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Features

The Best Zoom Lenses for Professional Sony Photographers

Chris Gampat
No Comments
01/13/2023
5 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II review product images 41-80s400 1

For some photographers, it’s first party or bust! At least, that’s typically the case with professional photographers. But, luckily for Sony shooters, you’ve got a fair amount of great choices available. We dove into our Reviews Index and our Sony FE lens guide. Here are the best zoom lenses for professional Sony photographers.

The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Table of Contents

  • Pro Tips on Using the best zoom lenses for professional Sony photographers
  • Sony 12-24mm f2.8 G Master
  • Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Di III VXD G2
  • Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II
  • Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 Di III VXD
  • Sony 70-200mm f2.8 G Master OSS II

Pro Tips on Using the best zoom lenses for professional Sony photographers

Here are some tips on using the best zoom lenses for professional Sony photographers.

  • What makes these the best zoom lenses for professional Sony photographers? They tend to produce flattering images of people and things. The ones we’re showcasing are zoom lenses for professional photographers on the Sony FE camera system. Specifically, we’re focusing on zoom lenses.
  • The Sony system has excellent autofocus for portrait photography. Just use face and eye detection. If you’ve never used it before, it’ll feel like cheating.
  • If you happen to be snapping portraits of people candidly, this system can do it well.
  • If you’re photographing pets, this system is very reliable.
  • Portrait photographers typically reach for prime lenses because of the better image quality and shallower apertures. But these lenses aren’t bad.
  • Make sure you’re using image stabilization if you’re shooting at the longer end.
  • Want a sharper portrait? Get a flash or a circular polarizer. Both are capable of making an image look sharper.
  • We’ve reviewed all the lenses in this roundup. That’s how we know they’re the best zoom lenses for professional Sony photographers. We tested them and a bunch of others to verify!

Sony 12-24mm f2.8 G Master

  • Excellent overall build quality
  • Weather sealing
  • Speedy autofocus
  • A fast, constant aperture (f2.8) across the focal range is always nice
  • Flare and chromatic aberrations are controlled very well
  • Uses drop-in filters that sit in front of the rear element
  • Great image quality overall
  • Renders nice, natural colors

In our review, we state:

“The Sony 12-24mm f2.8 GM will be used by photographers who will be out in the field in all sorts of unsavory weather conditions, and I have no doubt the lens can square up to whatever Mother Nature throws at it. If you’re a landscape photographer and get caught in the rain, you have nothing to worry about. If you’re an astrophotographer who’s outside in the dead of a cold night, you can be assured that the lens will be just fine, and if you like cityscape photography, the lens feels tough enough to survive being jostled around in the city. Like other Sony G Master lenses. the Sony 12-24mm f2.8 GM is a lens built to last.“

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Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Di III VXD G2

  • Beautiful image quality
  • Works with Sony’s autofocus algorithms
  • Weather sealing
  • Integrated USB port
  • Lightweight
  • Feels great in the hands
  • Works very well on older Sony cameras if you’re on the appropriate autofocusing type
  • Can do pretty well in continuous autofocus
  • It’s only $879

In our review, we state:

“The Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 G2 is a great lens. It builds on the previous version with a built-in USB port, faster autofocus, and a new finish. Personally, I was a tad shocked to see it refreshed this early. But there isn’t a single thing wrong with this lens. It boasts great image quality that you’ll really like. It innovates with the new USB port. And it retains the lightweight design with a weather-sealed body. There isn’t a single thing to complain about really.”

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Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II

  • Weather-resistant; moreso with newer camera bodies than the other ones.
  • Fast autofocus
  • Smaller and lighter than the previous version
  • Feels great on older, smaller camera bodies.
  • Autofocuses well on both older and newer camera bodies
  • Very sharp
  • The colors are pretty gorgeous. I’d expect this of Sony primes, but this is wonderful!
  • Nice bokeh
  • Distortion, even in the corners, is heavily suppressed.
  • Lots of nice extra buttons

In our review, we state:

“The Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II is an excellent lens for a professional photographer who wants the cleanest, most sterile image possible. This has been Sony’s mission since the start. It removes any issues with lens flare, all aberrations and gives you a clinically perfect lens. While doing this, they cut down the size and weight. Objectively speaking to how photography has been presented for years, the Sony 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II is a winner. But if you’re looking for something with more soul, I’d suggest looking at Tamron and other brands instead.“

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Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 Di III VXD

  • Beautiful image quality
  • Works with Sony’s autofocus algorithms on the Sony a1
  • Weather sealing
  • One of Tamron’s most solidly built lenses to date
  • Integrated USB port
  • Lightweight for what this is; a very innovative lens
  • Feels great in the hands
  • F2 aperture to start is nice!
  • Works very well on older Sony cameras if you’re using the appropriate autofocusing type
  • Can do pretty well in continuous autofocus
  • I adore that this isn’t one of Tamron’s sharpest lenses because it means that I don’t have to spend a ton of time retouching every pore
  • $1,899 isn’t too bad of a price

In our review, we said:

“Where to start? The Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 Di III VXD is the only lens on the market that begins with an f2 aperture and goes down to f2.8. Tamron has a similar lens for DSLRs that starts at f2.8 and stops down to f4. But obviously, this one is a full stop faster. Tamron has also done a world’s first with building a USB port into the lens directly. This port is sealed the same way one is on a phone. That means you can get rid of the dock to update the firmware. With this lens, you don’t necessarily need a 28-75mm and a 70-180mm lens. Instead, you’ve got one lens to do everything you’d realistically need. It’s brilliant.“

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Sony 70-200mm f2.8 G Master OSS II

  • Lightweight
  • Excellent autofocus
  • Dedicated aperture ring
  • Excellent sharpness and colors
  • Solid stabilization

In our review, we state:

“The Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GM OSS II has quite a few upgrades from the original. The autofocus is faster and also works much better on close-up subjects. The sharpness has improved and the lens is significantly lighter, yet Sony still managed to add a dedicated aperture ring. It’s a lens with a lot of technical greatness.”

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best zoom lenses lenses review sharpness sony sony 12-24mm sony 24-70mm sony 70-200mm sony photographers Tamron 28-75mm tamron 35-150mm
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Written by

Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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