A Guide to Sony E-Mount Lenses & Cameras

The Sony E-Mount was launched in 2011 with the NEX-3 and NEX-5. Both have APS-C sensors.

The first full frame cameras, the A7 and A7R, were released in 2013.

That is long enough that Sony has released second versions of many lenses. Plus, Sony has made the E-mount an open specification. There are numerous third party lenses available that cover all niches and types of photography.

Sony A7 lens recommendations covers the cheaper E-mount lenses. The Sony A9 has more expensive lens recommendations.

Unlike the Nikon F mount, there are no compatibility issues with lenses and cameras.

Prior to the E-mount, Sony used the A-mount for DSLR and SLT cameras. Sony made adapters allowing A-mount lenses to be used on cameras with E-mounts.

That’s because the flange focal distance for the E-mount is 18mm and 44.5mm for the A-mount. That leaves room for an adapter.

Lens Abbreviations

• E - Lenses designed for APS-C sensors.
• FE - Lenses designed for full frame sensors.
• SEL - Sony E-mount lens.
• OSS - Optical SteadyShot, Sony’s name for optical image stabilization. Useful for longer focal lengths and low light.
• PZ - Power Zoom. The lens has a motor for zooming, which is helpful for video.
• GM - G Master. Sony’s highest optical quality lenses.
• G - Gold. Formerly Sony’s highest optical quality lenses.
• ZA - Zeiss Alpha. Lenses designed with Zeiss.
• LE - Light Edition.
• Macro - A macro lens capable of 1x magnification, or greater.

Sigma:

• DG - Lenses designed for full-frame cameras.
• DC - Lenses designed for APS-C cameras.
• DN - Lenses designed for mirrorless cameras.
• OS - The lens has optical image stabilization.
• SLD - Special Low Dispersion glass lens elements that help to minimize chromatic aberrations.

List of Sony E-mount Lenses

APS-C Lenses on Full Frame Cameras

Lenses designed for APS-C sensors can be used on full frame cameras.

A full frame camera will go into a crop mode. Only an APS-C sized part of the sensor will be used, reducing image resolution.

Only about 45% of the sensor will be used. So a 24 megapixel camera would capture 10.6 megapixel images with an APS-C lens.

That is because the APS-C lens has a smaller imaging circle. The E lenses are designed to project a smaller image, which is why they are generally smaller lenses.

Full Frame Lenses on APS-C Cameras

Full frame lenses can be used on APS-C cameras. They will not capture the same image from the same spot.

A full frame lens projects an image circle that is larger than an APS-C sensor. The center of the image is “cropped” because that’s all the camera can capture.

To know what the equivalent field of view would be to a full frame camera, the focal length can be multiplied by 1.5.

That means a 50mm lens on a APS-C camera would have the equivalent field of view as a 75mm lens on a full frame camera.

For sports, action, and wildlife photography, that can be an advantage. More reach is always welcome.

Adapting A-mount Lenses and More

Before making mirrorless cameras, Sony made DSLR and SLT cameras that used the A-mount.

A-mount lenses can be used on E-mount cameras with lens mount adapters.

There are so many to choose from because they provide different features. Some only support contrast detection autofocus. They also do not have built-in focus motors, need to power the autofocus in a lens.

• LA-EA1 - No AF motor.
• LA-EA2 - No AF motor. No eye AF.
• LA-EA3 - Built-in AF motor.
• LA-EA4 - Built-in AF motor and sensor.
• LA-EA5 - Built-in AF motor.

Adapting DSLR & Film Lenses

Third parties make adapters that allow DSLR, 35mm film, c-mount, T-mount, and other optics to be mounted.

Here are brands that make lens mount adapters:

• Metabones
• Mitakon
• Viltrox
• Fotodiox
• Novoflex

There are also many generic brands of “dumb” adapters. They don’t have electrical contacts and work well with manual focus lenses.

Sony Full Frame E-mount Cameras

There are 26 Sony E-mount cameras with full frame sensors.

Sensor size: 35.6x23.8mm

• A7 Series: A7, A7 II, A7 III, A7 IV
• A7S Series: A7S, A7S II, A7S III
• A7R Series: A7R, A7R II, A7R III, A7R IV, A7R V
• A7C Series: A7C, A7C II, A7CR
• A9 Series: A9, A9 II, A9 III
• A1 Series: A1, A1 II
• FX / Cinema Line: FX3, FX6, PXW-FX9
• ZV Series: ZV-E1
• VENICE / CineAlta: VENICE
• NEX Series: NEX-VG900

Sony APS-C E-mount Cameras

Sony has released 27 APS-C cameras.

Sensor size: 23.5×15.6mm, 1.5x crop factor

• NEX-3 Series: NEX-3, NEX-3N, NEX-C3, NEX-F3
• NEX-5 Series: NEX-5, NEX-5N, NEX-5R, NEX-5T
• NEX-6 / 7 Series: NEX-6, NEX-7
• NEX-VG Series (Camcorders): NEX-VG10, NEX-VG20, NEX-VG30
• NEX-EA Series (Camcorder): NEX-EA50
• QX Series: α QX1
• ZV Series: ZV-E10
• α Series: α5000, α5100
• α Series: α3000, α3500
• α Series: α6000, α6100, α6300, α6400, α6500, α6600, α6700

Sony Super 35 E-mount Cameras (Cinema)

Sensor size: 23.6×13.3mm, 1.6x crop factor

These are cinema cameras designed for high quality video.

The sensors are sized to optimize capturing video with a 16:9 aspect ratio. That’s what’s used for 1080p and 4k video.

• NEX-FS Series (Cinema Line): NEX-FS100, NEX-FS700
• PXW-FS Series (Cinema Line): PXW-FS5, PXW-FS5 II, PXW-FS7, PXW-FS7 II

Third Party Lens Manufacturers

Here are some of the third parties that have made lenses for the E-mount.

• Sigma - Has both prime and zoom lenses.
• Tokina - Zooms and the 100mm macro lens.
• Tamron - Several zoom lens options.
• Zeiss - High end prime lenses.
• Samyang/Rokinon
• TTArtisan
• Viltrox
• Yongnuo - Also makes speedlights.
• Sirui
• Meike
• Laowa - Known for their macro lenses.