Best Lenses for Sony a9 2022

While the Sony a9, which debuted in April 2017, has since been updated with the newer Sony a9 II, it is still an amazing camera. If you don’t already have one and are okay with not having the newest specs on your gear it’s now an even better value because of the price drop.

The Sony a9 features an excellent 24 megapixel full-frame sensor that allows 20 fps blackout-free burst if you’re using an electronic shutter.  

While the autofocus for the newer a9 II is is maybe a best in class, the a9 is still really nice with a total of 693 phase-detect points that cover 93% of the image area. Regardless of the type of photography you like the autofocus will really enhance your images. Especially when paired with a great lens.

Selecting a Lens for a Sony Alpha a9

You should know that the more megapixels your camera has, the better your lenses should be. Some lenses, regardless of their age, simply won’t be a perfect fit if you’re looking to get the most detail and sharpness out of your a9.

For those that like to shoot landscape and pure studio images, the resolution and dynamic range isn’t quite as good as it’s peers. While a lens isn’t going to overcome that, buying a good one will at least prevent any further drop off.

Below you will find our 11 most recommended lenses for the a9 and all other Sony full frame cameras.

Best Sony Zoom Lenses:

Sony 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS
– Best wideangle for landscape, streets, indoors
Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM OSS
– Best low light, optically great all-around zoom
Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS 
– The only all-around, big zoom
Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
– Best for sports, animals and telephoto work
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS
– Best wildlife and outdoor sports telephoto

 

Best Sony Prime Lenses:

Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8
– For travel, landscape, indoors, astrophotography
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2
– For landscape, streets and low light
Sony 35mm f/2.8 ZA
– Compact and “cheapest”, good quality 35mm
Sony 55mm f/1.8 OSS
– Most versatile prime for outdoor and indoor
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8
– For portraits, sports, concerts and animals
Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS
– Sharpest macro for Sony, optically superb

There isn’t one best lens for everything, and while some of you prefer shooting with an all-around zoom, someone might be looking for a couple of prime lenses. Our guide covers it all.

We’ve checked out a whole lot of lenses for the a9 and the ones we picked belong either to Sony or Zeiss, which is no surprise as they’ve been a perfect couple for a long time.

Since you can use an adapter to mount lenses from other brands, we didn’t include them as that would truly be an enormous, and not a fair list. The 11 lenses that made it on our list are what we believe is a perfect combination of price, usability and optical performance. If you own something else or are about to and it’s not in this guide, it does not mean you shouldn’t use it with your camera.

Best Sony Zoom Lenses:

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1. Sony 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS

Best wideangle for landscape, streets, indoors

The Sony 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS is a versatile, sharp lens for all sorts of landscape and wide angle situations.

If you prefer wide zooms over primes, there’s no better lens, especially at this price. The colors, contrast and sharpness are all great. While it’s usable at f/4, the corners might be a little too soft for some, at least when above 28mm.

Specification wise, the 16-35mm f/4 features AA (advanced apsherical) and 3 ED elements that help control the chromatic aberration and show less distortion. There’s also T* coating to reduce the flare and ghosting. It displays normal signs of vignetting and distortion for when under 20mm, but both can be corrected if needed.

It weighs 18.3 oz (518g) and it balances nicely on the a9. It’s not heavy either, but if you’re looking for something even lighter we recommend buying 2 primes. Its minimum focus distance is 0.92 ft (0.28m) but it’s nothing to use as a lens for close up shots with 0.19x magnification.  The lens is aimed at indoor, street, landscape and group shots scenarios and it excels at that.

Aperture stays fixed at f/4 at all lengths which seems to be a standard with the majority of Sony’s lenses. An f/2.8 16-35mm would probably be too big and heavy for most, but we’re sure that slowly more and more f/2.8 zooms will arrive. However, if most of your work is done outdoors then there’s no point in anything bigger than f/4, which isn’t that small anyways.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

2. Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM OSS

Best low light, optically great all-around zoom

There’s an f/4 of this lens but for the price it’s definitely not worth it, at least if image quality is your main concern. If it would be substantially cheaper we would probably consider it as a good value for the money, but for now the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM takes this spot.

