronic adapter. When it comes to adapting with autofocus, Canon EF SLR lenses are the most popular choices. Amadou Diallo has worked as a professional photographer and digital-imaging consultant for close to 15 years. I know people will say there are much better quality lenses out there, but for the price this does the job. If you have an extra $2,000 to spare and don’t mind carrying a behemoth, then you can’t go wrong with this optic. Unlike Sony’s E 50mm f/1.8 OSS lens, our pick lacks built-in image stabilization and as of this writing doesn’t take full advantage of the hybrid phase detect autofocus system found on recent Sony cameras. If you’re not shooting the Milky Way at night or don’t need the extra stop at f/2.8, then you can’t go wrong with the standard f/4. You’ll be able to capture landscapes, portraits, and close-ups of distant landmarks without swapping lenses. One can use such lenses in travel architecture and composing panoramic and composite images. Type: Wide-Telephoto One advantage of the Sony is the longer focal length, so you can shoot even further from your subject. Fast prime lenses (ones that don’t zoom) are recommended for beginners because the lack of zoom forces photographers to get close and better compose their shots. Pros: A flagship super-wide-angle lens with superior optics The Tamron 28-75 mm f/2.8 is no different here compared to the 24-70 mm Sony. Full-frame Sony shooters can still benefit from the stabilization built into those camera bodies when using the Sigma lens. While we have another recommendation for a portrait lens, lots of photographers will use a 50mm prime in a pinch. It’s an impressively sharp, fast prime lens with a 90mm-equivalent field of view, the classic focal length for head-and-shoulder portraits. So sharp and the coverage is huge. If you just can’t live without autofocus, the Sony E 10-18mm f/4 OSS offers a nominally wider field of view than our pick and has built-in image stabilization. Filter thread: 82 mm Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. We talked to Chris Gampat of The Phoblographer about this lens, and while he wasn’t quite as blown away by the sharpness, he praised the combination of image stabilization and a wide f/1.8 aperture, saying, “We strongly recommend it for concert [photography] because of this.”. The brand has consistently delivered excellent optics at a fraction of the costs vs. brand names. We’re assuming that you already own a “kit” lens that came bundled with your camera, something like Sony’s 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens or FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens. Our current favorites include the E 16-55mm F2.8 G and E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS, both of which earned our Editors' Choice award. At the time we checked, almost 70 percent of its Amazon customer reviews had given it a five-star rating. The Phoblographer’s Chris Gampat, an admitted manual-focus lover, told me that given the choice between the Rokinon and a slower autofocus lens, he’d prefer to have the extra stop of light. Like the 70-300mm, it’s also weather-sealed, but the 70-200mm also includes a tripod collar, which can be useful if you plan to use a monopod or tripod for extended periods of time. The full-frame line is designated as FE. The majority of my top-selling stock photos are shot with the 24-240 mm, and it’s the lens I pick up most to compose a shot before switching to a different lens (if I do). This article just added to my photography knowledge. We've also put together a guide for enthusiasts, and offer a list of tools to consider if you're interested in vlogging. It nearly matches the 90mm-equivalent view of that lens, so you can stand a comfortable distance away from your subject when shooting. They offer narrow angles of view, perfect for capturing distant subjects. *At the time of publishing, the price was $1,200. It offers consistent performance across its constant f/2.8 aperture. With a price tag that usually hovers between $400 and $450, the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS isn’t cheap, but it is a solid value for the quality it offers. It’s extremely sharp, lightweight, and inexpensive. That setting will automatically find the nearest face in the frame and focus on that face’s nearest eye. Sony's E 50mm F1.8 OSS and Sigma's 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary are pretty much it. We should note, though, that the FE 85mm f/1.8 scored better than those other two lenses in terms of sharpness. That leaves it up to you to choose the starter. Tamron's budget-friendly 28-75mm F2.8 