Don’t you just love the Sony A7RII? It’s so capable, so popular, so awesome. In fact, it’s so awesome that you’re considering adding a new lens to your collection.
The Sony A7SII is compact and high-quality. And it’s what we all expected to be. But, there’s not a lot of A7SII lenses available.
That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate guide on lenses for Sony A7 sensors. Here you’ll find a comprehensive list of all lenses that will work with your Sony A7SII and our favorite picks for each category.
| Name | Category | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Zeiss Batis 2/25 Wide-Angle Camera Lens | Best Overall |  |
| Sony – FE 50mm F1.8 Standard Lens | Budget Pick |  |
| Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS | Upgrade Pick |  |
1. Zeiss Batis 2/25 Wide-Angle Camera Lens
Pros:
- Best wide angle lens
- Aperture of f/2 for nice background blur
- Available at many angles: 12, 25, and 85
2. Sony SEL90M28G FE 90mm f/2.8-22 Macro G OSS Standard-Prime Lens
This is one of our favorite lenses from Sony’s G-series. It’s easy to use, lightweight, and produces stunning images that are sharp and detailed.
The 90mm is a perfect choice for portrait photography on a budget. And although it’s not cheap it offers a high quality-to-price ratio.
This lens offers a Macro mode engineered by Sony that makes it possible to shoot subjects a mere 2.2 inches from the lens. This allows for a level of detail that most DSLRs can’t match.
3. Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS
Pros:
- F4.5–5.6
- 8.2 lbs
- 2.5 stop Image Stabilization
- Available in two colors: Black and silver
Cons:
- AF can be slow and loud
- Heavy
Sony have taken the 100-400mm and thoroughly improved it. It is now a full-frame lens. What’s more, the aperture is F4.5–F5.6, along with 8.6 stops of stabilization and 2.3 stops of vibration suppression.
The two-stage focus feature is particularly notable. The first part of the autofocus system is precision, which will quickly track your subject.
Next, the second part focuses on what it’s looking at. This part is focus tracking, which follows your subject with precision.
4. Sony FE 70-300mm SEL70300G F4.5-5.6 G OSS Lens
Pros:
- Budget-friendly
- Relatively compact and lightweight
- Super Steady Shot image stabilization
- Smooth autofocus
- Vibration reduction image stabilization
- Super-fast, silent and accurate focus
The Sony FE 70-300mm SEL70300G F4.5-5.6 GM OSS Lens is one of the most exciting and impressive lenses Sony has introduced to date. It’s not only lightweight but also offers a great balance between cost and performance.
Optically, the lens performs great too. It’s sharp at all focal lengths and apertures. The lens is perfect in low-light situations thanks to its great image stabilization as well as its super-fast, silent and accurate autofocus.
This lens is perfect for traveling as well as for people who are just getting started with photography. It’s great for taking landscape, nature and wildlife photographs, though because of its compact size and great stabilization features, it is also great for weddings, street photography, event photography and more.
5. Sony E-mount FE 24mm F1.4 GM Full Frame Wide-angle Prime Lens
Pros:
- The lens is weather resistant
- The autofocus is fast and smooth
- Built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilization helps to combat unwanted motion blur
- Handles flare and ghosts
- Controls distortion better than average
- The optical design features two aspherical lenses
- The use of high-grade glass elements
- Features one ED (extra-low dispersion) and four aspherical elements
- Includes both an aperture ring and a focus ring
Cons:
- The autofocus isn’t silent
- Peak sharpness isn’t always entirely consistent
- Manual focus isn’t a joy to use and can be hard to nail focus
6. Sony SEL85F18 85mm F/1.8-22 Medium-Telephoto Fixed Prime Camera Lens
Pros:
- Fast and accurate focusing
- Very sharp lens
- Very low price, considering the image quality it produces
The Sony SEL85F18 is one of the cheapest 85mm lenses on the market. Its price and image quality are hard to beat. Did we mention that it's very sharp? The images produced by this lens are razor sharp. You'll be delighted with the results resulting from this little 85mm lens.
