Sony FE Lenses: The honest Guide for the A7/A9/A1 Series

Choose the right lens for your Sony Alpha with the help of our independent knowledge gained by writing many in-depth reviews.

We have an in-depth knowledge of many of the lenses listed here not only because we have used them, but also because we have reviewed many of them in detail. We are also independent from any lens manufacturer and when you check our reviews you will see that we do not hesitate to name any shortcomings of a lens.
We will also talk about lens aberrations, if you don’t know too much about these terms maybe have a look at our article Lens aberrations explained first.

Originally the idea of this guide was to include all available fullframe E-mount lenses. The number of fullframe E-mount lenses has significantly grown over the years though, so that has become an impossible task.

From now on this article will only include lenses that we find currently recommendable. That will make this article much easier to navigate and read and therefore more valuable. It should also make it easier for us to keep it up to date, as we don’t have to waste a lot of time adding uninteresting or mediocre lenses anymore. I also removed most of the super tele lenses, as we have too little experience with them. The aim is to generally keep this article below 10000 words, which is still a whole lot.

We do also have guides for:
9-18mm ultra wideangle FE lenses
20-28mm wide angle lenses
35mm FE lenses
50mm FE lenses
85-200mm FE portrait lenses
Macro lenses for the FE system
These guides often contain some older lenses not listed here (anymore).

If we have left any question unanswered please leave a comment or contact us on social media and we will do our best to answer it.

Last update: March 2025
A lot of new lenses added, many older/discontinued/outdated lenses removed.

Continue reading Sony FE Lenses: The honest Guide for the A7/A9/A1 Series

Review: Nikon Z Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S

 

NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S on a Nikon Z7ii

Introduction

The Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S was the first zoom lens designed for the Nikon Z system. Zoom lenses are known for their convenience and versatility, and this one is often bundled as a kit lens with various Z-series cameras. But does it fit the mold of a typical kit lens? Or does the ‘S’ designation—reserved for Nikon’s high-end lenses—along with its $1,000 price tag, put it in a different league? Let’s find out!

camera-icon2I tested this lens on a 46 Mp Nikon Z7ii (Sample images were taken with a Nikon Z6)
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.

Sample Images

Nikon Z6 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S | 24mm F/10
Nikon Z6 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S | 70mm F/7.1
Nikon Z6 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S | 24mm F/10
Nikon Z6 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S | 46mm F/10
Nikon Z6 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S | 40mm F/8
Nikon Z6 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S | 70mm F/11

Continue reading Review: Nikon Z Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S

REVIEW: FotoPro Origin Plus Travel Tripod

Introduction

Do you even need a tripod these days? To be honest, the necessity of tripods has been significantly reduced thanks to highly effective in-body image stabilisation, improved image quality at high ISOs and AI noise reduction, super-wide dynamic range of today’s digital sensors, and in-camera HDR modes.

Despite modern tech making tripods less necessary in some situations, they’re still invaluable in plenty of others. Tripods remain essential for long-exposure and astro photography, staging group photos, and focus stacking, to achieve sharp and crisp landscapes from close foreground to infinity, and especially for macro photography. Other applications where tripods are crucial include architectural photography, when you need to set up your camera with supreme precision, or when taking a series of shots with incremental panning to create panoramas. They also free up your hands for attaching or removing accessories like lens filters and microphones. Furthermore, tripods are indispensable for video work and studio photography.

So, which tripod should you choose?
Many of us know about high-end tripods like Gitzo and RRS, but are we always willing to pay a premium for that level of quality and reputation? And what about newer, lesser-known brands? one of them: the Fotopro Origin Plus Travel Tripod, a model that promises innovation and stability at a competitive price. Let’s have a look!

You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.

Sample Images

Long exposure on Fotopro Origin Plus tripod
Precise architectural photography in Low light (1/6 s) on Fotopro Origin Plus tripod
Panorama made of multiple exposures on a Fotopro Origin Plus
The original panorama of the previous image
Multiple exposures on a Fotopro Origin Plus tripod
Long exposure on Fotopro Origin Plus tripod

Continue reading REVIEW: FotoPro Origin Plus Travel Tripod

Review: Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II

Introduction

sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II on Sony A7rII

Having a state of the art 70-200mm 2.8 zoom is something very important for the camera manufacturers, as these are extremely popular lenses – especially among the professional customers. Sadly, Sony’s first generation for the FE system wasn’t exactly a stellar performer and fell noticeably behind Nikon’s and Canon’s offerings. I said it before: Sony is very much aware of what the duds in the lineup are, so also here they released an improved version, the Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II. Is this finally the 70-200mm 2.8 telezoom Sony customers deserve? Let’s find out in this review.

Sample Images

sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 145mm | f/2.8
sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 200mm | f/2.8
sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 70mm | f/2.8
sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 170mm | f/2.8
sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 70mm | f/4.0
sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 70mm | f/4.0
sony fe 70mm-200 2.8 gm g master oss mark ii mk 2 sony 42mp 61mp a7rii a7riv a7riii a1 a9iii a7rv review resolution sharpness contrast bokeh vignetting coma z6 z7 z8 z9
Nikon Zf | Megadap ETZ21pro | Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II | 150mm | f/2.8

Continue reading Review: Sony FE 70-200mm 2.8 GM OSS II

Guide to best Sony E-Mount 35mm Lenses for A7/A9/A1 series

review sharpness 42mp high resolution sample test vergleich comparison bokeh handling build quality a7riii autofocus af close macro

35mm is a very popular focal length with a wide range of applications ranging from landscape over astrophotography to environmental portraiture and many consider it the best choice when only using one prime lens. We decided to summarize our experience with all the native E-mount and a few legacy 35mm lenses for the Sony A7 series to give you a compact and independent resource for choosing the best 35mm lens for your needs.

We also have a general guide to FE-lenses, 9-18mm ultra wide angle lenses, guide to 20-28mm wide angle lenses50mm lenses, 85-200mm portrait lenses and macro lenses.

Unlike most other review sites we have no association with any lens manufacturer apart from occasionally loaning a lens for a review. We prefer independence over fancy trips and nice meals.

Before any short introduction we tell you how long we have used a lens and if we have borrowed it from a manufacturer. But in most cases we have bought the lenses new from retail stores or on the used market. If you want to support our independent reviews please consider using one of the affiliate links. It doesn’t cost you anything and helps us a lot.

If we have left any question unanswered please leave a comment or contact us on social media and we will do our best to answer it.

Last update: March 2025, cleaned up a bit

Continue reading Guide to best Sony E-Mount 35mm Lenses for A7/A9/A1 series

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