Yes, it’s big and heavy (31.25 oz/885g), so if these two are your main concerns then an f/2.8 zoom will probably never be a part of your kit. It’s also expensive, sitting at $1000 more than the f/4 version.

With that in mind, the optical quality is as expected from Sony’s GM series, at both 24 and 70mm lengths (and between). The f/2.8 opening provides plenty of light when working in low light situations so it’s an excellent wedding, portrait, concert and walk-around lens when a zoom is more handy than a fixed lens. The walk-around part we mentioned is assuming you’re okay with the weight, but the length covered is ideal for traveling!

On the inside we can see a few reasons for the price; it has 1 x Extreme Aspherical element (XA), 2 x Aspherical elements, 1 x Super ED and 1 x ED element. You’re looking at 18 elements in 13 groups so the size is no surprise. It’s similar to both Canon and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 versions; optical quality is superb, but none of them are stabilized. Luckily you don’t have to worry about that with the a9 body.

The auto focus is really fast and accurate thanks to DDSSM and it’s perfect for locking on fast moving subjects. All of that comes with a big price tag, but it’s worth it.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

3. Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS

The only all-around, big zoom

As if big the lens above wasn’t bulky enough, we present the Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS. It’s a tad lighter and smaller, but on an a9 body, both will make the camera look tiny.

The lens is ideal if you’re looking for 1 single lens that can do it all with good image quality and 10x zoom. The image quality obviously can not match that of prime lenses, but it’s not competing with them. The 24-240mm is something you take with you when switching between different lenses and carrying a ton of equipment sounds like it’s going to stop you from taking pictures. We’ve all been there and it’s something we often forget before purchasing gear. Image quality is one thing, carrying all that stuff is another.

It weighs 27.6 oz / 780g and costs less than $900. Surprisingly, the lens is very good at controlling vignetting, chromatic aberration and distortion, which for such a big zoom is really awesome. Colors and sharpness are also quite good, but again not on the level of primes. Another downside is also f/6.3 at 240mm. Outdoors you’ll probably fine in most situations, but as soon as it gets darker you’ll have the raise the ISO speed or use a tripod. OSS helps, but at 240mm it’s easier to get a blurred shot than at 24mm.

With a big zoom you always have to make some compromises, but it’s good knowing that the actual quality of the shots is far from bad.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

4. Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS

Best for sports, animals and telephoto work

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 failry compact for an 70-200mm zoom, and is much much lighter than the f/2.8 version. It’s also $1200 cheaper, and that, along with the weight difference, played a big role on putting this lens on our most recommended zoom list.

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.

The f/2.8 version was announced in early 2016 and is definitely more suitable for concerts and weddings, although the high ISO performance of new Sony alpha cameras is good, so it’s not like those are impossible to shoot with an f/4 lens.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

5. Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS

Best wildlife and outdoor sports telephoto

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.

Best Sony Prime Lenses:

1. Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8

Sharp prime for travel, landscape, indoors, astrophotography

Batis lenses are designed by Zeiss and offer auto focus, as well as bunch of other solid features (weather sealing etc.). Image quality, as expected from this company, is also top notch in the Batis line.

The Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8 is our top pick for the ultra-wide photographer shooting landscape, streets and astrophotography. It is sharp across the entire frame and is usable at f/2.8. Definitely worth the price and the contrast and colors are also superb.

It has Zeiss’ T* coating for reduced flare and it also displays minimal amount of chromatic aberration. We mentioned it’s appropriate for astrophotography too, mostly thanks to near-zero visible coma.

Some other cool features; there’s an OLED screen on top that you can turn on/off, it has good auto focus and it feels very solid.

