Looking for a travel lens for your Sony APS-C camera? Do you want a perfect E-mount lens for videos or photography, I will guide to best of the E-mount lens available right now on the market. For the last 11 years, I’m shooting with Sony cameras. I started back with Sony A550 with Minolta-A mount, but sadly the A-mount was discontinued a few years ago. Selling my Minolta-A mount lens collecting and start all over again with the new E-mount back then was tough to decide. But, I pull the plug and bought my first Sony mirrorless camera, and I’m glad to report I didn’t regret it.
What is an E-Mount lens?
Terraced rice field in Vietnam
The Sony E-mount shares the same excellent Sony FE (full-frame) mount with an E-mount APS-C camera. The good thing is then you can use FE lens on E-mount APS-C and vice versa. Remember the most crucial thing; using a Sony FE lens on APS-C will change the focal length, and I will explain it below. I recommend investing in an E-mount lens because of a vast array of lenses from third parties such as Sigma, Tamron, ZEISS, etc.
Can you use Sony FE Lens on APS-C Sony Cameras?
You can use the Sony FE lens on the Sony APS-C body, but you need to do the maths.
Example: You want to use the Sony FE 50mm on the Sony APS-C body, also known as the Sony crop camera.
50mm (FE) x 1.5 (Crop) = 75mm for Sony APS-C
You will be wondering what the full-frame equivalent will be when mounting a Sony FE lens on APS-C, such as the Sony FE 50mm.
75mm for Sony APS-C x 1.5 (Multiplying back to Full-Frame) = 112.5mm
So when you are using a 50mm Sony full-frame lens on a Sony APS-C camera, it gives you the 112.5mm focal length of a full-frame.
Don’t get confused by the 75mm for APS-C and 112.5mm equivalent for full-frame. The 112.5mm is the equivalent you be far away from your subject in full-frame equivalent focal length. Many newbies make a mistake by multiplying by 1.5x only for the Sony FE lens and think it’s the full-frame equivalent.
If you want to get a full-frame equivalent focal length when mounting a FE lens on APS-C such as A6100, A6400, and A6600.
Here is the maths; Sony FE 50mm x 1.5 (Crop) x 1.5 (Converting Back to Full-Frame) = 112.5mm
I hope now you are clear how the focal length changed when using any full-frame E-mount lens on an APS-C camera.
What is the Best E-Mount Lens for Video on A6600, A6400, and A6100?
There is no right or wrong answer because all APS-C Sony cameras are bad at IBIS. You just can’t mount a lens and get stable video. What is your priority; videos or images, because the OSS in the lens is not the same for every E-Mount lens.
Get the Sony E 18-105mm if you need a hybrid lens for video and photography. I will recommend you to look at Micro Four Third cameras or wait for the Sony MFT camera. MFT, short for Micro Four Third, has the best IBIS, so you can mount any lens and get rock-solid steady video.
Best E-Mount Ultra Wide Lens for Astrophotography
16. Sigma 16mm F1.4
If you are looking for a 24mm full-frame equivalent for a Sony APS-C body, there is no better than the Sigma 16mm F1.4 lens. You will be wondering why I had ranked this unique low-light lens at the lower of the list? The reason is the size and weight. The Sigma 16mm F1.4 is large and bulky, so it’s not best suited as a prime travel lens for E-mount mirrorless bodies. If you are looking for low light outdoor or studio lens, you can’t find anything better than the Sigma 16mm F1.4 lens.
| 35mm Ex.’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 24mm | 93mm | 67mm | No | Yes | 405g |
Best E-Mount Sharpest Macro Lens for Travel
15. ZEISS Touit 50mm F2.8 Macro
Need the sharpest lens for close up photography of food or bugs? This the ZESSIS 50mm F2.8is for you. I personally not into shooting macros of insect photography. But I love shooting the close texture of the food. This is the best perfect macro lens for E-mount, in my opinion. Pair it with the A6400 or A6600, and you are going to get stunning results. Also, the ZEISS is a lightweight lens for macro photography.
