Sony mirrorless cameras are some of the most exciting on the market. With high megapixel count and fast continuous shooting modes, they’re excellent for wildlife, bird and animal photography.
In this guide, you’re going to see the best lenses for wildlife photography.
This guide is for E-mount cameras only, which includes all cameras from the A6, A7 and A9 series.
When it comes to wildlife photography, you can never have a lens that’s too long. Sometimes getting closer is too dangerous, and in such situations, having a large megapixel + lots of zoom.
We went through all Sony’s lenses (quite frankly, there’s not so many available) and these are the ones that have the best combination of price, image quality, reach and weight. From affordable to expensive, there’s something here for everyone.
5 Best Sony Lenses for Wildlife:
Sony 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3
Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS
Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS
Here’s what you should know before buying:
– For birds, you’ll want 400mm (or at least 200mm if using APS-C camera). For bigger animals, less is okay, but for birds you’ll really appreciate every millimeter.
– If you’ll often shoot in low light (early in the morning or late during the day), having f/2.8 can helpt a lot. It’s not a must, and f/2.8 lenses are expensive and bigger so you’ll have to decide what’s the priority. With f/5.6, you’ll almost always have to raise the ISO above 200.
These are only a couple of quick tips, so if you have other questions about what you need to consider before you get a lens read our guide on How to Select a Wildlife Lens and check out our tips on photographing wildlife.
1. Sony 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS
Want a cheap and lightweight telephoto for animals? The Sony 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS is your best option.
Quality is quite good, although at 210mm the lens tends to produce a little soft results. Given the price though, it’s the most affordable way of getting into telephoto photography, and is the only inexpensive E mount zoom anyways. Used on any of the A6 models, the 1.5x crop factor makes it an equivalent to a 85-320mm lens. Stopping down to f/8 at 210mm improves the quality quite a lot, but you don’t always have the possibility to do that.
If you like traveling light, the 55-210mm is ideal as it only weighs 12.17 oz (345g). The lens extends as you zoom (typical at this price) and the zoom ring feels very smooth, not too stiff.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
2. Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
The Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS was released in 2014 and was for quite a long time the only Sony telephoto lens good for professional use.
Like with every 70-200mm from other brands, Sony delivered. The f/4 versions has very quick auto focus and the image quality is top notch. It’s fairly compact for an 70-200mm zoom, and is much much lighter than the f/2.8 version. It’s also $1200 cheaper too.
The reach is very versatile and perfect for portraits, animals, sports, landscape, concerts and much more. You’ll have to shoot with a higher ISO when indoors, but for the price, quality and relatively compact size, this is the best telephoto available. When zooming or focusing, the lens doesn’t extend or rotate, which is good if you’re using filters. Speaking about filters, the diameter is 77mm. Its minimum focus distance is 3.15 feet and it has a 11-blade aperture for getting that beautiful, circle bokeh.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
3. Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS
Same zoom capability, but 1 stop bigger aperture. The Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS is a lot more expensive, but for certain photographers the advantages are super important.
For example, if you know you’ll often shoot wildlife super early or late, having f/2.8 really helps with being able to shoot with a fast shutter speed. When there’s not a lot of light and you want to free motion, every little bit helps.
While image quality is very similar with both, the f/2.8 version features 11 vs 9 diaphragm aperture blades, slightly shorter minimum focus distance, bigger magnification (0.25x vs 0.13x). Fast and accurate auto focus and great colors even at f/2.8.
Any issues? As you’d expect, it’s heavier and bigger than the f/4 version. It could easily be too heavy if you’re using the A6 and aren’t used to bigger lenses.
The f/2.8 is also a lot more suitable for weddings, concerts or any other indoor activity. If you’re into those types of photography besides wildlife, this is something you should consider if you can’t decide between the 2 versions.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
4. Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS
The Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS is your best wildlife/birds/outdoor sports Sony right now.
Going an extra 100mm further than the telephoto above, you do lose one aperture stop worth of light as it closes down to f/5.6 at 300mm. However, for outdoor use where you’ll most likely use it anyways, it will be excellent! Combined with the built-in OSS and good ISO performance, you don’t have to worry that much when the day gets darker.
For around $1000, you know the image quality better be good, and thanks to 2 x ED elements and 4 x aspherical elements, the aberration control and ghosting are very good. It delivers sharp images with good contrast and colors even when at 300mm. Ghosting is a common issue when shooting at long lengths so the Sony Nano AR coating helps tremendously.
As far as weight is concerned, it’s only a tad heavier than the 70-200mm f/4, but this is a common thing with telephoto lenses.
Auto focus is also quick and capable of focusing on fast moving subjects. There’s no point in a telephoto lens that can’t focus well, even if it’s optically amazing.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
5. Sony 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS
The Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS was released in mid-2017 and is a wish come true for many Sony photographers.
If you’ve ever shot birds, you know that you can never have too much focal length. 400mm is a whole different world compared to 300mm, and you’ll still often find yourself in situations when you’ll need to sneak closer to the action.
On APS-C models such as the A6500, the 100-400mm is actually equivalent to a 150-675mm. Talk about length!
Let’s talk about the cool features of the 100-400mm. First, you can adjust how much torque the zoom ring has so you make it faster or slower, depending on your preferences.
The OSS (stabilization) works in 5-axis, it’s got 9 diaphragm blades for smooth background blur and a focus limit button to limit how far away the lens can look for focus.
Speaking about focus, AF is very quick, silent and precise, a must for any wildlife/sport activity. You can definitely count on getting some amazing crisp shots.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
Find the Perfect Sony Lens
If you’re looking to narrow down the options based on a specific type of photography or if you’re trying to figure out what the best lenses are for a particular Sony camera then check out our simplified guide to finding the best Sony lenses by using our “5 star” selection system.
First and foremost, I’m a husband and father. Then professionally I’m photographer, designer, blogger, and Esty store owner. My homebase is near the stunning Wasatch mountains in Utah but I love traveling with my family as part of our homeschooling journey. I also love teaching and helping out others. My faith is one of the biggest aspects of my life and brings be a consistent joy that I haven’t found in anything else. My main blog is BestPhotographyGear.com and I strive to make photography simple for anyone looking to learn or find gear for their individual needs. By nature, I like to study, research, and analyze things and I use that help provide the best advice and reviews I can.