There are fantastic Sony lenses available for just about every genre of photography now.
No matter what genre of photography you like to shoot, chances are that there are Sony lenses for you. It took Sony a little while to really cater to all photographers who jumped into their Mirrorless ship, but now the E Mount lens selection is as robust as any. You may pay a little more for Sony branded lenses when compared to some of the third party offerings on the market, but there is no doubt that the sheer quality and performance of Sony lenses is well worth the price of admittance. Here we will take a look at the best Sony lenses for different genres of photography.
All of the Sony lenses we have listed below are exceptional when it comes to build quality, overall image quality, and focusing performance. You can attach any of these Sony lenses to your camera and you will know exactly what to expect in terms of overall performance. Take a look at some of our favorite Sony lenses below, and see what we think they excel at.
Architectural Photography – Sony 12-24mm f4 G FE
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Lightweight and compact
- Fun to use
- Good image quality
- Close focusing
- Fast focusing
- Slight weather sealing
Cons
- Very difficult to use it with lens filters of any sort
- We’re a bit puzzled as to why this isn’t an f2.8 lens to complete the professional trinity
Buy now ($1,598): Amazon
Landscape and Cityscape Photography – Sony 16-35mm f2.8 G Master FE
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Sharp image quality
- f2.8 is nice for low light situations
- Good autofocus, as expected from a wide angle lens
- Weather resistance
- Feels good in the hand
Cons
- Pretty darned expensive
Buy now ($2,198): Amazon
Environmental Portraits – Sony 24mm F1.4 G Master
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Compact and lightweight
- Weather sealed
- Superb image quality
- Outstanding edge to edge sharpness, even when shooting wide open
- Dreamy, circular bokeh
- Impressive minimal focus distance of 0.79 feet (0.24 meters)
Cons
- Slight color fringing (easily mitigated in post processing)
Buy now ($1,398): Amazon
Pro Tip: You can have the best glass in the world attached to your camera, but if you fail to take care of the lens, you will likely end up with sub par results. Cleaning your lenses will do two things. First, cleaning the front element will remove, dirt, dust, and grime which means you you won’t have to remove excess spots in post, and secondly, giving your lenses a thorough clean will ensure that they will work for years to come. You should always have a basic lens cleaning kit with you so that you can take care of your lenses no matter where you are.
Documentary Photography – Sony 24-105mm f4 G OSS
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Sharp image quality
- Nice bokeh in the right situations
- A bit of weather sealing
- Optical image stabilization
- Versatile range
Cons
- Nothing really, I accept this lens for what it is
Buy now ($1,198): Amazon
Street Photography – Sony 28mm f2
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Very sharp at any aperture
- Beautiful bokeh
- Nice, small size
- Lightweight
- Pretty affordable
Cons
- Metal build on the exterior, though almost hollow feeling because it’s so light weight
Buy now ($448): Amazon
Wedding Photography – Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Excellent image quality
- Well built
- Lots of versatility
- Sharp output
- Fast autofocusing abilities
- Fairly compact for what this lens is
Cons
- We’ve seen better bokeh, but this isn’t horrible.
- Tends to be heavy, though not as heavy as Nikon’s and above everyone else’s offerings
Buy now ($2,198): Amazon
Pro Tip: A lot of these Sony lenses do have weather sealing, but some are better sealed than others. If you want to be able to shoot out in the elements, and do not want to have to worry about your lenses, and your camera is out in the wind where dust blows, and out in the rain, you should use some of these weatherproof camera and lens covers. They’re affordable, easy to use, and they will give you some serious peace of mind.
Concert Photography – Sony 85mm f1.8 FE
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great image quality
- Fast focusing with the Sony a7r II and in good lighting it will focus quickly with the Sony a7
- Nice feel; though not as great as the G Master 85mm f1.4 lens.
- Weather resistance built in
- Compact size
Cons
- Honestly, not a darn thing
Buy now ($548): Amazon
Macro Photography – Sony 90mm f2.8 Macro G OSS
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great image quality in most situations
- Sharp performance, again in most situations
- Optical stabilization
- Fast focusing performance
- Very silent stabilization
- Internal focusing design, and one that is pretty small for what it is. In fact, it’s about on par with a DSLR lens designed for the same purpose.
- Push/pull focusing ring
- Lightweight
- At last, a focusing scale that actually work!
Cons
- The colors just aren’t there compared to many of Sony’s other lenses. Perhaps this was done specifically for portraits, but you’re mostly going to rely on the capabilities of the Sony sensors–which are very good
Buy now ($998): Amazon
Travel Photography – Sony 24-240mm f3.5-6.3
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Surprisingly sharp all across the board
- Good color
- Beautiful bokeh in the right situations
- Weather resistance
- Great for the photographer that will be traveling a lot, but otherwise we think you’ll find better options with shorter focal lengths
- Makes a lot of sense for video shooters who set up the shot beforehand and won’t be zooming in and out
Cons
- Can be a bit slow to focus at times
Buy now ($898): Amazon
Pro Tip: Are you always losing lens caps? Do you wish there was a better way to organize your lenses so that you can identify each of your lenses with a single glance? Perhaps you wish that there was a way to add more protection to your lenses too? If any of these sound like you then you might want to look into these universal lens caps. These universal lens caps add weatherproofing to your lenses, and they can be color coded so that you know what lenses are hiding underneath the cover. These are perfect for anyone who wants an extra layer of protection.
Portrait Photography – Sony 135mm F1.8 G Master
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Excellent image quality
- Preferred focal length for portraiture
- Dust and moisture resistant
- Sturdy magnesium alloy construction
- Lighter than most 135mm lenses on the market
Cons
- Lacks stabilization
Buy now ($1,898): Amazon
Sports Photography – Sony 70-200mm f2.8 OSS G Master
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Great image quality
- Nice bokeh
- Fairly compact for a 70-200mm f2.8 lens.
- Good build quality
- Can focus pretty fast with the latest cameras
Cons
- Pretty pricey
Buy now ($2,598): Amazon
Wildlife Photography – Sony 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 G Master FE
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Pretty lightweight
- Ring around it that allows you to adjust how tight the zoom is
- Image stabilization
- Weather sealing
- Sharp
- Nice bokeh
- Close focusing for what this lens is
- Convenient focal lengths
- Not too badly priced for a lens like this
- Good for tracking subjects when shooting sports outdoors
Cons
- Tracking moving subjects still more or less demands that you stop down the lens when shooting interior sports
Buy now ($2,498): Amazon