The 6 Best Lenses for the Sony A77
The Sony A77 is an awesome Single Lens Translucent camera. If you do not have a lens for your camera or are shopping for a new lens, this article will go over the top 6 lenses to use on the Sony SLT-A77.
More details are further down, however if you’re in a hurry, below are the best selections:
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- 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
Beneath, the best Sony lenses are separated by focal length. There are additional choices ranging in price.
Standard Primes
Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM DT
- Outstanding optics.
- Small and light weight.
- Can be difficult to find new.
- Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM)
- Circular aperture.
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An extremely good mix of lightweight and very small size. The autofocus motor is more accurate and quieter than earlier lenses that use the coupled autofocus drive system.
Rounded aperture blades allow you to close down to f/4 and still have an almost circular aperture. This creates attractive bokeh and more freedom in managing your depth of field.
Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm f/1.7
- Built-in lens hood.
- Amazing value.
- Light and compact.
- Widely available used.
- Coupled autofocus.
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This is one of the first lenses from the introduction of the A-mount. As a consequence of the age of the lens, the autofocus is powered by a motor built into the A77 camera body.
Autofocus that is mechanically coupled can be a little noisy and sluggish. If that is not a problem for you the results are superb. {The bokeh is pleasing and you will end up with a classic image rendering|You will get a classic image rendering and attractive bokeh.
One more significant advantage of this lens is the price. It’s drastically cheaper when compared to the Sony 50mm f/1.8 and also might possibly be the cheapest lens listed.
Sony 50mm f/1.4
- Outstanding optics.
- Optical multi-coatings.
- Circular aperture.
- 55mm filter threads.
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A little faster when compared to the f/1.8, nevertheless that can make an impact when you are shooting in low light. That as expected comes at an increased cost.
It is still a relatively small and lightweight lens that handles comfortably on the A77 and fits into nearly any kind of camera bag.
A less expensive option is the Minolta AF 50mm f/1.4. Be aware that copies can be difficult to track down in good usable condition. It also was constructed with coupled autofocus, which is louder and slower than lenses featuring built-in autofocus motors}.
Portrait & Telephoto Lens
Sony 85mm f/1.4 ZA
- Incredible bokeh.
- Excellent value used.
- T* coating to reduce flare and increase contrast.
- Astonishingly sharp wide open.
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Sony wanted to show off with this lens. Zeiss manufactured the lens. The ZA (Zeiss Alpha) shows that Zeiss designed the lens only for the Sony A-mount.
This lens is the real deal. Corner-to-corner sharpness with brilliant color that delivers astonishing portrait photos.
A potential downside is that the lens is somewhat heavy on account of being built like a tank and it can seem slow to autofocus. Take into account, that you will come across similar problems with any f/1.4 85mm.
Minolta Maxxum AF 85mm f/1.4
- Possible to find a good used deal.
- Superb image quality.
- Uses autofocus coupler.
- Double-Gauss design.
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The lens sits inbetween the price range of the other two lenses. Finding a used lens in better than acceptable condition may be challenging because of a limited supply available.
While the lens is capable of autofocus, it’s driven by the in-body motor that employs a physical coupler. This means that the lens will be fairly noisy and slow to autofocus.
The lens is an older 6 lens element Double-Gauss design. That is not a bad thing as the lens provides a unique appearance that can’t be produced with a contemporary lens.
Sony A77 Zoom Lenses
Sony 28-75mm f/2.8
- Very usable zoom range.
- Great value used.
- Constant aperture.
- Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM).
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If you want to shoot indoor shooting, travel, family photos, and night events, this is an excellent fast zoom for that. It is a well crafted lens with fairly quiet autofocus.
The lens is often compared to the excellent Zeiss 24-70mm lens, but it’s about half the weight and costs considerbly less. Both lenses create pro photos.
Sony 55-200mm f/4-5.6 SAM DT
- Telephoto zoom range.
- Great for portrait or wildlife photography.
- Smooth Autofocus Motor (SAM).
- Inexpensive.
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While still delivering outstanding results, this lens is a less expensive selection. Even though it is not a professional lens, accordingly assuming that you do not require high end tech, it is a very good lens.
For a mid-range telephoto zoom, it has an excellent range for capturing photos of sports, children outdoors, and wildlife.
Image sharpness is excellent and the autofocus is quick. The outter body of the lens is made of plastic, which helps with minimizing weight.
Sony 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6
- Super telephoto zoom lens.
- Great for portrait or wildlife photography.
- 2.81 inches in diameter and 4.81 inches long.
- 55mm filter threads.
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This qualifies as a super-telephoto lens due to the zoom range. It’s an excellent low-cost choice for when you would like a long lens.
It is only 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) in diameter, 4.8 inches (12.2 cm) long, and is 1 pound 2 ounces (510g). While not considered light, many pro telephotos are many times heavier.
For just a little improved performance take a look at the Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 SSM ED G-Series, but plan on paying around twice the price.
Wide Angle Lens
Sony DT 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6
- Has a aspherical lens elements.
- Optical multi-coatings.
