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What’s the Best 35mm Lens for Sony?

Chris Gampat
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06/14/2023
5 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony 35mm f1.8 FE review product images f1.4, ISO 6400, 1-60s,X-T2, Fujifilm Fujinon XF23mmF1.4 R 1

35mm lenses are seriously our favorites for so many reasons. And if you’re. Sony photographer, you probably know that you’ve got a ton of choices. I mean, the Sony FE series of lenses launched with a 35mm f2.8. The system has come a long way from then, though. So what’s the best 35mm lens for Sony E Mount? Well, we’re going to share our thoughts with you. After diving into our Reviews Index to find the best lenses, here’s the one we like the most and our other selections.

How We Chose the Best 35mm Lens for Sony

Here’s some insight into how to use this guide to the best 35mm lens for Sony:

  • 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 in these roundups.
  • 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.
  • Sony E mount has a ton of 35mm lenses available. And so, we’re choosing the best 35mm lens for Sony from the ones that we’ve reviewed. Luckily, we’ve reviewed the vast majority of lenses for Sony E Mount. You can find them in this guide here.
  • So what makes a lens the best 35mm lens for Sony? A few things: at the top of it all is portability. I mean, what’s the point of using a lens if you never want to handhold it or carry it for a long time? Then there’s image quality. Sony’s image quality tends to be very clean and clinical. But some have a bit of variety. We also value weather resistance because it helps prolong the shelf-life of your product.
  • If you’re using a Sony lens, then the autofocus will undoubtedly be quick.

The Best 35mm Lens for Sony: Sony 35mm f1.8

weather sealed primes

Some of you might think that the Sigma 35mm f1.2 DG DN Art lens would be the best choice here. But let me tell you, it’s not. I’d know because I bought it and traded it for our favorite. The Sigma 35mm f1.2 DG DN lens was so heavy and sometimes slow to autofocus that I never wanted to use it. The mirrorless camera systems were developed partially to be lighter. So what’s the point when you stick a massive lens on the front?

The Sony 35mm f1.8 is the best balance of so many worlds. While it’s not anything really unique, it’s still an overall incredibly useful lens. In terms of image quality, it doesn’t have the Sony 35mm f1.4 G Master’s character, but it’s still very contrasty and delivers gorgeous colors. It’s also weather resistant, small enough to bring anywhere with you, and very affordable. It’s not that old of a lens, but it still focuses super quickly in most situations. Along with Sony’s 55mm f1.8 lens, it’s my most used.

Pros

  • Small
  • Cost effective and under $800
  • Weather sealing
  • Sharp: very sharp
  • Beautiful bokeh
  • The best colors I’ve seen from a Sony lens
  • Can focus very closely
  • Fast aperture
  • With AF-C on the Sony a7r III, it is fast enough for street photography

Cons

  • Though this is minor, I wish Sony gave us a working distance and zone focus scale for street shooting

This lens is available for $748. In our review conclusions, we said:

I’m head over heels for the Sony 35mm f1.8 FE. The company found a way to make a great middle ground lens while also holding true to the original ideal of mirrorless: to be small. This lens is small, lightweight, weather-sealed, fast to focus, and can deliver excellent image quality. For the photographers who need speed like street photographers, event photographers, and documentary shooters–it’s there. For those who want details and beautiful bokeh like portrait shooters, it’s also there. Combine this with the reliability put into the lens with weather sealing, and you’re getting a winning combination. Then price it at under $1,000, and you’re getting a lens every Sony photographer should have.

3 Other Great Options

Here are three other great options that photographers will enjoy. These lenses are all larger and have a faster aperture than our choice. But for some photographers, these might be the best 35mm lens for Sony because of image quality, balance, or affordability.

Sony 35mm f1.4 G Master

This lens is available for around $1,399. Our review concluded by saying:

The Sony FE 35mm f1.4 GM is a joy to use, and the photos a joy to look at. I found little to complain about. The lightweight design is excellent; the de-click aperture ring a pleasure to spin. The weather-sealing handled some light snow. I love both the colors and sharpness of this lens, while distortions and flare are kept to a minimum.

Pergear 35mm f1.4

This lens is available for around $129. Our review concluded by saying:

It’s here, and it’s terrific! The Pergear 35mm f1.4 offers photographers so much for an insanely affordable cost. This full-frame lens delivers the image quality of photographers’ dreams. There are tons of Sony shooters who crave Leica-style image quality. And if you can get something similar for the native Sony E mount, the Pergear 35mm f1.4 is at the top of my list. With a clicked aperture, smooth focusing, just enough sharpness to make the focus peaking matter, and beautiful bokeh, I can’t fault the Pergear 35mm f1.4’s image quality. But indeed, it indeed does have faults.

Tamron 35mm f2.8

This lens is available for around $349. Our review concluded by saying:

The Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1:2 lens for Sony FE Mount earns four out of five stars. While not perfect, it’s an all-around solid performer that’s also a great value. Only time will tell, but perhaps autofocus performance can be improved with future firmware updates. You’d be hard-pressed to find a weather-sealed 35mm prime for Sony Full Frame Mirrorless cameras that can deliver the same level of performance and image quality for only $349.

autofocus best 35mm lens for sony build quality ergonomics Pergear 35mm f1.4 review sony sony 35mm sony 35mm f1.4 sony 35mm f1.8 Tamron 35mm f2.8
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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.