My personal top optics for a full-frame mirrorless Sony camera for non-professional use in 2024

At the end of 2021, I wrote an article about the best, in my opinion, optics for non-professional use on full-frame mirrorless Sony cameras https://habr.com/ru/articles/537052/

Almost two and a half years later, I decided to publish my updated top optics list. I hope my article will help someone make a choice, as I tried to highlight the points that are important to me and are not always what is emphasized in lens reviews.

First, I will repeat my theses about the professional and non-professional use of photo and video equipment.

Professional use of a camera is when you receive money directly for your services as a photographer or cameraman. If you shoot family, friends, colleagues – then this is amateur shooting. Even if you shoot materials for your blog, which you somehow monetize, then this is also amateur shooting. Because in this case, you do not have to compete with other photographers-cameramen and prove to the client (yourself) that you can handle the task better.

I would also like to point out that my top 5 is about lenses for full frame. The list would be different for crop cameras. There are excellent and cheaper lenses for crop cameras than those in my top.

So, here are the top 5 lenses for Sony full frame mirrorless cameras, in my opinion.

1 place

As before, the first place is taken by a fixed lens with a focal length of 40 mm, only now it is compact Sony FE 2.5/40G. When I have to choose only one lens to take with me, I take this little one. Taking only one and at the same time compact lens can be very useful when traveling. You carry a light and small camera + lens bundle and at the same time have the ability to shoot excellent photos and videos in high resolution.

Why him?

Firstly, a convenient focal length – less wide-angle distortion than 35 mm, and at the same time a greater width than 50 mm, allowing you to shoot from a closer distance and fit more into the frame. 40 mm allows you to be closer to the subject, most often people, and communicate with them at a comfortable distance. And at the same time get portraits almost the same as 50 mm in terms of distortion.

If you still prefer 50 mm, then in this series of compact lenses Sony has the FE 2.5/50 G, which is completely similar in size and design.

Secondly, high-quality performance – the lens is compact, lightweight and produces an excellent picture. It has a metal body, is protected from dust and moisture, the autofocus is fast, accurate and silent.

The dimensions of the lens are reminiscent of the famous “plastic-fantastic” Canon 1.8/50 fifty-dollar lenses for EF and RF bayonets, only the aforementioned Sony FE 2.5/40 G and FE 2.5/50 G compacts are many times better in all respects than the Canon fifty-dollar lenses.

Thirdly, design features. The lens has a diaphragm ring with a CLICK ON/OFF switch and two threads for installing filters – on the lens itself and on the hood. I have a protective UV filter on the lens, and I put a polarizer or variable ND on the hood. Indoors, I can quickly remove the hood together with the filter and shoot with full light sensitivity, and outdoors I can put on the hood and an additional filter. It is very convenient.

The Sony FE 2.5/40 G beat my previously beloved Batis 2/40 in such disciplines as weight and dimensions, as well as in the quality of autofocus – speed, accuracy and low noise.

2nd place

Last time the 85 was in second place, but now my preferences have changed a bit. The second very useful lens that I now often take with me is Sigma 65mm F/2 DG DN – This is a fairly compact fixed lens with an excellent picture, starting from a fully open aperture. It forms an image very similar to a picture from an 85 mm optics, but at the same time allows you to shoot from a closer distance.

The lens has a diaphragm control ring, although unlike Sony lenses, this ring always switches with clicks. The lens body is metal and has protection from dust and moisture. The hood is also made of metal. Of the features – a magnetic quick-release front cap is included, but it cannot be used when a filter is screwed onto the lens, so I do not use this cap.

In my opinion, this lens is well suited for portraits at 65 mm, and if you switch the camera to crop mode, you get a focal length of 100 mm. Modern full-frame Sony cameras with 33 and 64 megapixel matrices allow you to get 14 and 27 megapixels in crop mode. In my opinion, this is quite enough for portraits. Thus, the Sigma 2/65 is a very successful compact portrait fixed lens.

3rd place

Sony FE 2.8/24-50G – a compact universal fast-aperture zoom lens, went on sale in 2024. It could well have been in 1st place, but weight and dimensions are very important to me, so it is in 3rd place. This is almost the most compact and definitely the most convenient full-frame zoom with an aperture of F/2.8.

The Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G lens has fast, precise and silent autofocus, and an aperture ring with a CLICK ON/OFF switch. It is very difficult to find fault with the image quality; for a zoom lens, the image is excellent. Aberrations are practically absent across the entire frame. Compared to fixed lenses, the sharpness is not as high, but compared to zooms from Tamron and Sigma, the sharpness is good. The image quality, based on a combination of factors, is definitely better than that of Tamron and Sigma zooms. Its main drawback for an amateur enthusiast is the price, which is, as they say, “biting”.

This lens has a “twin brother” – Sony FE 4/20-70 – a very similar lens in appearance with an aperture of F/4 and a large range of focal lengths in the same compact body. It did not suit me because of the maximum open available aperture of F/4.

The most compact full-frame zoom for Sony FE in early 2024 was Tamron 2.8/20-40 and I used it for almost a year from August 2023, but then changed it to Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G. For me personally, the 24-50 focal length is more useful than 20-40, I missed the long end. Both Tamron 2.8/20-40 and Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G lenses in the “folded” position of minimum overall length are at maximum focal length and to get a wide angle you have to turn the zoom ring and the lens extends and lengthens.

Tamron 2.8/20-40 is also a very decent lens, it costs almost 2 times less than Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G. I can recommend it if you need the most compact and lightweight wide-angle zoom with an aperture of F/2.8. However, if you want a universal zoom at F/2.8 for an adequate price, then I will still recommend Tamron 2.8/28-75 G2.