- Great value when purchased used.
- Circular aperture.
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Awesome quality for the price if you want to be able to shoot terrific wide photos that standard kit zooms can’t capture. Distortion, especially of straight vertical lines is low or non-existent unless you are trying to create an exaggerated perspective.
In addition to being very good at capturing spectacular landscapes, it is also an ideal lens to travel with. The angle of view is wide enough so when you come across something you’ll be able to get everything in frame.
Sony 20mm f/2.8
- Great for landscapes and architecture.
- Coated optics for clarity and definition.
- Rear focusing system for fast autofocus response.
- 72mm filter threads.
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It’s a well-corrected lens that does a very good job of minimizing distortion. In addition, a great deal of work has been done to minimize flane and internal reflections.
The result is an outstanding lens that is ideal for astrophotography, architecture, and landscape photography. The lens uses rear focusing which means the front does not rotate meaning you will not have any issues using a circular polarizer or another filter.
Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 DX II
- Wide angle zoom lens.
- Hardened Alumite finish.
- Advanced optical coatings.
- All metallic moving parts.
- Designed for APS-C Sensors.
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It does not have very fast autofocus, but the MF/AF focus clutch helps make it a superb pick for manual focusing. A pull or push of the focus ring switches the lens from AF to MF or vice versa.
The Tokina has a larger aperture than the Sony 11-18mm, which is definitely not a huge issue for landscape or architecture photos. Where you will find an improvement is during astrophotography. That’s a circumstance where you will want to have the 1-2 stop advantage the Tokina supplies.
Fisheye
Sony 16mm f/2.8 Fisheye
- Sharp corner-to-corner.
- 4 built-in filters: Normal, 056, B12, A12.
- 8 inch minimum focus distance.
- Aspherical and Extra-low Dispersion elements.
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The built-in filters are an excellent inclusion because 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 pretty much everything you could want from a fisheye. You can achieve the exaggerated distortion, but the image will remain sharp from corner-to-corner without vignetting.
Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye
- Internal focus.
- 180 degree angle of view.
- Manual focus.
- Minimum focusing distance of 12 inches (0.3m).
- Designed for APS-C sensors.
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The lens features a bulbous front that means lens filters cannot be used. It has a detachable petal-type lens hood that you will want to make sure that it is included if you get a pre-owned copy.
Construction quality can be some what hit or miss as a result of the affordable price of the lens. The majority of owners are quite pleased with the results they get. It’s still important to adequately test the lens when you receive it to know for sure that it is not defective.
Macro Lens
Sony 100mm f/2.8 Macro
- 9 aperture blades.
- Focus range limiter.
- High contrast and resolution.
- 55mm filter threads.
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The optimal balance of value, weight, and working distance for the Sony A77. The autofocus is a little noisy, but for taking macro photos, manual focus is the way to go.
For ideal photos at 1x magnification the lens really needs to be stopped down by at least 2 stops. Doing that will also give you a wider depth of field, which is important for macro photography.
Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro
- 10.4 ounces (295g).
- Focus range limiter.
- Focus Hold button for full creative control.
- 55mm filter threads.
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The 50mm focal length is not that great for 1x magnification on account of the minimal working distance. At that level of magnification, the front lens element will be about 2 inches (5 cm) from the subject.
This lens is a great choice for close-up, copy work, and tabletop photography. It enables you to get closer to a subject than a standard 50mm lens, and is ideal for nature photography when you want to fill the camera frame with a tiny subject, for instance a flower.
Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M 1:1 Macro
- Available in a variety of camera mounts.
- Improved resolution, chromatic correction, and optical coatings.
- Super Performance (SP)
- Focus clutch to switch between AF & MF.
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The focus ring feels great when manually focusing, and the lens also has autofocus. Closed down a couple of stops and you will get sharp shots.
Additionally, be mindful when shopping for the lens as it is manufactured in a number of camera mounts.
Used A-Mount Camera Lens Prices
Pricing is constantly in flux. During the previous couple of years, interest in film photography has been climbing. As there are 35mm Minolta cameras that use A-mount lenses, some upward pressure is added to the cost of lenses.
The A-mount also doesn’t have a significant share of the market. Because of this, fewer third party options exist and the lenses made by Sony are all too often on backorder.
To obtain the lowest price, check out prices on a few websites. For pre-owned lenses, be ready to make a purchase when you see a bargain as they generally will not last very long.
What Lens Mount Does the A77 Use?
The Sony A77 uses the Sony A-mount. It is also identical to the Minolta A-mount. This is due to Sony buying Konica Minolta’s imaging division in 2006.
Minolta created the A-mount for the introduction of interchangeable lens cameras with autofocus in 1985. It’s still Supported by Sony.
Standard Lens Cap Size
55mm filter threads are the most common, but honestly the filter sizes are sporadic. Minolta lenses mostly feature 49mm filter threads.
There are also a good number of lenses that have much larger filter threads than 55mm. It isn’t uncommon to see 77mm ro 72mm. It would have been good if Sony utilised only 2 or 3 different filter thread sizes.