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Today we’re looking at the best Sony E-Mount lenses available for purchase right now. If you’re ready to move forward in your journey as a photographer, you need the best lens. Sure, you can use the kit lens that came bundled with your camera, or you can even just use your camera without a lens – but not in a thousand years will you receive the same quality of image that you can attain with an E-Mount lens.
That’s why we have come up with a list of the five best current lenses designed specifically for Sony E-Mount cameras that will dramatically enhance all of your photographs. You can take better photos at night, you can take spectacular pictures of small objects up close, and you can capture all the intense action at your favorite sports games.
By picking up the proper E-Mount lens, you can upgrade the quality of your portraits, you can capture dramatic landscapes in perfect color, and you can take snapshots of fast-moving animals on your next safari! Of course, these lenses come in a variety of price points, there are a few different styles – but we are here to tell you which ones are the best.
Without wasting any more time, let’s check out the top five lenses available right now for your favorite Sony camera.
1. Sony 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens
Starting off the list is a compact and very robust 35mm lens dedicated to your Sony E-Mount camera. This is the ideal secondary lens to carry around with you at all times so that you can quickly capture the action in any scenario. It can take fantastic photos of everyday life, it works surprisingly well in the evening because of its bright maximum aperture, and it’s even useful for taking stunning portraits because of its superb blurring effect. The lens is unable to zoom, and it isn’t fantastic for taking panoramic shots of large horizons, but as a prime lens, it’s perfect. If you’re an amateur photographer who just wants a quality lens to use on vacation or for taking pictures of your family, pairing this 35mm prime lens with your Sony camera is a fantastic idea.
As an all-purpose lens, you can’t go wrong here. This lens offers all the professionalism you could ever need while allowing you to still travel light. For vacations and impromptu road trips, a prime lens like this really does save the day! The lens is small enough that it can fit in any bag, giving you instant access to great photos. The lens even uses special optical image stabilization with integrated gyro sensors to keep all your photos crystal clear. This also makes the lens ideal for taking home videos that turn out extremely smooth.
Pros
- Fantastic for Professionals
- All-Purpose Lens/Ideal for Anyone
- Superb Low-Light Performance
- Easy to Carry Around
- Bright Maximum Aperture
Cons
- Lens Not Zoomable
- Smaller Focal Length
2. Sony 50mm f/1.8 Mid-Range Lens
As a fixed 50mm telephoto lens, this unit from Sony is remarkable. It has a maximum magnification ratio of 0.16x and integrated optical image stabilization. It’s great for amateur photographers, it works extremely well with the popular a6000 camera, and it gives you a creamy bokeh effect in the background that very nicely isolates your subject. The price tag is reasonable, and the lens is versatile enough that you will find yourself using it in all kinds of daily situations. If you’re the type of person that takes photographs all throughout the day, this is a great choice because it’s lightweight and can be carried in your bag or your purse, allowing you to use it at any time.
The lens also works well for macro shots. Insects and flowers can easily be documented, and that goes for food as well. In fact, you might say this is the ultimate lens for foodies!
Pros
- Optical Image Stabilization
- Perfect for Portraits
- Internal Focusing
- Ideal for Beginners
- Stunning Bokeh & Image Quality
Cons
- Sometimes Hard to Capture the Whole Subject
- Focus Speed Can Be Slow
3. Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 OSS Telescopic Lens
Let’s move on to a fantastic telescopic lens designed to be used with Sony E-Mount cameras. This lens features a ton of technology. It has four aspherical elements to control spherical aberration. It has a linear actuator and an inner focus mechanism which are both used to achieve fast and quiet focusing operations. The lens itself is solid and reliable, constructed with an exterior metal barrel and buttons that are fully sealed to keep out dust and moisture. This means it’s one of the better lenses to be used outside in harsh conditions.
But it doesn’t end there. The lens also uses a Nano AR coating that allows accurate light transmission while at the same time suppressing reflections to mitigate flaring and ghosting. The lens is designed to maintain perfect peripheral light characteristics while also maximizing the contrast all the way to the edges of the frame.