Last time, Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 with a large focal length range was in third place for me. This is a great lens, I have been shooting with it for almost 2 years, it was with me on several trips and I had no big complaints about the image quality. If we talk about its shortcomings in terms of image quality, these are noticeable chromatic aberrations at the edges of the frame, which somewhat limit the cropping options in post-processing. It is also worth considering that new Tamron models use more modern and faster autofocus drive motors. If the second generation of Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 lens appears, I will definitely take a closer look at it, since I had experience using the second generation Tamron 2.8/28-75 (G2), which I consider a very worthy lens.

The main reason I gave up the Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 was a temporary switch to crop-sensor cameras for greater compactness, but when I returned to full frame I preferred to try something different and this path led me to the Sony FE 2.8/24-50, which I now use with great pleasure.

If dimensions and weight are not considered critical and maximum focal length coverage is needed, then the Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 offers a good balance of convenience and quality at a reasonable price.

When I was selling Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200, a professional photographer who specializes in shooting industrial enterprises – from general plans to work scenes and personnel portraits – bought it from me. He was attracted by the possibility of not changing optics during the entire shooting process. Later, he wrote to me and shared his joy about purchasing and using Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200. So it can well be a professional tool for making money on photo and video shooting.

4th place

Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 – the second version of the super-popular Tamron 28-75 F/2.8, in which the developers took into account almost all the claims that consumers made to the first version. It has a more modern and faster autofocus motor, improved dust and moisture protection, improved sharpness across the entire range of focal lengths and especially at focal lengths longer than 50 mm. It is also sharper than the previously mentioned Tamron 2.8/20-40.

My first generation Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 noticeably lost sharpness at wide apertures at focal lengths longer than 50 mm. I didn't notice this with the second generation lens, sharpness became more uniform at all focal lengths, chromatic aberrations are now suppressed much more effectively and are practically unnoticeable.

Why did I put Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G in 3rd place and not Tamron 2.8/28-75 G2?

There were two main factors at play here:

1. The Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G is still more compact, lighter, and sharper across the entire frame. The Tamron is slightly sharper in the center, but loses out to the Sony at the edges.

2. I analyzed the photos I took with the Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 over the past few years and found that the bulk of them are at focal lengths up to 50 mm, or more precisely, in the 35-45 mm range. Another large group of photos are at focal lengths of 80-150 mm. That is, having a lens with a range of 28-200, I almost never used the 50-80 mm range. Using the Tamron 28-75 F/2.8, I also shot at focal lengths up to 50 mm or at 75 mm – as the maximum available focal length.

So I opted for the more compact Sony FE 2.8/24-50 G despite its higher price. In practice, it turned out that I sold 2 Tamrons and bought Sonys, and I had some money left.

In the absence of a new version of the Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200, I think the Tamron 28-75 F/2.8 G2 is more attractive now, as it is more modern. But that's just my opinion and I can understand choosing the Tamron 2.8-5.6/28-200 as a single lens – it's a decent option.

5th place

Here I had very serious doubts about what to choose. I considered several worthy models.

I must say that I have owned all the models mentioned above for some time and have used them for quite a long time. But in 5th place I really wanted to put the lens that I rented for one day. The lens is not cheap and is not needed very often, but it made a very positive impression on me. I am talking about Sony FE 70-200mm F4 Macro G OSS Ⅱ – This is the second version of the 4/70-200 telephoto lens, which has become more compact and lighter, and also acquired a much shorter minimum focusing distance. This lens gives a simply stunning picture in good light outdoors. However, I do not use telephoto lenses very often and in most cases a crop model is enough for me, so I have not yet decided to buy this model. Therefore, in 5th place I put another lens that I own and use.

So, in 5th place I have Sony FE 2/28 – an inexpensive compact wide-angle prime lens that I use for broadcasts, when I use my camera as a webcam, and generally when shooting indoors when I need more light than the Sony 2.8/24-50 provides.

The Sony FE 2/28 has two superpowers – it can turn into wider-angle lenses using the SEL075UWC and SEL057FEC adapters, which reduce its focal length from 28 to 21 and 16 mm, respectively. I sometimes use the SEL075UWC attachment to get a wider angle, for example when shooting interiors. I bought it on Avito for about 10,000 rubles, which is quite inexpensive compared to a separate 20 mm lens, even a Chinese one.

What else can I say?

I no longer recommend the Samyang AF 2.8/35 and AF 2.8/24 compacts, as well as Samyang lenses in general, I have caught quite a few bugs in this manufacturer's models with new Sony cameras, and their picture quality is already quite modest. If you need an inexpensive wide-angle lens, I recommend the Sony FE 2/28 – you can buy it used for 20-25 thousand, a little more expensive than the aforementioned Samyangs, but the picture will be more interesting.

Someone might object – where is the high-aperture fixed optics, why is it not in my top?

Another candidate for 5th place for me was Sony 1.4/35 GM – probably my most favorite lens for indoor photography. I didn't include it in the top because of its high price, it costs about the same as the Sony FE 2.8/24-50, but it is a little less versatile, so I don't often take it on trips. I usually take the first 3 positions of my top on trips.

I use Sony 1.4/35 mainly in my city where I live. I can take it as the only lens to an event where I am a guest – to a banquet or a concert. I can use it for shooting with a clear plan of action in advance. I use it where its high aperture is needed. It is a very cool lens, but I do not often have situations where I need it.

Thank you for reading to the end! I hope this material will help you with choosing lenses for your tasks.