The Sony SEL85F18 is an excellent portrait lens. The bokeh produced is very smooth. You'll find details in the background and foreground that others will miss.
7. Sony SEL2470GM E-Mount Camera Lens: FE 24-70 mm F2.8 G Master Full Frame Standard Zoom Lens
Pros:
- The world's smallest and lightest 24-70mm full frame lens
- Sony’s world-first large-diameter, ultra-compact lenses featuring an XA (extreme aspherical) element
- ED (extra-low dispersion) glass, three super ED glass elements, and one anomalous partial dispersion glass element
- Newly adopted circular aperture design for natural, beautiful bokeh
- Nano AR coating to reduce flare and ghosting caused by reflections within the lens
- Extensively improved control of flare and ghosting, compared with a conventional lens
- Protected front part helps to reduce the chance of damage to the front lens element
- High-grade dust and moisture-resistant design
- Direct update via the Sony SWM (solid-state motor) for silent and continuous autofocusing
- MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) design delivers quiet, responsive and precise autofocusing for Video and Stills
8. Sony – FE 50mm F1.8 Standard Lens
Pros:
- Affordable
- Featherweight
- Compact
- Great image quality
Sony’s line of E-mount lenses is designed specifically for use with its mirrorless APS-C sensor, but they can be used with full frame models as well. The FE50 F1.8 is a remarkable compact and lightweight lens designed specifically for everyday photojournalism and street style photography on the Sony a7S II. Truth be told, it can probably be used on the a7R II, too.
Despite its small size, this is a lens that packs a punch. Its f/1.8 aperture and wide focal length make it an excellent full frame centerpiece for low light photography, but for some, it’s also the ideal portrait lens, even on a full frame body.
What really sets this lens apart from the rest is its price. You can buy two lenses for less than the price of some prime lenses.
9. Sigma 213965 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art
Pros:
- Available at 14-24mm
- Great image quality
- Super wide-angle; especially for landscapes
- Super solid build
- Full-frame coverage
- Great for videography
- Amazing color
- Image stabilization
- Fast autofocus
- Uses a lens hood
Cons:
- Reports of bad customer service
- Some reports of focus issues
The Sigma 213965 is one of the best wide angle lenses currently available as it's geared toward photographers who will utilize the extreme focal length. I have it listed here for one of my favorite lenses for astrophotography.
This lens delivers extremely sharp images wide open and even sharper when stopped down. Its minimum focus distance is a little short being at around 3-3.5 feet. This is not an issue for most photographic applications but can be an issue for videography.
The Sigma 213965 does utilize an infrared focusing mark. A feature which is intended for videographers especially when shooting in manual. I would recommend this lens to anyone interested in wide-angle photography.
10. Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 Lens
Pros:
- Midrange zoom lens that is sharp wide open
- Autofocus is quick and precise
- Sharpness and contrast is amazing
Cons:
- The lens is slow; a constant aperture of f/1.8 is great but in comparison to other 85 mm lenses this one comes up lacking
- The lens body is a tad on the heavier side
There’s no disputing the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens gives beautiful, sharp images. It’s smaller and lighter than its competition. The autofocus system is fast and quiet.
The Batis 85mm is a superb lens, but it’s not without flaws. The first is that it’s slow. It’s an f/1.8 lens which is great in low-light situations but for daylight shooting, you’ll want something faster.
Another issue is the front element is large and heavy. This makes attaching a filter to the lens a bit more difficult. The filter ring is also not made of metal which makes the lens somewhat front-heavy.
11. Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS Interchangeable Lens
Pros:
- Excellent sharpness and contrast
- Very good bokeh
- Excellent build quality
- Makes for a nice portrait photography lens
- Good value for money; the price is much lower than the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM and Nikon 70-200mm f/4G ED VR II for example
Cons:
- Autofocus can sometimes be slow (as is the case with most Sony lenses)
- Although quality is very good, it’s certainly inferior to expensive zoom lenses like the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO and Tamron SP 70-200 F/2.8 Di VC USD
- No image stabilization
- Sony lens hood is expensive
This is a very fine telephoto zoom lens that has proven to be an excellent replacement for the Sony SAL 70-300mm f/4-5.6 G SSM.