There are a ton of technical specifications for this lens, but the main thing you need to know is that it’s perfect at what it does. This is honestly the very best telephoto lens for an E-Mount camera, and the significance of that is reflected in the price. It is outrageously expensive, but it’s the last telephoto lens you will ever need.
Pros
- Extremely Sharp Full Images
- Close-Up Quality is Superb
- Sturdy Build
- Nano AR Coating
Cons
- Wildly Expensive
- Autofocus Slightly Slow
4. Sony 85mm f/1.8 E-Mount Fast Prime Lens
This next lens is one of the absolute best when it comes to upgrading your Sony camera. The glass is high quality, the pictures you take are sharp, and it works well whether you’re a professional or an amateur. The lens comes included with autofocus capabilities, integrated stabilization, and a smooth bokeh effect. This is one of the better lenses for taking photos of targets that are moving quickly. This is because it comes included with a double linear motor system that drives the lens’s focus mechanism directly and offers a quiet operation.
This lens is compact, it’s a mid-telephoto prime lens, and it works great with either APS-C cameras or full-frame cameras. It matches extremely well with the new and improved Sony a7 series, and it takes incredible portraits, which can seriously help boost your photography portfolio. Everything about the lens is responsive, its moisture-resistant design is top-notch, and it comes with a customizable focus hold button. It does cost a fair chunk of change, but if you’re looking into prime lenses, the 85mm is where you start. It’s the most cost-effective lens out there for Sony E-Mount products.
Pros
- Quality Build w/ Versatile Features
- Responsive Focus Ring
- Great for Active Shooting
- Compact & Lightweight
- Dust & Moisture Resistant
Cons
- Slightly Heavy
- Not 100% Moisture Proof
5. Rokinon 12mm F2.0 Ultra Wide-Angle E-Mount Lens
The Rokinon 12mm lens is probably the best wide-angle lens available right now for Sony cameras, especially for the very popular a6000 model. It is unmatched when it comes to shooting landscapes, and it takes night photos like you wouldn’t believe. Considering how ridiculously cheap the lens is, you would be silly not to add it to your collection. It’s extremely robust, it can stand up to tons of abuse, and the large aperture is hugely desirable. If you like taking photos of the stars at night, if you need a quality lens to take with you on vacation, whether hiking or checking out some ancient temples, this is the lens to do it with. It’s a huge upgrade for previous lenses, and the manual aperture selection makes time lapses a breeze.
This is honestly a perfect lens. It may lack autofocus and it can be a bit clunky, but it fits well in a small bag, the manual focus ring is smooth, and it’s dedicated to Sony E-Mount cameras. It’s also incredibly versatile and can do pretty much anything except for macro photography and portraits.
Pros
- Super Affordable
- Designed for Sony’s E-Mount System
- Nano Crystal Coating System
- Best for Travel Photography
- Hugely Popular for Night Shooting
Cons
- Lacks Autofocus
- No Metadata
Final Thoughts
You obviously have quite a few choices when it comes to picking up the best Sony E-Mount lens. But let’s stop for a second and talk about which one suits your needs best. If you’re a beginner, we highly recommend that you pick up a standard prime lens. These lenses don’t zoom, but because of that, it forces you to get closer to your shots, better honing your photography skills. Prime lenses are fairly versatile, and they can be great for portrait photography, macro photography, and everyday picture taking.
If you have an APS-C sensor in your camera, you will want a prime lens that is 35mm. However, a full-frame sensor deserves a lens that is at least 50mm. This is because the larger lens will allow you to shoot better in situations with a lack of light, and they typically have a faster shutter speed so that you can avoid any unnecessary blur.
In terms of focal length, somewhere around f/1.8 is ideal for a prime lens. This is because it matches almost perfectly to the human eye’s normal magnification. When taking photos with a lens that has this size of an aperture, your images will turn out just like what you see with your own two eyes.
If you are a little more advanced and are looking for some specific lenses, you might want to build your arsenal. Because a lot of these E-Mount lenses are so inexpensive, it is recommended that you pick up a quality telephoto lens, a wide-angle option, and even a specialized macro lens. That said, these lenses are better used for specific brands of photography, and for people who really know what they’re doing.
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