The Sony a7cR is a small camera with a very high resolution sensor. In many ways, it’s also one of the company’s best in terms of technology. And when it comes to figuring out what lenses might be best for it, there’s a whole lot you can choose from. Luckily, we’ve independantly reviewed the most lenses for the Sony E mount in the real world — which is a fact that we stand by. If you’re searching for the best lenses for the Sony a7cR, we’ve got several great ones for you to look at in this roundup.
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How We Test and Choose the Best Lenses for the Sony a7cR
- 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. You can read more about our ethics on this on our Disclaimer page.
- When we test products we’ve got various things in mind. First off, we consider who might want to buy the product and what they might do with it. With that in mind, we try to tackle at least three genres of photography with that product in a variety of situations. For example, if a lens has weather resistance, then we’ll test it accordingly with a weather-resistant camera. We also test the autofocus of the lens in continuous mode, single mode, with exposure preview effects, without those effects, and then with all the major image quality parameters. These days, no one really makes a bad lens — but some are far better than others. And that’s what we’re trying to find in our reviews.
- In all of our roundups, we’re basing our findings on the reviews that we’ve done. We’re choosing a favorite, but we’re also giving photographers a bunch of others that they might like, depending on how they shoot.
Read Our Sony a7c R Review
In our review, we state:
However, the Sony a7cR should be truly relegated to slower work. For photographers that have been around for a while, think of the Sony a7cR as more of the 5D Mk II instead of the D700. The higher megapixel camera body can surely perform well, but it’s best relegated to slower subjects. For newer photographers, know that we’re currently in a phase where things have returned to how they were in 2009. High megapixel camera bodies truly can’t autofocus all that well with the exception of the Sony a1. Of course, if you wait a little bit, that barrier will be smashed.
Our Choice Amongst the Best Lenses for the Sony a7cR: Sony 35mm f1.4 GM
On the top of the list of the best lenses for the Sony a7cR is the Sony 35mm f1.4 GM. It’s small, lightweight, and has some unique character in the bokeh that makes it a bit swirly. Additionally, this lens boasts an aperture ring — which so many of us will love. Because it’s a G Master lens, it’s also pretty durable and its weather resistant. But when pairing it with the Sony a7cR, consider the fact that it’s got light weight and it’s small — just like the camera. Seriously, it’s probably the most perfect one on this list.
Tech Specs
- 67mm filter thread
- 76mm by 96mm
- 524 grams
- 2 XA elements
- 1 ED element
- 11 aperture blades
- f16 minimum aperture
- Nano AR II and a fluorine coating
- Dust and moisture-proof
- 14 elements in 10 groups
- XD linear motor (electro-magnetic and frictionless, one focus group)
- 0.27-meter minimum focus distance
- .23 maximum magnification
What We Think
In our review, we state:
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.
For Some Photographers, these Might Be the Best Lenses for the Sony a7cR
Our selection of the best lenses for the Sony a7cR is with small, lightweight lenses. So for other photographers out there, these might be one of the best lenses for the Sony a7cR.
Sony 55mm f1.8 Zeiss
In our review, we state:
Sony has some of the best color rendition around, and if you manage to get everything right in the camera, you’ll have little to worry about in post-production. The 55mm skews warm in most cases, but if that’s not your thing you can always fix it later. Also, the lens encourages chimping because you’ll want to see what you just took.
SONY 14MM F1.8 G MASTER
In our review we state:
The Sony 14mm f1.8 G Master isn’t innovative in that it’s a fast wide-angle. Sigma has done this kind of lens for a long time now. Instead, it’s innovative in how lightweight and small Sony made it. Plus, it focuses incredibly fast. More importantly, this lens was made from the ground up for mirrorless cameras.
SONY 50MM F1.4 G MASTER
In our review, we said:
The Sony 50mm f1.4 G Master is another entry into the higher-end products that Sony offers to photographers. It’s designed to work complementary to the 35mm f1.4 and 24mm f1.4. In fact, they all share the same front filter thread of 67mm. The lens also boasts weather resistance, a good but plastic feeling in the hand, and is lightweight. By all means, this lens delivers everything that we’d expect from a Sony G Master, except for the fact that it doesn’t feel as clinical.
Using This Guide to the Best Lenses for the Sony a7cR
If you’re considering purchasing anything from this list of the best lenses for the Sony a7cR, consider the following:
- All the product images and sample photos in these roundups are shot by our staff. In fact, we don’t talk about products at length in roundups like this unless we’ve done full reviews of them. But you can surely know that we’ve done all the research ourselves.
- Though Tamron makes some incredible lenses, we’re not putting any of them on this list of the best lenses for the Sony a7cR. That’s because they’re all zooms; and not as well balanced to the camera as small prime lenses are.
- Generally speaking, we never recommend Sigma lenses. They’ve rightfully earned the nickname “Bigma” because they’re huge, slow to autofocus, and too clinical for our liking. Their small lenses also lack weather resistance. Tamron, on the other hand, is partially owned by Sony.
- We’re not recommending the 85mm f1.4 GM because it’s due for a refresh as of our writing this post.
- This is just our best lenses for the Sony a7cR list. Yours might be different. On the other hand, we’ve actually tested all these lenses and more.
- All of the best lenses for the Sony a7cR have weather resistance. We wouldn’t choose it otherwise. However, the 55mm f1.8 Zeiss isn’t as weather resistant as the G Master lenses are. It still has some though. Overall, we still recommend Tamron lenses over anything else for durability.
- Want character in your lens? Go for the 50mm f1.4 or the 35mm f1.4 GM.
- We’d never recommend a product to you that we haven’t tested or that we really didn’t like. You can reference our linked reviews, for more information on this.
Picking the Right One For You
If you’re still a bit confused as to the right lens for you, here are some questions to ask yourself
- What’s your budget?
- How will you use the product?
- What lighting situations are you in, and how will that affect what you’re doing? Our reviews hyperlinked in this article can help with that.
- Are you traveling a lot with it?
- Will you be using it in a situation that’s a bit rougher?
- Who else uses this product? How are they using it?
- What’s so appealing about this product that I can’t get from what I have already or something else?
- When will I really have time to use this product?
- Where will I bring this product?
- How will this product help bring me joy and joy in my photography?
These are just a few of the questions that we ask ourselves, but we think that you should ask yourself these for sure.