The lens features Optical SteadyShot (OSS) image stabilization which significantly reduces blur caused by camera shake. One aspect of this lens that we really like is the fast and silent internal focus system that enables quick and precise focusing of subjects that are both near to, and distant.
12. Sony – FE 12-24mm F4 G Wide-angle Zoom Lens
Pros:
- Low cost wide angle zoom lens
- The 12-24 has a constant F4 aperture
- Fast and quiet focusing
- Excellent build quality
- Manual focus override ring with peaking for increased accuracy
- Amazing sharpness
- Dynamic Range Expands By 1.22
- 2 FLD Elements, 1 SLD Element
- Nano AR Coating
- High-Grade ASP-C/APS-C Format
Cons:
- Only one focal length available
- Tripod collar is very high, making this lens incompatible with certain tripod heads
- Extra large, deep construction can make this lens difficult to handle
- Lens hood is large, bulky, and doesn’t work well with polarizers or graduated neutral density filters
- Focusing can be stiff if set at very small apertures
Overall:
The Sony 12-24 F4 general purpose zoom lens is a bit bigger, and significantly heavier, than other professional grade wide-angle lenses. The high-quality construction and good technical performance make this a lens that can be counted upon time and again.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is the Sony a7riii worth it in 2022?
If you’re a professional or serious hobbyist photographer, then yes, it’s absolutely worth it. If you are just an amateur or pro-am, it’s not necessary. The a7riii has a great front-end and it’s sturdy enough to take on a production. The key component to an a7riii is that it has swift auto-focus feature which ensures that your photos don’t get accidently blurry. The a7riii shoots a lot of frames per second and it’s nice. However, this can be a lot for some people and the camera is expensive.
Which lens is best for Sony a7III?
With so many different lenses available and so much jargon surrounding them, choosing the right one for your Sony a7III can be difficult. I’ve reviewed numerous top sellers from a huge selection to list out my top choices. Check them out below.
What is the sharpest Sony lens?
There’s no doubt that A7SII is a better low light machine than A7II. As a result, you can shoot with higher f-stop in lower light with the A7SII than with the A7II, which reduces the amount of background blur that you can get in daylight.
Here’s a list of a dozen or so glass for Sony A7SII that will give you the best performance.
Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 G
At f/1.4, this lens delivers a depth of field equivalent to f/2.8 at 24mm. It’s sharp at f/1.4 and stays that way to f/5.6. It’s also very light and compact.
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM
What lens should I buy Sony?
It’s important to buy the right lens for the sensor you’re using. As far as I know, most photographers fall into one of three categories: APS-C (crop), full-frame, or anamorphic.
For many photographers, the best choice is to use APS-C lenses on a full-frame body. This is a type of “crop sensor” and is synonymous with a “mirrorless camera.” Sony’s own a Sony a7, a7R, and a7S series of cameras fall into this category.
Conclusion
The Sony Alpha a7S II Mirrorless Camera has many uses and is ideal for shooting good quality sports photography, documentaries, and movies. From the stock kit lens, you can’t expect to shoot sports photography, and if you shoot in low light, you often have to compromise with blurry, noisy images.
In this guide we are going to take a look at the lenses you should choose for this camera and also how to choose a good lens from the many choices available.
Hopefully, this is useful for those looking to pick up the Sony a7S II as it is one of the best interchangeable lens cameras for anyone who is serious about photography & videography.
Our Recommendation
| Name | Category | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Zeiss Batis 2/25 Wide-Angle Camera Lens | Best Overall | |
| Sony – FE 50mm F1.8 Standard Lens | Budget Pick | |
| Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS | Upgrade Pick | |