Because of the big aperture (f/2.8 to f/22) and good sharpness, the Batis 18mm is great for interior, street, architectural and nature photography. While auto focus is usually not a concern for landscape uses, it helps knowing that when needed, it’s quick and quiet. The ring for manual is focusing is rubberized although we find AF to be a better choice due to the way it’s designed.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

2. Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2

Sharp lens for landscape, streets and low light

Is 18mm too wide for you? The Zeiss Batiss 25mm f/2 is another slightly longer, yet brighter tack sharp prime beauty.

It’s quite similar to the one above, but costs $200 less. You get an OLED display for previewing the depth of field and focus distance highlighting, fast AF thanks to the linear motors and a floating elements design style. Due to this, both lenses are sharp regardless of how close your subject is and deliver optically great results at all aperture sizes. There’s also T* coating for better contrast and less ghosting, as well as a dust and weather-sealed construction (like all on our list).

The lens weighs almost as much as the 18mm above (11.82 oz/335g) but is shorter in length. Minimum focus distance is 7.87″ (20 cm) so you can also use it to get some cool close shots.

The biggest difference, besides the price and focal length, is one stop bigger max. aperture (f/2 instead of f/2.8). If you can’t make up your mind which one to go with because you like both, think of where you usually shoot and whether having 1 stop more of light would allow you to get better shots. For 99% landscape and daytime photography, f/2.8 is already more than enough. That’s not to say the bigger aperture for a cheaper price isn’t an attractive options, it just comes down to which one of these two Batis lenses would compliment your style more.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

3. Sony 35mm f/2.8 OSS

Compact and “cheapest”, good quality 35mm

The 35mm length has always been considered the perfect choice for street shots and environmental portraits. The Sony 35mm f/2.8 OSS is probably your best lens if you’re looking for a small, affordable but sharp prime.

It was tough choosing between the 35mm f/2.8 and Sony 35mm f/1.4, but the latter costs more than twice as much and weighs 4.5x as much. Unless you shoot in low light and absolutely need the big f/1.4 aperture, you’ll be more than fine with f/2.8 even when shooting indoors.

The 35mm f/2.8 has 7 diaphragm blades, while the f/1.4 has 9. Bokeh looks good on both, but the f/1.4 is the winner here. If that’s worth the extra money depends on how much bokeh is important to you. Vignetting

Besides streets, you can use it as an all-around compact prime for just about anything; travel, indoors, nature, events and casual photography. There’s no OSS but you’ve got that built-in the a9 already.

If you have the budget for both versions, you’ll need to ask yourself whether a bigger, heavier, more expensive and slightly sharper lens is better than an extremely light, compact, sharp with 2 stops smaller aperture.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

4. Sony 55mm f/1.8 OSS

Most versatile prime for outdoor and indoor, high quality shots

For a few more hundred dollars, but still less than $1000, we have the famous Sony 55mm f/1.8 ZA.

If we had to pick one prime lens that would be good for a whole lot of different things (portraits, low light, casual, travel etc.), this is what we would pick.

At f/1.8 it’s already really sharp, especially in the center. Stopping down to f/2.8 or f/4 delivers impressive results, but it’s good to know that you can actually use an f/1.8 at f/1.8. Vignetting and chromatic aberration at f/1.8 will be visible, but it’s still fairly well considering better 50mm’s cost a lot more.

It’s quite light and small, so it’s perfect for hours of photographing (hiking, traveling, weddings). Fits very well with the a9 body and won’t make your back hurt. Thanks to 9 diaphragm blades, bokeh looks really good too.

Simply put, for both outdoor and indoor work, unless you shoot wildlife, you’ll love the 55mm f/1.8. The length, sharpness and size make it one of the most versatile primes for any Sony body.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

5. Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8

Beautiful for portraits, sports, concerts and animals

Zeiss has another excellent sharp prime, the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8.

Again you get an OLED display on top (although for portraits, it’s more or less useless), a metal, weather-sealed body and fast auto focusing.

The 85mm is a lot longer and aimed at different types of photographers. 85mm is great for portraits, weddings, concerts and indoor sports with bad light.