| 35mm Ex.’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 75mm | 91mm | 52mm | No | No | 290g |
Best E-Mount Family Vacation Lens
14. Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS LE
Are you planning to travel to Zoo or to a Safari honey; where the sharpest image quality is not the primary factor
? The Sony 18-200mm will serve you better. The LE version of Sony 18-200mm is more compact compared to the original version and more sharper at the-end. But, bear in mind after 100mm, the lens becomes soft and but not noticeable unless you zoom in to the images. Overall, it’s an excellent lens for a family vacation.
| 35mm Ex.’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 27-300mm | 97mm | 62mm | Yes | No | 460g |
Best Sony APC-S Constant Aperture Lens
13. Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G
I will not recommend Sony 16-55mm F2.8 G lens for video due to lack of OIS unless you use a gimbal. Even the A6600 can’t stabilize the 16-55 F2.8 lens well. So you will be wondering why I had put the 16-50mm F2.8 on this best Sony lens for traveling? This lens is best suited for travel photography, and in fact, it can rival the high Sony APS-C prime lens. I wish there were OIS or Sony IBIS was better at stabilizing the video.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 24-82.5mm | 100mm | 67mm | No | Yes | 494g |
Best Portrait Lens for E-Mount
12. Sigma 56mm F1.4
I sold my Sigma 56mm F1.4 because of a lack of IBIS on A6400. But I purchased the 56mm F1.4 again for my compact A6600, which had IBIS. I only use the Sigma 56mm F1.4 for static handheld video with no movement or panning. If you want to use it for moving subject for a video, this lens is not for you. Now, let’s talk about the photography aspects, its sharp corner to corner, even at F1.4 wide open. I love the fact it’s a compact lens for such a bright aperture. The bokeh it produced on Sony APS-C is outside of this world; it’s marvelous. I will classify the Sigma 56mm F1.4 as the best E-mount lens for the portrait.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 84mm | 60mm | 55mm | No | Yes | 280g |
Best Sony E-Mount Pancake Lens
11. Sony E 20mm F2.8
One of the best Pancake lens for Sony APC-S bodies. I had paired my E 20mm F2.8 with A6600 and carry it with me all the time on my belt case. It’s such a tiny, lightweight lens. It’s not the sharpest pancake lens and not an F2 lens such as Canon EF-M 22mm F2 or Fujifilm 18mm F2. But it gets the job done for travel photography, and it excels from indoor food photography to vlogging. Overall, the Sony E 20mm F2.8 is a great pancake lens within Sony E-mount.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 30mm | 20mm | 49mm | No | No | 69g |
Best ZEISS E-Mount Prime
10. ZEISS Touit 32mm F1.8
If you are looking for the best compact lens with fantastic contrast for the JPEGs, it will be harder to find a better lens than the ZEISS Touit 32mm F1.8. There is a unique magic to the ZEISS lens similar to the Leica lens. I love the colors which the ZEISS 32mm F1.8 produces for portraits for outdoor shots. I love the creamy bokeh, which perfectly fits the travel vibe.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 48mm | 60mm | 52mm | No | No | 200g |
Best Budget E-Mount Bokeh Lens
9. Sigma 30mm F1.4
Need a budget bokeh master? You can’t find a better deal than the Sigma 30mm F1.4. The good thing about the Sigma 30mm F1.4 over the Sigma 16mm F1.4 is the weight; in fact, the 16mm F1.4 is an unpractical lens for travel shooting unless you are willing to strain your neck. I love to carry the camera around my neck with a strap, and the Sigma 30mm F1.4 is less than 300g. The only thing the Sigma 30mm F1.4 for E-mount is missing is the weather sealing.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 45mm | 74mm | 52mm | No | No | 265G |
Cheap E-Mount Portrait Lens
8. Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS
If you are using a Sony APS-C camera with IBIS such as A6600, then the Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS perfect match for it. I like that it has OSS, which is Sony OIS in the lens, for handheld videos. Overall, you are getting a classic APS-C 50mm focal length with OIS in the lens, and you can’t go wrong with it if you want to capture a handheld shallow depth of field videos while traveling.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 75mm | 62mm | 49mm | Yes | No | 202g |
Best E-Mount All-in-One Lens
7. Sony E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6
