The Sony A68 is a great Single Lens Translucent camera. If you do not currently have a lens for your camera or are searching for a different lens, this will cover the best 6 lenses to have for your Sony ILCA-68.
Here are the best Sony A68 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 separated by type of photography. There are additional selections ranging in price.
Table of Contents
Standard Primes
Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT
A fantastic mix of lightweight and very small size. The built-in autofocus motor is faster and quieter than older lenses that use the physically coupled autofocus.
The rounded aperture blades allow you to close down by 2-stops and keep close to a completely circular aperture. The result is beautiful bokeh and more flexibility in managing your depth of field.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.7
This model was originally released by Minolta together with the introduction of the A-mount. On account of the age of the lens, the autofocus is controlled by a motor built into the A68 camera body.
Mechanically coupled autofocus can be rather noisy and slow. If that is not a problem for you the results are excellent. You'll get pleasant bokeh and a classic rendering.
A further great advantage of this lens is the price. It is considerably more affordable when compared with the Sony 50mm f/1.8 and additionally could possibly be the lowest priced lens on the list.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 50mm f/1.4
A little faster than the f/1.8, however, that can really be important when you are taking pictures in low light. That obviously comes at an additional cost.
It is still a small and light lens that handles comfortably on the A68 and can fit into practically any camera bag.
A moderately less expensive option is the Minolta AF 50mm f/1.4. Bear in mind that copies can be really difficult to get in good usable condition. The lens also was constructed with coupled autofocus, which is worse than lenses with built-in motors.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Portrait & Telephoto Lens
Sony 85mm f/1.4 ZA
Sony sought to flaunt what the A-mount is capable of doing. The lens was produced by Zeiss. The ZA (Zeiss Alpha) denotes that Zeiss designed the lens only for the Sony A-mount.
This is an awesome lens. Corner-to-corner sharpness with vibrant color that delivers incredible portrait photos.
A potential downside is that it's a little bit on the heavy side because it's built like a tank and the autofocus can be slow at times. Take into account, that you will find those same problems with any 85mm f/1.4 lens.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Rokinon 85mm f/1.4
The Rokinon is a readily available low-cost option. A lower price comes from the fact that the lens is manual focus.
At f/1.4 manually focusing will require lots of practice. Stopping down to f/2 or f/1.8 helps make focusing easier and you'll still get creamy bokeh.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Minolta Maxxum AF 85mm f/1.4
The lens sits in between the price range of the other two lenses. Acquiring a used copy in better than acceptable condition may be challenging on account of a small available supply.
The lens does have autofocus, but it uses a mechanical coupler and is driven by an in-camera body motor. This means the lens will be fairly loud and sluggish.
The lens is an older 6 lens element Double-Gauss design. That's not a negative as the lens provides a unique appearance that is not able to be made with a modern lens.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony A68 Zoom Lenses
Sony 28-75mm f/2.8
If you want to shoot indoor shooting, night events, travel, and family photos, this is the ideal fast zoom for that. It is a well-built lens with quiet autofocus.
The lens is often compared to the legendary Zeiss 24-70mm lens, but it's around half the weight and has a lower price. Both produce pro images.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 55-200mm f/4-5.6 SAM DT
While still creating fantastic results, this lens is a lower-priced option. Even though it's not a professional lens, accordingly so long as you don't expect all the bells and whistles, it is a good lens.
For a telephoto zoom, it has a very good range for taking pictures of wildlife, children outdoors, and sports.
Picture sharpness is very good and the autofocus is fast. It's made out of plastic, which helps with minimizing weight.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6
A super-telephoto lens. It is a terrific low-cost choice for when you desire a long lens.
It's 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 zooms are multiple times heavier.
For a little improvement in capabilities look for the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 SSM ED G-Series, however, assume you will have to spend about twice as much.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Wide Angle Lens
Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6
Very good value for the price if you want to capture beautiful wide pictures that a kit zoom can't capture. Distortion, especially of straight vertical lines is small or non-apparent unless you are trying to have an exaggerated perspective.
Along with being outstanding at shooting breathtaking landscapes, it's a terrific lens to travel with. The lens is wide enough so when you come across something you'll be able to get everything in the frame.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 20mm f/2.8
It is well-engineered and does an excellent job of reducing distortion. Furthermore, an enormous amount of effort has been done to reduce internal reflections and flare.
The result is an outstanding lens that is perfect for astrophotography, landscape, and architecture photography. The rear focusing system means the front is not going to rotate so you will not have any troubles using a polarizer or different filter.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 DX II
It doesn't have very fast autofocus, but the focus clutch means it is an ideal choice for manual focusing. A pull or push of the focus ring will switch the lens from manual to auto focus or vice versa.
The Tokina has a larger aperture compared to the Sony 11-18mm, which will not be a huge deal for landscape or architecture photography. Where you will observe an improvement is during astrophotography. That is a situation where you are going to want to take advantage of the 1-2 stop advantage the Tokina supplies.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Fisheye
Sony 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
Having built-in filters is a terrific inclusion due to the fact the lens has a fixed 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 need from a fisheye. You will get corner-to-corner sharpness without noticing vignetting while still getting exaggerated distortion.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
The lens has a round front element which means filters cannot be attached. It has a detachable petal-shaped hood that you will want to ensure is included if you opt for a pre-owned lens.
Construction quality will be somewhat hit or miss as a result of the very low price. Most buyers are very happy with the results they get. It's still important to completely check the lens when you receive it to know for sure that the lens isn't a dud.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Macro Lens
Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro
An ideal balance of size, working distance, and cost for the Sony A68. The autofocus can be a little noisy, but for shooting macro pictures, manual focus is easier than using AF.
For best images at 1:1 magnification the lens really needs to be stopped down by at least 2 stops. Doing that will additionally give you a greater depth of field, which is essential for macro.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro
A 50mm is not the best for 1:1 magnification because of the minimal working distance. At 1:1 magnification, the front of the lens will have to be around 2 inches (5 cm) far from the subject.
This lens is a good choice for copy work, tabletop, and close-up photography. It helps you to get closer to a subject than a standard 50mm lens, and that is excellent for nature photography if you want to fill the camera frame with a smaller sized subject, like 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'll get razor-sharp images.
Additionally, be careful when purchasing the lens as it is made for a few lens mounts.
Also available at: eBay, KEH, Adorama
Used A-Mount Camera Lens Prices
Prices change on a regular basis. Over the previous few years, interest in film photography has been soaring. Since there are 35mm Minolta film cameras that use A-mount lenses, some additional demand is put on the cost of lenses.
The Sony A-mount also doesn't have a huge market share. For that reason, there are fewer third party options available and the lenses made by Sony are often on backorder.
To get the cheapest price on what you want, check prices on several sites. For used lenses, be prepared to pay for when you find a good deal as they tend not to be available for very long.
What Lens Mount Does the A68 Use?
The Sony A68 uses the Sony A-mount. It is also the same as the Minolta A-mount. This is due to Sony acquiring Konica Minolta's camera division in 2006.
The A-mount was engineered by Minolta for the intro of interchangeable lens autofocus cameras in 1985. It is still actively supported to this day.
Standard Lens Cap Size
Generally 55mm, but really the sizes vary widely. Minolta lenses tend to have 49mm filter threads.
You will also find quite a few lenses that have larger filter threads than 55mm. It is not uncommon to see 72mm or 77mm filter threads. It would've been helpful if Sony used only 2 or 3 different filter thread sizes.