The Sony A58 is a terrific camera. If you don't have a lens for your camera or are searching for a new lens, this article will cover the best 6 lenses to use with your Sony SLT-A58.
Here are the best Sony A58 lenses:
- Standard Lens - Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT
- Portrait Lens - Sony 85mm F1.4 ZA CZ
- Zoom Lens - Sony 28-75mm f/2.8
- Wide Angle Lens - Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6
- Fisheye Lens - Sony 16mm f/2.8
- Macro Lens - Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Below, the best Sony lenses are split up by focal length. Also included are different selections ranging in cost.
Table of Contents
Standard Primes
Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT
A wonderful blend of small size and minimal weight. The built-in autofocus motor is quieter and more accurate than previous lenses that use the physically coupled autofocus.
The circular aperture allows you to stop down by 2-stops and keep an almost circular aperture. This results in spectacular bokeh and more flexibility in managing depth of field.
Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.7
This is an older design from when Minolta originally launched the A-mount. Because of the age of the lens, the autofocus is controlled by a motor built into the A58 camera body.
Coupled autofocus can be sluggish and fairly noisy. If that's not a huge concern for you the picture quality is amazing. The bokeh is eye-catching and you will end up with a classic rendering.
Portrait & Telephoto Lens
Sony 85mm f/1.4 ZA
Sony wanted to showcase what the A-mount can do. Zeiss produced the lens. The ZA (Zeiss Alpha) denotes that Zeiss developed the lens specifically for the Sony A-mount.
This is a spectacular lens. Razor-sharp corner-to-corner with vivid colors that delivers amazing portraits.
A potential downside is that it is a bit on the heavy side on account of being built like a tank and it can seem slow to autofocus. Be aware, that you will come across similar issues with any 85mm f/1.4.
Rokinon 85mm f/1.4
The Rokinon is an affordable alternative that is convenient to obtain. A lower price comes from the fact that the lens is manual focus.
At f/1.4 manually focusing will need some practice. Stopping down to f/1.8 or f/2 makes focusing faster and easier and you will still get creamy bokeh.
Minolta Maxxum AF 85mm f/1.4
In terms of cost, the lens sits between the others. Acquiring a used copy in good usable condition could be a challenge because of a limited supply available.
The lens does have autofocus, but it uses a mechanical coupler and is driven by an in-camera body motor. This means that the lens will be somewhat loud and slow to autofocus.
A Double-Gauss optical design is older and uses six elements. A benefit to this is images have a distinct look that is not able to be created by contemporary lenses that contain a lot more lens elements.
Sony A58 Zoom Lenses
Sony 28-75mm f/2.8
A fast zoom lens that is well suited for night events, indoor shooting, travel, and family photos. The autofocus is fairly quiet and the lens is well designed.
The lens is often compared to the excellent Zeiss 24-70mm, but it's about half the weight and less expensive. Both lenses create pro images.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 55-200mm f/4-5.6 SAM DT
While still creating very good results, this lens is a lower-cost solution. Even though it's not a professional lens, so as long as you don't require all the bells and whistles, it is a very good lens.
For a telephoto zoom, it has a very good zoom range for capturing images of children outdoors, sports, and wildlife.
The autofocus is fast and it produces tack sharp pictures. The barrel of the lens is plastic, which helps with reducing weight.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6
This is a borderline super-telephoto lens due to the zoom range. It is an outstanding affordable choice for when you need lots of reach.
It is 4.8 inches (12.2 cm) long, 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) in diameter, and weighs in at 1 pound 2 ounces (510g). While not considered light, many pro telephoto primes and zooms are multiple times heavier.
For a bit improved performance try to find the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 SSM ED G-Series, but unfortunately, expect to pay around twice as much.
Wide Angle Lens
Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6
Awesome value for the price if you want to take great wide pictures that a standard zoom can't get. Distortion, especially of straight vertical lines is minor or non-existent unless you're trying to create an exaggerated perspective.
As well as being ideal at taking spectacular landscapes, it is a terrific lens to travel with. The lens is wide enough so when you see something you will be able to get everything you see into the Sony A58's frame.
Sony 20mm f/2.8
A well-corrected lens that does a very good job of reducing lens distortion. Additionally, quite a lot of energy has been put into cutting down on internal reflections and flare.
The result is an impressive lens that is suitable for astrophotography, landscape, and architecture photography. The lens uses rear focusing which means the front will not rotate meaning you will not have any issues using a polarizer or another filter.
Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 DX II
It doesn't have very fast autofocus, but the focus clutch makes it a great option for manual focusing. A push or pull of the focus ring will switch the lens from manual to auto focus or vice versa.
The Tokina is faster than the Sony 11-18mm, which is not a major issue for landscape or architecture images. Where you'll see a difference is with astrophotography. That is a circumstance where you are going to want to take advantage of the 1-to-2 stop advantage the Tokina gives you.
Fisheye
Sony 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
Having built-in filters is a fantastic inclusion because the lens has a petal-style hood which means a lens filter cannot be put on the front of the lens.
- 056 - Accented contrast for black and white photos.
- B12 - Correct color by eliminating red tones.
- A12 - Correct color by eliminating blue tones.
This lens has everything you could desire from a fisheye. You'll get corner-to-corner sharpness without seeing vignetting while still getting exaggerated distortion.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
The lens features a large front element which means filters can not be attached. It has a detachable petal-shaped hood that you will want to ensure that it is included if you buy a pre-owned lens.
Construction quality can be somewhat hit or miss as a consequence of the affordable price. A majority of buyers are very pleased with the images they get. You will still want to fully test the lens when you get it to ensure it isn't substandard.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Macro Lens
Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro
An excellent balance of weight, value, and working distance for the Sony A58. The autofocus is a bit loud, but for taking macro images, manual focus is ideal.
For the best output at 1x magnification, the lens ought to be stopped down. By stopping down you will have a wider depth of field, which is very useful for macro photography.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro
The 50mm focal length is not that useful for 1x magnification because of the limited working distance. At 1:1 magnification, the front of the lens will need to be around 2 inches (5 cm) from the subject.
This lens is excellent for copy work, close-up, and tabletop photography. It enables you to get closer to a subject than a standard 50mm lens, which is good for nature photography whenever you need to fill the camera frame with a tiny subject, for instance, a flower.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M 1:1 Macro
The focus ring feels great when manually focusing, and it also has autofocus. Closed down a couple of stops and you will get tack sharp images.
Also, be cautious when getting it as it is built in several camera mounts.
Used A-Mount Camera Lens Prices
Prices change constantly. During the past several years, participation in film photography has been growing. Due to the fact that there are Minolta 35mm cameras that use A-mount lenses, some upward pressure is put on the price of lenses.
The Sony A-mount also does not have a big market share. That's why a smaller number of third party options are available and the lenses built by Sony are occasionally on backorder.
To obtain the best price on what you want to buy, check prices on a few sites. For used lenses, be ready to pay for when you come across a good deal as they don't last long.
What Lens Mount Does the A58 Use?
The Sony A58 uses the Sony A-mount. It is also identical to the Minolta A-mount. This is due to Sony acquiring Konica Minolta's camera division in 2006.
The A-mount was designed by Minolta for the release of interchangeable lens autofocus cameras in 1985. It's still Supported by Sony.
Standard Lens Cap Size
Generally 55mm, but in reality, the filter sizes are inconsistent. Older Minolta lenses tend to have 49mm filter threads.
Additionally, there are many lenses that have much larger filter threads than 55mm. It's not uncommon to see 77mm or 72mm. It would have been nice if Sony used only 2 or 3 different filter sizes.