For a lens to be considered a good prime option, it also needs to have good looking bokeh, big aperture, quality optics and a reliable auto focus. The 85mm Batis also features image stabilization and paired with the a9 you can shoot up to 4 stops longer shutter speeds.

There’s a Sony 85mm f/1.4 for a whole lot more, but we don’t find it to be that good of a deal as this one. Both have similar auto focus performance, but for the price the 85mm Batis is great. Unfortunately, all 85mm options are quite pricey as Canon and Nikon have their 85mm f/1.8’s both below $500, with excellent sharpness too.

If you shoot portraits, you’ll want a 85mm lens and this one gives pretty much everything you need. Sharp and usable at f/1.8, good looking bokeh and contrast, colors are rendered beautifully as well.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

6. Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS

Sharpest macro for Sony, optically superb

The Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro GM OSS can be used for more than just bugs and other small subjects. You could use it for portraits, close sports or pretty much anything that you shoot.

Like 99% macro lenses, the Sony 90mm is razor sharp and produces beautiful images with rich colors and contrast. If you occasionally shoot macro but want something for portraits, you might just fall in love with it. 85 to 135mm is usually the most preferred length for portrait photography, at least for isolating your subject or when you can’t get too close.

Not to mention the shallow depth of field you get with a short-telephoto lens paired with f/2.8. Its minimum focus distance is 0.92 ft (0.28 m) and as expected, it has a 1:1 magnification ratio. For quiet and accurate focusing, it uses DDSSM (Direct Drive motor) which helps a lot when photographing small insects.

The lens has OSS and combined with the a9’s built-in stabilization, you can use it the lens with slower shutter speeds when not using a tripod. Great for those times when you want to travel light.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Types of Lenses:

• Wideangle – Useful for capturing a lot in your scene (usually from 8 to 35mm)
• Standard – Where most photography happens (from 35 to 85mm)
• Telephoto – For subjects far away (85 to 600mm, only a few lenses that go higher)
• Macro – 1:1 ratio that magnifies your subject to real life size (usually from 60 to 180mm)

Wideangle Lenses:

Best for landscape, architecture, indoors, nature and the sky (astrophotography). Since the a9 has a full frame sensor, it’s ideal for wideangle photography.

Standard Lenses:

Perfect for every day stuff, whether you’re taking pictures of your kids or shooting an outdoor event. The 35 to 85mm is a range that’s perfect for people, streets, traveling, weddings, food, you name it. Prime lenses in this range are affordable and have a big aperture so you can easily blur the background, but zooms give you good quality too, just with added weight and size.

Telephoto Lenses:

These allow you to get really close to your subject, and are great for sports, concerts and wildlife. Sure you can move closer to your subject, but sometimes that’s impossible or not worth the risk.

Macro Lenses:

Want to shoot bugs, small products, details or just want to explore the world that we don’t usually see? Macro lenses make your subject appear as big as it is in real life.

 

Recap of the Best Lenses to Buy For a Sony Full Frame

Again, for those of you that prefer shooting with an all-around zoom these are great selections, it just depends on the amount of zoom you want. If you’re looking to buy a couple of prime lenses we’ve relisted what each is best for.

Zoom Lenses:

Sony 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS
– Best wideangle for landscape, streets, indoors
Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM OSS
– Best low light, optically great all-around zoom
Sony 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS 
– The only all-around, big zoom
Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS
– Best for sports, animals and telephoto work
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS
– Best wildlife and outdoor sports telephoto

Prime Lenses:

Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8
– For travel, landscape, indoors, astrophotography
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2
– For landscape, streets and low light
Sony 35mm f/2.8 ZA
– Compact and “cheapest”, good quality 35mm
Sony 55mm f/1.8 OSS
– Most versatile prime for outdoor and indoor
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8
– For portraits, sports, concerts and animals
Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS
– Sharpest macro for Sony, optically superb

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. 

> See all of our Sony lens guides