has won accolades from many, including PCMag, and Sony's FE 24-105mm F4 OSS is a solid choice for travel thanks to a bit more zoom power. A wide aperture also lets you blur the background to produce a wonderful, creamy, out-of-focus area, referred to as bokeh, that helps to draw attention to your subject. Sony designates stabilized lenses by including OSS in the name. In most, if not all, situations, this lens is more than adequate enough. Be aware that Sony sells two versions of this lens. Boutique makers like Lensbaby and Lomography offer fully manual lenses with a variety of interesting designs. Filter thread: 77 mm Weight: 27.6 oz. If you're still getting started on your photographic journey, be sure to check out our tips for making better images. Everyone should have an affordable, reliable, and fast lens like the Sony FE 50 mm f/1.8. The f/2.8 is a sharper lens and gives you an extra stop. Lake Como Things To Do, Where to Stay, and Where To Eat! But, it will cost you an additional $800, weighs you down more and will take over more space in your bag. At the telephoto end of the zoom range, you can see the latticework of the panels of crystals on the outside of the New Year’s Ball in Times Square. Pros: Very portable and lightweight without sacrificing optics Prime lenses often open to f/1.4 or f/2, and if you use them at those settings you'll be able to capture images with blurred backgrounds. Now that you know which lens to get check out my guide on the Best Full Frame Travel Cameras or the Best Travel Cameras. Having started following your work, I have become particularly interested in photography as I have gained a lot information-wise. Sony’s interchangeable-lens cameras come in two flavors: those with full-frame 35mm sensors and those with smaller (but still great) APS-C sensors. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Not so much! The Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35 mm f/4 Zeiss Lens is a great choice for a wide-angle zoom lens. Travel Anxiety: What are the Pre-Trip Jitters & How Can We Tame Them? You don't have to restrict yourself to a single option, though. Picking the type of lens you want to buy should be your first step—we'll break down the differences between macro, telephoto, wide-angle, and other lenses in a bit. This means that adapters can be created to allow almost a limitless line up of lenses, both from Sony and other manufacturers, are adaptable to the A7 series. It’s a solid choice for sports, landscape, and wildlife. A bigger number means a closer, narrower view of the scene. Reviewers are quick to acknowledge that such an inexpensive lens is bound to have its shortcomings. Weight: 31.25 oz. The fact that our upgrade pick has a wider zoom range yet offers similar image quality helps to explain why it costs more than twice the price of our main pick as of this writing. Cons: The bulk and coverage may be only ideal for specific occasions. Theoretically, that means getting results as sharp as you would at 1/120 s while shooting as slowly as 1/6 s. You should take that claim with a bit of salt, but SonyAlphaLab did find success shooting at shutter speeds two to almost three stops slower than normal with good results. Learn more. Then Sony E Mount Lenses started trickling in, albeit slowly at first. When he’s not out with his camera, Jim enjoys watching bad and good television, playing video games (poorly), and reading. It’s important to understand, though, that the size of the camera’s sensor determines how wide an area you actually see when you look through the lens. If you’re coming from a kit lens, you’ll immediately appreciate our pick’s wide f/1.8 maximum aperture—most kit zooms stop at f/3.5. The lens is sharp at all corners with a little bit of distortion – as what comes typically with super-wide-angle zoom lenses like these. Weight: 18.3 oz. The center [sharpness] is nothing short of outstanding here and the outer image field reaches very good to excellent levels.” Photographer Jordan Steele, on his Admiring Light blog, writes that the lens “focuses quite quickly in almost any situation.” Steele goes on to say, “In dim light, focus definitely slows down, but even in these situations, it’s acceptable in speed and maintains high accuracy.”, And unlike most other standard-focal-length prime lenses, the Sony lens offers built-in image stabilization. One of the nicest things about variable-aperture zooms is that they’re typically smaller and lighter than their constant-aperture counterparts. It will open up more framing and composition options for you. But sometimes it's the imperfect image that gets the most Instagram likes or helps sell a wedding package. If you’re in a big crowded city, this lens knows no bounds and just fun to shoot with. Our pick has the LE designation at the end of its official product name, but Sony also offers the slightly older SEL18200 model, distinguishable by its silver finish. Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS; Best Sony lenses in 2020: 1. Your email address will not be published. Autofocus, while not as instantaneous as some of Sony’s fanciest lenses, is still plenty fast enough to not be a problem. Photo: Phil Ryan. And because the focal length nearly matches the human eye’s natural magnification, your images will be a lot like what you see in your head. However, it didn’t take long for Sony to come up with a wide selection of optics for the A7 Series such as the Alpha A7R III (and the venerable Sony A7 III) to win the hearts of many travel photographers, myself included. When it was first introduced in 2016, Sony’s FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS was the longest zoom available for the company’s full-frame cameras. With its 27-300mm–equivalent focal length range, this lens could easily be the only one you need to bring along on vacation. He studied at RPI and worked on the retail side of the industry at B&H before landing at PCMag. If having a compact kit means bringing it along more often and shooting more regularly, the image-quality trade-off is one that many photographers are happy to accept. Photo: Phil Ryan, Despite dim lighting conditions, we got a sharp shot with the ɑ7 II’s built-in stabilization letting us shoot at 1/25 second, f/4, and ISO 6400 with the 50mm f/1.8 lens. It’s a loaded lens that’s made for professionals and serious hobbyists alike. It’s about $600 more than Nikon’s 24-70 mm f/2.8 ($1,797) or Canon’s 24-70 mm f/2.8 and also more massive at 31.3 oz. They're joined by a number of general-purpose APS-C models, ranging from the basic a6100 to the premium a6600. The prime lens we recommend as a first purchase for E-mount shooters is the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS lens. You get the right amount of working distance to snap head or head-and-shoulder shots with a smooth, blurred background. Wirecutter is reader-supported. Photo: Phil Ryan, Zoomed to 300mm, the 70-300mm lens puts the focus on just the head and shoulders of the statue. Such high-quality glass also comes with a high price tag associated with it. Pros: Sharp and very fast After 16 hours researching and testing gear recommended by pro vloggers, these are our picks for the best cameras, mics, and tripods to get started. Don’t write this lens off, however. The Sigma 70mm uses a focus-by-wire method for manual focusing. Optical stabilization may be important, depending on your camera. While this 50mm-equivalent lens is a bit pricey for an f/1.8 normal lens, we think the high-quality images it delivers are worth the expense. Filter thread: 67 mm In APS-C terms, that anything between 16mm and 45mm, and there are several options from both Sony and third parties covering the range. The autofocus is fast and very quiet, allowing you to capture scenes in silence and obscurity. Wolstenholme concludes, “This lens provides reasonably good performance, but that certainly isn’t its main selling point. We think that most people will be plenty pleased with the 50mm, making the 55mm not worth the extra cost. Will the Real Mitad del Mundo Please Stand Up? Another is its optical image stabilization, which lets you shoot at slower shutter speeds while holding the camera in your hands. Klaus Schroiff of Photozone writes, “At f/4, the lens is essentially as good as it gets on a 24 megapixel sensor. It’s a little pricey, but the images it delivers are worth the investment. An aperture this wide lets in a lot more light, allowing you to shoot in dim situations. An addition of a super wide-angle like the Sony 12-24 mm f4 G lens below would make it complete. MSRP: $1,599. The mechanical method is easier to control, but we don’t think that the luxury it provides is worth spending the premium for most people. If you’re ready to move beyond the kit lens that came bundled with your camera, we have choices that will let you take sharper photos at night, shoot detailed close-ups of tiny objects, catch all the action of your weekend warrior, create professional-looking portraits, and capture dramatic landscapes. Plus, it’s weather resistant, so you won’t have to worry if you get caught in some light rain. There are loads from which to choose. This Zeiss branded optics is very sharp across all corners, even shot wide open. There