This is a field guide for lens selection based on my experience with a variety of lenses compatible with the full frame Sony E-mount. These lenses are compatible with any of Sony’s a1, a7, or a9 series cameras. Today there are hundreds of lenses available so not every lens is covered here. I encourage you to do your own detailed research and recommend renting lenses before purchasing.
Sony Lenses
Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens (Owned)
Sony’s first-generation f/4 maximum aperture 16-35mm zoom lens. This lens is based on the ZEISS Tessar optical concept. It includes optical stabilization. This is my go-to lens for wide angle landscape photography when visiting new locations and locations I know I will only be visiting once. Sony has released an updated different version of this lens type for video users. Suggest comparing before purchasing to see which fits your needs.
Pro Tip: For daytime landscape use you do not need a maximum aperture above f/4. With a zoom lens this can save you money and weight.
Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS Lens (Owned)
Sony’s first-generation f/4 maximum aperture 24-105mm zoom lens. This is a G series lens which falls just under the top tier G Master lenses that Sony offers. This lens includes optical stabilization. This is my go-to lens for wide angle to telephoto landscape photography when visiting new locations and locations I know I will only be visiting once. Rumors are that Sony is in the process of creating a second-generation version of this lens. At the time of writing such a lens does not exist but check for further releases.
Pro Tip: Having overlap in your zoom lens makes lens selection easier in the field. With a 16-35mm and 24-105mm setup you only must decide if you need the wider field of view the 16-24mm provides or the longer reach of 35-105mm when selecting a lens. Often you do not have to carry the other lens with you or switch in the field.
Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS (Tested)
One of Sony’s G Master telephoto lenses. This one has a longer reach up to 400mm but with a smaller aperture that varies slightly with focal length. I evaluated this with the 100-180mm Tamron. The aperture is more conducive for landscape photography. I found the larger focal range better while still struggling to necessarily find an effective use in landscape photography. I did find uses in photographing family and friends. In the summer it is hard to photograph landscapes without heat waves from the ground distorting the image. In addition, I am not used to composing shots at these focal lengths. In the end I found that in evaluating the 2 lenses this had the most potential but still did not justify the cost of the G Master series price.
Pro Tip: Earlier Sony zoom lenses were commonly equipped with optical stabilization. Now the camera body has optical stabilization, so I find the lens does not need it unless you are using a long telephoto lens like 70-200mm or 100-400mm, etc.
Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM Lens (Owned)
Sony’s excellent wide angle 14mm prime G Master lens. This is the lens I dreamed someone would make after testing Sigma’s 14mm Art lens. The Sony G Master addresses my main issue with the Sigma art lens which was its weight. The Sony G Master is exceptionally light and compact. It is also reasonably priced for a G Master matching Sigma’s price. Image quality is the same if not better so there is no reason to favor the Sigma over the G Master. It is a great lens for astrophotography. I also use it for general landscapes as well. Note that this lens requires rear filters which is common for 14mm lenses.
Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G (Owned)
The Sony 20mm was released alongside the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM. In some reviews the 20mm is reported to exceed the quality of the GM in terms of astrophotography performance. That is quite impressive for a lens that should be a step below. I have this lens in my setup as the widest auto focus lens that accepts a front filter. This contrasts with the Laowa which is wider but manual focus only and takes a front filter, and my Sony G Master, which is the widest, auto focus, but cannot take a front filter. Each of these lenses fills a specific purpose and need at the wide end of my photography focal range.
Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA (Owned)
Sony’s 35mm based on the ZEISS Sonnar optical concept. This is a small and compact prime lens. Perfect for street photography. It is exceptionally sharp. This was my very first lens purchase. As such I was spoiled with how sharp my images were and I was disappointed with how later lens purchases performed, they just could not stand up to this lens. The aperture is still large enough for astrophotography. I take more photos at 35mm than any other focal length.
Pro Tip: Prime lenses outperform their zoom counter parts but both have their uses. If you are uncertain what primes to purchase, start with a zoom lens and see what focal lengths you naturally prefer to photograph, then invest in primes at that focal length.
Sigma Lenses
Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art (Tested, Recommended)
This zoom lens is part of Sigma’s top tier Art line of lenses. I evaluated this lens against the Tamron 17-28mm and ZEISS 18mm prime lens. With an aperture of f/2.8 this lens could be used for astrophotography. It is also very wide at 14mm. It feels more solidly constructed than the Tamron with its metal construction but that creates a weight and cost penalty. However, with a smaller focal range compared to the Sony if pared with the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art you will not have the advantage of any overlap between lenses. Due to the bulbous front element, this lens only accepts rear filter elements. If this is a concern, consider the Tamron or Sony options. With my prime lenses I currently own, there is not a strong driver to purchase a f/2.8 zoom. However, if I did need one, this is the one I would purchase.
Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary (Owned)
Sigma’s first native-designed telephoto lens for mirrorless cameras. As part of their Contemporary line this lens does not have weather sealing at the zoom and focus rings. If that is important to you, the only lens currently covering this same focal range is the Sony G Master. I purchased this lens with the optional tripod collar mount. Even though the aperture is slightly smaller than the G Master it is still fine for landscape photography. I have used to capture wildlife, sports, family, and some landscapes. In theory it would be a great lens to capture photos of the moon, I just have not found the right time and place to do so yet.
Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art (Tested)
This Sigma lens is the older DSLR lens design with the Sony E mount added to it. It has not been redesigned for the mirrorless platform. It is still part of their top-tier Art platform and does perform very well. However, in my experience the significant weight is a huge detriment to this lens. It is not a lens I would want to carry around with me while hiking. With the release of the Sony 14mm G Master, which is smaller, lighter, and at the same price I do not see a reason to opt for the Sigma version. Sigma has released a f/1.4 mirrorless update. However, this is just as heavy as the f/1.8 and has a tripod mount. The lens is designed exclusively for the astrophotography market, it might make sense if you only use it on a tripod, but if you want to carry around to shoot anything else, I still recommend the Sony G Master.
Tamron Lenses
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD (Tested)
One of Tamron’s extremely popular lenses. I evaluated this against a couple other lenses when trying to determine what might be a good option for a wider astrophotography lens. The lens is very bare bones compared to Sony and Sigma offerings providing no control buttons or switches. It is light weight, so there really is not a penalty for a wider aperture, the tradeoff is a narrower focal range. I would not fault someone for selecting this lens but for me it just is not a good fit in terms of focal length range and feature set.
Pro Tip: If you are going to be using any type of front filter, neutral density, circular polarizer, night filter, etc. in your lens selection process you may want to consider front filter sizes to minimize the number of filters you need to purchase. For example, most Tamron lenses tend to stay with one filter size, but Sony and Sigma often vary. I currently use three filter sizes.
Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD (Tested)
As with most Tamron lens to save weight and cost, Tamron adjusts things slightly from the norm. In this case reducing the focal length from 200mm to 180mm. I rented and evaluated this lens as well in comparison to the Sony 100-400mm GM. I cannot recommend this lens for one reason. I feel that while the camera body has optical stabilization that that is fine to cover most lens, once you have a telephoto lens that is over 100mm the lens needs to have built in optical stabilization as well. While significantly cheaper than the G Master it offers even less focal length range and offers no on lens on body button functions which all my lenses have except for my earliest Sony ZEISS lenses.
Venus Optics Laowa Lenses
Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D (Tested/Owned)
I originally evaluated the Venus Optics Laowa 15mm manual prime back when I evaluated the Sigma 14mm Art. Zero-D stands for zero distortion and refers to its rectilinear lens design to keep lines and edges straight. This is helpful when photographing architecture. The lens itself is a manual focus lens and has no electronics so it cannot communicate with the camera body and therefore will not save lens settings with the EXIF image data. It does feature a front filter thread. This is why I purchased this lens. I use it for astrophotography when I need to use a light filter which my Sony 14mm G Master will not accept.
Rokinon/Samyang Lenses
Rokinon (Samyang) 14mm f/2.8 Series II (Tested)
I evaluated the Rokinon 14mm manual focus second-generation prime lens. Note that Rokinon is a sub brand of Samyang, so the lenses are the same it is just a difference of whose name is on the lens. The first-generation lens is often listed as a lens to get for astrophotography because of the price point and performance combination. Note that the lens has no electronics to communicate lens settings to the camera body so those settings will not be saved with the EXIF image data. At the time of testing, I still preferred the Sigma and Venus Optics Laowa but held out for the Sony G Master, because they all have better image quality even if they are more expensive. I also found the more expensive autofocus version had less image noise when used for astrophotography.
Rokinon (Samyang) AF 14mm f/2.8 FE (Tested)
This is Rokinon’s auto focus version of their 14mm lens. While the manual focus is typically the one favored for astrophotography, I wanted to compare it with the auto focus version since auto focus would be easier to use in the day. In my testing I found the autofocus Rokinon to produce better results over the manual focus Rokinon. I noticed more noise in the manual focus version. The autofocus version is more expensive, so you may want to compare it with alternatives from other brands if you are in this price range.
Pro Tip: If you are shopping for an exclusive astrophotography lens you will be using manual focus at night so auto focus is not required. If you want versatility to use the lens during the day, then you may want auto focus included.
Zeiss Lenses
Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8 (Tested)
From Zeiss Batis line of prime lenses which is their auto focus line, I evaluated this lens when assessing the wide-angle zooms from Sigma and Tamron. It did not have an issue with image quality on the Zeiss, however, I thought I would have liked shooting with this lens better than I did. I prefer primes over zooms; however, I found the 18mm focal length awkward, and kept switching back to the Sigma Art to shoot at 14mm. This will come down to personal preference as to what focal lengths you prefer to photograph.