The Sony 18-200mm is a mediocre lens when it comes to image quality. Let us welcome the Sony E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6, which had terrific sharp image output. Yes, you heard me right. The Sony E 18-135mm is even sharper at the longer focal end of 135mm. If you are looking for the best all-in-one travel lens for Sony E-mount APS-C body, you can’t find anything better aside from the bulkier Sony E 18-105mm F4.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 27-202.5mm | 88mm | 55mm | Yes | No | 326g |
Best OSS Prime Lens
6. Sony E 35mm F1.8 OSS
If you want to buy the first prime for a Sony E-mount camera, the choice is obvious. The Sony E 35mm F1.8 OSS is excellent for travel and food photography. Even the OSS in the lens works very well for handheld videos on the Sony camera without IBIS. The Sony E 35mm F1.8 OSS is a tiny and super lightweight lens for traveling, and you can’t go wrong with it. It can easily fit in your jacket or cargo pant pocket.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 52.5mm | 45mm | 154 | Yes | No | 154g |
Best Sony APS-C Constant Aperture Lens
5. Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD
The Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 is the super-wide lens without any OIS, making it purely a photography lens rather than a video lens on E-mount bodies without IBIS. Tamron realizes the gap of a bright and constant aperture with OIS. So it launched the Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 for Sony E-mount cameras. Overall, it produces stunning images, plus it has more reach at 70mm compared to the Sony 55mm.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 25.5-105mm | 120mm | 67mm | Yes | Yes | 525g |
Best Compact Ultra-Wide Lens
4. Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS
If you are looking for a compact ultra-wide lens for Sony E-mount, you can’t go wrong with the Sony E 10-18mm lens. The glorious thing about the 10-18mm for APS-C bodies such as A6600 is the compact size. All the Sony APS-C cameras are a rangefinder design, so mounting a compact ultra-wide lens is essential. Also, the Sony 10-18mm have the OIS in the lens, which Sony calls OSS. To be honest, the OSS in this lens is not that good even when paired with a camera with IBIS such as A6600. The only major thing this lens is lacking is the weather-sealing.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 15-27mm | 63.5mm | 62mm | Yes | No | 225g |
Best Sony E-Mount Astrophotography Lens
3. ZEISS Touit 12mm F2.8
If you are looking for an ultrawide lens for astrophotography with autofocus, you can’t find better than the ZEISS Touit 12mm F2.8. I love its F2.8 aperture, and it had the autofocus rather than Samyang/Rokinon 12mm F2 with manual focus only. ZEISS is best suited for travel photography because of its rendition of vibrant colors. You can vlog with ZEISS 12mm F2.8 on A6600, and it produces nice bokeh for the background.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 18mm | 68mm | 67mm | No | No | 260mm |
Best E-Mount Wildlife Lens
2. Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
This lens is the reason why you should switch to Sony APS-C camera for wildlife photography. We all know Sony had the best autofocus system globally; even the Sony A6600 had animal eye autofocus. So when you pair the Sony E 70-350mm with A6600, you will most likely never miss a shot for your Safari to birds photography. The good thing about the Sony E 70-350mm, it’s weather-sealed, and the A6600 is weather sealed too. The Sony E 70-350mm produces the sharpest images from all the APS-C telephoto lens. If you were upset with the Sony E 55-210mm mediocre image quality, now rejoice thanks to the outstanding Sony E 70-350mm lens.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 105-525mm | 142mm | 67mm | Yes | Yes | 625g |
Best E-Mount Video Lens
1. Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS
I can’t find anything better than the Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 for E-mount APS-C cameras as the best travel lens of all time. First, I would like to talk about the video side of the Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 lens, the OSS in the 18-105mm is outstanding even for walking shots, and the power zoom feature comes in handy a lot for capturing travel footage. If you turn on the clear zoom, it will become an 18-210mm lens. Also, the exposure doesn’t change when zooming-in or zooming-out. The outstanding Sony 18-105mm is a parfocal lens, which means it will keep the focus on zooming in or out. For the Sony 18-105mm photography aspect, you won’t be changing the lens often, thanks to the constant F4. It can produce marvelous portraits at 105mm, thanks to the F4.
| 35mm Ex’ | Length | Filter Size | OIS | WR | Weight |
| 27-157.5mm | 110mm | 72mm | Yes | No | 427g |
