Choosing the best lenses for the Sony A7 III means being realistic about the cost of the camera, what you shoot and how much you want to spend. Sony makes lots of fabulous G Master lenses, but these come with not-so fabulous prices and since the A7 III is at the lower end of the Sony Alpha price range, we reckon most users will want to keep the cost of lenses down.
For a long time, the Sony A7 III has been one of the best full-frame mirrorless cameras since it performs just as well at stills as it does video. Many hybrid shooters, therefore, require superior quality lenses that lend themselves to both disciplines, namely lenses that have smooth focusing and silent operation.
Included in this list are fast ultra-wide angle lenses for astrophotography, landscapes, and real estate photography but also super sharp primes ideal for isolating beautiful portrait subjects against a busy background. Longer lenses are important too and help reach out and capture the action when taking wildlife, sports, or action shots so we’ve picked the best of those as well. Of course, many of these lenses will also prove perfect for other Sony full-frame lenses from the original A7 to the A7R IV, and even the pro A9 II.
Read on to find the best lenses for the Sony A7 III and bag the perfect companion for your camera. We'll do this in order of focal length, from the widest to the longest...
Rod Lawton
Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews Editor. He has used practically every interchangeable-lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium-format cameras, – and he is the author of our Sony A7 III review.
There are cheaper wide-angles, but this G Master zoom delivers images of outstanding quality, aided by speedy autofocus. Read more below…
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Sony makes some great ultra-wide zooms of its own, but they cost a packet. This wide-angle Tamron zoom puts its money where its mouth is and competes well against all other lenses in its class at a much lower price.
A useful zoom range makes it perfect for landscape photographers who need a little more flexibility when it comes to recomposing shots or wishes to shift perspectives a little. A fast, constant f/2.8 aperture also suits low-light subjects and astrophotography.
It’s not just large vistas this lens excels at though, thanks to the 19cm minimum focusing distance at 17mm it can also pick out details cleanly. A rapid eXtra silent stepping drive (RXD) produces fast, silent autofocus making it adept at video shooting too, helping to pull focus without interference.
50mm is a popular focal length because the field of view closely resembles that of the human eye, so images look natural. The Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 is a great example of what makes the ‘nifty fifty’ lens class so versatile: its center sharpness is wonderfully detailed and the aperture is wide enough to deliver really pleasing bokeh; but at the same time, it’s light and compact.
Ultra-wide zooms are great, but they are also pretty big and expensive and have a modest maximum aperture. Sometimes a faster, ultra-wide prime is just more convenient. Smaller and lighter than Sony's 20mm f/1.8, yet almost as fast, Sigma's 20mm f/2 is a simply superb wide prime.
It features metal construction and a high-quality optical path, but manages to remain quite light. Handling is smooth and intuitive, with responsive, virtually silent autofocus. In our review, we were impressed by the image quality too: sharpness is terrific from the center to the edges, even at wide apertures.
Noticeable distortion and vignetting when uncorrected
Depending on which standard zoom you got with your A7 III, you might decide you need an upgrade, and rather than the Sony FE 24-70mm G Master, which is the obvious but expensive choice, we rate Sigma’s 24-70mm f/2.8 Art lens. This newer ‘DN’ edition for Sony full-frame E-mount cameras isn’t just a tweak of the original DSLR version, but rather a complete redesign.
The all-new optical path includes six FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) and two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements. Top-notch construction includes comprehensive weather seals and a super-fast, virtually silent stepping motor autofocus system.
Barrel distortion at 24mm and vignetting at f/2.8 are rather noticeable when uncorrected in-camera but overall handling, performance, and image quality are excellent, and it’s ultra-sharp. Bokeh is enhanced by an 11-blade diaphragm, whereas the DSLR version of the lens only has nine blades.
Read more: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art review
A fast 35mm lens is a traditional choice for street photography - and we were really impressed with the FE 35mm f/1.8 when we put it through our lab tests. We found that sharpness was outstanding - even when using it at its maximum aperture - with its sweet spot extending from f/2.8 to f/11. There is some vignetting, however, although you can quite easily fix this in most photo-editing apps.
You'd hope for the decent optical performance, mind, as this is far from being a low-cost lens. But for your money, you do get a solidly-built metal-barreled lens, which features a nine-aperture iris to help produce pleasant-looking bokeh. It is weather -proofed too.
Read more: Sony FE 35mm f/1.8 review
Many of Sony full-frame lenses are pretty hefty, but the Sony FE 40mm f/2.5G bucks the trend. Sony’s E-mount lens range includes some rather large and heavy zooms, but its primes, including the 40mm, are another matter: add this to your A7 III and it feels like a different camera.
It’s hard to find issues with the 40mm’s performance. Autofocus is fast and essentially silent, and edge-to-edge sharpness is superb.