are a pair of dedicated options for APS-C systems—one from Sony and one from Zeiss. As Kevin Carter at DxOMark concludes, “Lenses are a mix of compromises and nowhere is that more obvious than with accessibly priced zooms.” Carter found the Sony lens to be “somewhat disappointing at the longer end of the zoom range, in terms of sharpness, but in every other respect the performance is well balanced.” Klaus Schroiff at Photozone found it to be a solidly constructed lens with silent autofocus that makes it well-suited to shooting video. Filter thread: 72 mm It turns your camera into a high-resolution magnifying glass, revealing intricate details in even the smallest objects. Type: Wide-Telephoto Photographers love to reach for a wide-angle lens to capture a vast landscape view, or to get really close to a subject, while still giving context to the surroundings. |. If you pair it with teleconverters like the Sony 1.4x or 2.0x you can get even more reach. This sharp, well-priced macro lens lets you shoot extreme close-up photos. But there are other good ways to go for less money. To experience a place like a local rather than a tourist gives a whole new dimension to any adventure. Sony was one of the first to market with a mirrorless camera, and now offers models ranging from affordable a6100 all the way to the high-end, 60MP a7R IV. Cons: Limited in its use and coverage. There are basics, like buying a lens that works with your camera, because systems are not generally cross-compatible. To net full magnification, the front element of the lens is only centimeters from the subject. You’re buying it to have the most compact camera-and-lens combination possible. It’s a manageable size and relatively light for a telephoto zoom, and it makes for an obvious companion to the 18-55mm and 16-50mm kit lenses that ship with Sony cameras, picking up right where those zoom ranges end. You’ll be torn between this and the Sony 24-70 mm below or the Sony 24-240 mm above. Filter thread: 49 mm Six Stunning Destinations to Visit where it’s Not Crowded, Peace in La Paz, Mexico – Personal Musings of A Gringo, Where To Stay In Buenos Aires | The Best Places and Neighborhoods, Georgia Travel Guide: The Shangri-La of Caucasus, Where To Stay In Paris | The Best Neighborhoods, The Best Lenses for Sony a6000 Series (a6300, a6500, and a6400). Telephoto lenses perform the opposite function of wide angles. MSRP: $2,199 Adapting lenses to the Sony system is also an option. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE NEXT IN LINE UP OF SONY E MOUNT LENSES? Focusing is another area where the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 macro differs from Sony’s own 90mm f/2.8 macro. MSRP: $2,498 Sony got it covered with its growing selection of super-wide zooms, standard and telephoto zoom, and quality prime Zeiss lenses. What you’re gaining in weight savings and convenience you are going to sacrifice some quality. This lens is one of the cheapest and sharpest Sony E Mount Lenses ever made. Amadou Diallo is a writer based in New York. If you still use an 18-55mm, or are looking for a zoom with slightly better image quality, there are options. It’s also got a quiet autofocus motor. In addition to appreciating the lens’s versatility, reviewers like its built-in image stabilization, which partially compensates for the lens’s narrow maximum aperture of f/3.5 at the wide end and only f/6.3 at its longest zoom setting. Full-frame shooters looking for a wide prime should go for Rokinon’s 20mm f/1.8 AS ED UMC lens. It's the mirrorless system, which uses the E mount, that you'll want to look at, and you want to make sure you get lenses that work with your camera. Video specialists should think about getting a gimbal for stabilization and a microphone. This pancake lens gathers less than half as much light as our fast-prime pick, the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS. Now that you have an idea of what lenses will work with your Sony mirrorless camera, it's time to figure out what type of lens you're looking to buy. They're useful tools, and one should be in the bag of every serious shooter. Filter … Our most expensive pick combines above-average image quality with an extended zoom range to provide a single-lens option for your vacation travels. Because they all use the same lens mount, you can put an FE lens on an APS-C camera. This should only affect shots in low light where you select a smaller aperture, but it’s something to keep in mind when considering this lens. There are still a few things that Sony needs to fill-in, such perspective correcting (tilt/shift) lenses category – I know it’s very specialized, but T/S lenses are something I truly enjoyed using in Canon and Nikon’s systems. At a bit over $1,000, the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 is a great value for the money. The Tamron is one of the best third-party Sony E Mount Lenses in production. It has the same optical stabilization system as our main pick and delivers similar image quality, but it offers a much wider zoom range and remains compact enough to handle fairly well on a camera like the Sony α6000 or α6300. They're all excellent optical performers, with strong value pricing, but they're also a bit bulkier and heavier than native mirrorless designs. It also lets you throw the background out of focus so the subject of your photo gets all the attention it deserves. This prime lens lets in a lot of light and serves up sharp images for a great price. Sony's high-end option is the FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM, and is likely the go-to option for pros. And because this lens’s focal length nearly matches the natural magnification of the human eye, the images you capture will be a lot like what you see in your head. Not only are FE lenses more expensive than their APS-C lens counterparts, they tend to be heavier as well, negating much of the convenience of shooting with a compact mirrorless camera in the first place. For any given focal length, a camera with an APS-C sensor shows a narrower view of a scene than a camera with a full-frame sensor. Normally we wouldn’t recommend giving up autofocus regardless of the savings, but when you’re shooting with an ultrawide 18mm-equivalent focal length, you’re not adjusting focus a lot in the first place. Reviewer Andrew Alexander writes that in contrast to Sony’s previous 18-200mm lens, this version “is much smaller in comparison, shaving over 60g off of the weight … and most notably reducing the ‘girth’ of the lens – instead of being almost 100mm in diameter, the EL lens is only 68mm in diameter, making it much more at home on a [Sony mirrorless] camera body.”. You would have to pixel peep a lot to tell a shot taken from this lens vs. a shot that was made from a $3,000 prime lens. Cons: A heavy prime lens that’s a little limited in its coverage and use. Zeiss opts for Touit for APS-C, and Batis and Loxia lines for full-frame. Using a prime lens (one that doesn’t zoom), you’ll become much more adept at thinking about composition, actively moving yourself around the scene—zooming with your feet, as the saying goes. You would also need to fork up for bigger filters as the thread mount is at 82  mm. This guide provides recommendations for both kinds of cameras. You can always use a full-frame lens. In DxOMark’s lab tests, the Sony lens compared very well against the fast-prime pick in our Nikon lens guide, delivering nearly identical sharpness. There are a few wide-angle options for APS-C owners. It is also worth noting that you can use Nikon and Canon lens through the use of an adapter on Sony full-frame cameras. I have been wondering which one to get and it was really overwhelming. Breb, Maramures. This 90mm-equivalent lens offers the perfect focal length for head-and-shoulder portraits. Type: Prime Wide-Angle It’s a matter of preference and what kind of subjects you shoot. Maintaining good optical quality over such a wide zoom range without creating a lens that’s too unwieldy for a midrange mirrorless camera is not easy. Third parties also sell lenses for the Sony system. For this guide we concentrated largely on fixed-focal-length lenses, ones that don’t zoom. But most full-frame camera models offer in-body stabilization (IBIS), and some APS-C cameras do as well. Cons: Heavy and expensive. A common focal length for portraits, this 85mm lens is sharp with pleasing background blur. If you're happy with autofocus, you can mount pretty much any vintage lens, assuming someone has brought the right adapter to market. For travel, it would be hard to beat a nice zoom lens with massive coverage. We’ve added full-frame lens options to each of the categories in this guide. The traditional definition of a standard angle, roughly 40-60mm in full-frame terms, is a bit restrictive. Check out my Canon Lenses Guide for Travel. This is of the best all-around Sony E Mount Lenses, and it will make a perfect one and only lens in your bag if you want to go ultralight travel with decent coverage. While this 50mm doesn’t have optical image stabilization, the most recent versions of Sony’s full-frame camera bodies all have stabilization built into them. Jordan Steele of Admiring Light writes that it is “well-built, focuses