Best Budget Walk Around Lens For Sony E Mount Cameras? I recently returned my canon eos rebel t7 and bought a Sony a6000 just for photos because of the dynamic range capabilities, and...

Bill Thrill

I recently returned my canon eos rebel t7 and bought a Sony a6000 just for photos because of the dynamic range capabilities, and is way more portable that a dslr. What do you guys think the best walk around lens for the sony a6000 camera is?

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Bill Thrill wrote:

I recently returned my canon eos rebel t7 and bought a Sony a6000 just for photos because of the dynamic range capabilities, and is way more portable that a dslr. What do you guys think the best walk around lens for the sony a6000 camera is?

There are two that I would consider. Both are medium zooms. They are the Sony 18-105, which is a very good, sharp lens, and the Sony 18-135 zoom, which is almost as good as the 18-105. The 18-105 has a slight edge on sharpness, but there’s no flies on the 18-135. I have that lens on my A6300 and like it a lot. Both lenses cover a lot of commonly use focal lengths and without the distortion problems associated with much longer zooms. That said, the 18-135 has a tiny bit of barrel distortion at the widest and longest focal lengths, however in camera software takes care of most of that, and the rest can be fixed in post. I would recommend either of those two lenses.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

My choice, on my A6500, is the 18-105 F4.

MDI Mainer

If you want a longer reach, there's the Sony or Tamron 18-200. Not quite as sharp as the lenses Wingpilot suggests, not as fast as the 18-105, and a bit heavier/longer, but in a pinch will give you almost 600 mm with Clear Image Zoom shooting medium JPEGs, 800 mm with small. The lens is very small and light compared to 600 mm glass. That extra reach has come in handy for me a couple of times, esp for images that will primarily be seen on the web.

So choice really depends on what your need are.

charleswendt

I like may Canon lenses on my a6000. Use and adapter to do this. They seem to do a better job that the Sony lenses.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Bill Thrill wrote:

I recently returned my canon eos rebel t7 and bought a Sony a6000 just for photos because of the dynamic range capabilities, and is way more portable that a dslr. What do you guys think the best walk around lens for the sony a6000 camera is?

Depends on what you want to shoot. Wildlife takes a longer zoom than just a walk around zoom.
For sports and wildlife I like something in the 70-300 range. For general photography and vacation shooting where you will want the lens on all day but not a heavy lens, then something in the 18-135 range would be good.

JDG3

Bill Thrill wrote:

I recently returned my canon eos rebel t7 and bought a Sony a6000 just for photos because of the dynamic range capabilities, and is way more portable that a dslr. What do you guys think the best walk around lens for the sony a6000 camera is?

Depends on where you walk. I do not own any zooms as I prefer prime lens. I have owned a Sony A6000 and now own an A6400. My preferred lens are either the Sony f1.8, 35 mm or the f1.8, 50mm.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I like the Tamron 18-200mm.

morkie1891

I have an a6500 that usually has a Sony 18-135 on it. I use a sigma 16mm f1.4 for Astro. Am considering sigma 30mm for street / walk around for the faster aperture. (Sigma 56mm to long for my preference).

lamontcranston

Wingpilot wrote:

There are two that I would consider. Both are medium zooms. They are the Sony 18-105, which is a very good, sharp lens, and the Sony 18-135 zoom, which is almost as good as the 18-105. The 18-105 has a slight edge on sharpness, but there’s no flies on the 18-135. I have that lens on my A6300 and like it a lot. Both lenses cover a lot of commonly use focal lengths and without the distortion problems associated with much longer zooms...I would recommend either of those two lenses.

I have both of those lenses on my A6000's and I can't decide which one I like best. For a walk around lens the 18-135 is a bit smaller and a bit lighter. If you do a lot of video I would probably choose the 18-105. You can't go wrong with either of them.

Bob Locher Loc: Southwest Oregon

I have the Sony 18-135 mm and it is an incredible lens. I try to shoot 2 stops below max aperture and the resolution is terrific. I also won the Sigma 30 mm f1.4 - and it is the sharpest lens I own. I strongly recommend either or both.
Cheers

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

rwilson1942 wrote:

My choice, on my A6500, is the 18-105 F4.

👍👍👍

MDI Mainer

charleswendt wrote:

I like may Canon lenses on my a6000. Use and adapter to do this. They seem to do a better job that the Sony lenses.

I've found that using an adapter with non-native glass inevitably degrades the autofocus performance of the A6X00 line, which is one of this camera family's best and most advanced features.

The question is: Is the degraded autofocus still good enough for what a particular photographer needs/wants?

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Bill Thrill wrote:

I recently returned my canon eos rebel t7 and bought a Sony a6000 just for photos because of the dynamic range capabilities, and is way more portable that a dslr. What do you guys think the best walk around lens for the sony a6000 camera is?

The kit lenses, when that camera was released, were the 16-80mm and the 55-210mm lenses. My friend still owns that camera. With those 2 lenses only, he took some very good photos in the UK, when he visited there a while back. Canon Rebel Series are great inexpensive crop sensor cameras. You might have made a better choice in selecting the Canon T7i., rather than the T7. But, kudos also to Sony's crop sensor mirrorless compact cameras. Having something compact to travel with is definitely an advantage, if you want to travel light.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

All great suggestions. I did once have the 18-200, but found that in inclement weather it would lose AF. The 18-105 always works well, and fits the camera better.