If portrait photography is your main vocation, the Sony 85mm f/1.8 G Master might be the obvious choice; but if portrait photography is just an occasional thing for you, we think the cheaper, lighter, and nimbler f/1.8 version is the sensible alternative.
The 85mm focal length sits perfectly to balance perspective compression while maintaining a level of accuracy to facial features. The focal length, combined with the fast f/1.8 aperture, creates a flatteringly shallow depth of field for creamy background bokeh that isolates subjects with ease.
Although it comes without image stabilization (for that, you’ll have to rely on the in-body stabilization of the A7 III), it’s significantly cheaper and lighter than the more expensive FE 85mm f/1.4 GM making it more suited for portrait photographers who like to travel light and shoot on location.
Sigma’s Art line is known for impressive image quality and robust builds and this 105mm macro is no exception. With a strong, slimline profile it has weather seals all-round to protect it from the elements. Double that with a fluorine coating on the front element and it becomes a lens that could be taken anywhere.
Good as a mid-telephoto portrait lens thanks to its ability to focus to infinity, it quite obviously excels at macro images rendering genuine 1:1 reproduction ratios with outstanding detail. Utterly sharp throughout the frame and a special lens design that reduces color fringing that can’t be compensated for by the camera makes it likely the best macro lens for the Sony A7 III for the money, even more so than the Sony FE 90mm macro.
Sooner or later, every photographer will want a telephoto zoom to keep in the bag for events, sports, portraits, and other longer-range shooting. The Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS is a great lens that’s smaller and much lighter than Sony’s f/2.8 edition, and it typically costs much less.
It's true that a 70-200mm f/2.8 is seen as a 'must-have' lens in any professional system, but you pay the price very literally, and there's a weight penalty with the f/2.8 version too. This f/4 lens is cheaper, lighter, a lot less expensive, and only one f-stop slower.
There comes a time when photographers need to reach in close to the action and that’s exactly what the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS does. A huge focal length range aids the honing of frames for wildlife, sports, and action photography.
Though it has a slightly slower aperture range than other lenses on this list it’s equipped with an in-built optical steady shot feature that pairs with the A7 III’s in-built stabilization to provide a smooth shot whether handheld or on a monopod. It has three OSS modes and customizable focus hold buttons placed around the barrel at 90-degree intervals.
It's not every third-party manufacturer that's brave enough to go toe-to-toe with Sony's G Master lenses, but the Samyang AF 135mm f/1.8 FE is one that pulls it off. This lens is half the price of Sony's version, and is absolutely excellent, earning a perfect score in our review. Its robust, weather-sealed build boasts exceptional handling, and its autofocus perfectly synergizes with the latest Sony cameras.
We were seriously impressed with the results we achieved with the Samyang AF 135mm f/1.8 FE in our lab testing – at f/4, the degree of sharpness is very consistent from the center right out to the corners, which is unusual even in this modern era of high-quality optics.
The Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM is a near-faultless lens, also achieving the full five stars in our review. If you need the absolute best, it's probably the buy, but the Samyang is an incredible achievement for half the price.
Following on the heels of Sony’s FE 12-24mm f/4 G zoom, the new G Master edition delivers the same ultra-wide viewing angles but goes a f/stop wider in aperture. The f/4 lens is still on sale and a lot cheaper, so don't rule it out.
By necessity, the front optical elements of this f/2.8 version are considerably larger but the lens is reasonably lightweight and easily manageable. It certainly goes large in terms of performance, with outstanding image quality and rapid autofocus, making it well worth the typically high asking price for a G Master lens.
Before, the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master was the widest f/2.8 G Master lens in the Sony range, but the new Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master has stolen its crown.
The A7 III, like all Alpha 7 cameras, uses the Sony E lens mount. Sony’s own E-mount lenses have either FE or E in their model names: all work on the A7 III. FE lenses are designed for use with full-frame Sony cameras, including the A7 III, so these should be your first choice. If you are buying a third-party E-mount lens, check that the lens is designed for use with full-frame Sonys.
Sony lenses with an E (rather than FE) prefix are designed for APS-C format cameras such as the A6000 series. On the A7 III, they produce a cropped image, so they’re not an ideal choice.
The lens experts in our testing lab run a range of tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.
We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the centre of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths.
There's more to it than just the technical side, though! Beyond the lab, our reviewers test lenses in real-world environments – and sometimes on professional shoots! We work with lenses both indoors and outdoors, in studio conditions and in natural light, with as many different subjects as is possible (or appropriate – there's no point testing a landscape lens' ability to shoot a portrait!).
We take into account everything from handling and ease of use to speed of autofocus and the overall quality of the images produced.
Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. For the last 3 years Hannah has worked at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With 5 years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.