quickly and has absolutely stunning optics, at an astoundingly low price.” Steele continues, “The Sigma 60mm f/2.8 is among the sharpest lenses I’ve ever used on a mirrorless camera.” Gary Wolstenholme at ePhotozine concurs that for a lens that often sells for about $200, “Sigma haven’t skimped on build or optical quality. If you don’t shoot with a Sony camera but still want to invest in some great starter lenses, take a look at our lens guides for Canon, Nikon, Micro Four Thirds, and Fujifilm bodies. On such a wide-angle lens, manual focus isn’t much of a hassle, since anything from about 3 feet to infinity is in focus simultaneously. Sigma’s 70mm f/2.8 Art DG macro lens captures highly detailed images, and at an equivalent of 105mm on APS-C cameras, you can shoot a comfortable distance away from your subject and still get 1:1 magnification. I’m a Tamron convert. To standardize this difference in scene coverage between camera sensors, we’ll refer to a lens’s true focal length (the one marked on the lens) as well as to its full-frame sensor equivalent. How much of a sacrifice? Resolving power and resolution isn’t the only and main factor we use to determine the best “travel” lens. Gampat told us that it can “be the lens that you bring with you everywhere because of the compact size and the 30mm-equivalent field of view, which proves to be useful for closeups and anything in your immediate line of sight.”. While many full-frame prime lenses are built for Sony from the ground up, Sigma does sell several of its Art series lenses, designed for SLRs, in versions for Sony mirrorless cameras. Our goal in this guide is to recommend lenses that offer significant advantages in focal length and/or light-gathering ability over what you’re currently using. Performance can be compromised—you should definitely use native lenses when autofocus speed matters. However, you would have to be willing to fork an extra $800 or so and put some extra weight in your luggage. Travel Photo – Haystacks In Romania. Also note that the Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III VC lens is nearly identical in both features and performance to our upgrade pick. This is Sony’s version, and it doesn’t disappoint. He has a thing for old lenses, boneyards, and waterfowl. It isn’t exactly a stellar performer in the optical department, either, with noticeably less-sharp images that are more prone to chromatic aberration (false colors along high-contrast edges). This matters more for APS-C shooters, since the Sigma doesn’t have optical stabilization and Sony’s APS-C bodies don’t have built-in stabilization. It's been years since a new camera or A-mount lens was released, and we don't recommend it to photographers starting fresh. Sony does offer the more expensive FE 85mm f/1.4 GM lens, but at more than three times the price of the FE 85mm f/1.8, we don’t think that anyone outside of the most persnickety and well-heeled photographers should get it. MSRP: $900 Others may prefer the classic standard angle, closer to 50mm. For travel, you might just enjoy this lens more for its light and very compact design even though it’s limited in its application due to it being a prime. This lens can fit anywhere, and it’s lightweight and fast without sacrificing the optics. *At the time of publishing, the price was $450. And the image quality is great, too: As Wirecutter’s lead editor for camera gear Phil Ryan pointed out when he was working at Popular Photography and Amadou asked him about this lens, “The price is phenomenal for what you get, which will likely be sharper than you’d expect.”. Type: Prime Wide-Angle As it stands, it’s the one in the middle and rightly so – it’s sharper than the 24-240 mm but slower than the 24-70 mm below. An aperture this wide lets in a lot more light, allowing you to shoot in dim situations such as concerts, theaters, birthday parties, or outdoors at night and still use relatively fast shutter speeds to avoid blurry results. Filter thread: 72 mm Type: Wide-Telephoto If a lens is called E, it works with its mirrorless cameras and covers the APS-C sensor area. There’s no degradation in performance regarding contrast and sharpness when you shoot wide-open at f/1.8. But, we appreciate the way that the overall sharpness falls off gently, giving your subject a feeling of being distinct from, and yet at one with, the out-of-focus background. Again, while Sony used to market its APS-C mirrorless cameras under the NEX line, the company has since brought them all under the Alpha umbrella. You’ll find any lens’s focal length expressed as a distance in millimeters. Photo: Phil Ryan.