I tend to agree with those who like the zooms. That is mostly what I use too. But if you think that you need a 50-55 prime then buy a used Minolta or Canon, or Pentax old film prime lens. There are lots of them out there in f1.8, f1.4, or f1.2. I personally have a Minolta 58mm f1.4 that I got at a yard sale for $10. Add another $10 for an adapter. For $20 I have one fast prime that will be very comparable to a modern lens at 1/100 the price. Be it fully manual though. Which is not a problem with my Sony Cameras with focus peaking. Happy Shooting.

I just bought the Sony 55mm f1.8 lens as my first (and maybe only) lens with my new Sony a7R ii. It arrived on Wednesday and it's truly superb -- maybe the best lens/camera combo I've ever used (see my book, "Choosing Great Cameras for Cruises & Tours"). It's working great now, and I bought Adorama's Green Leaf 5-year warranty for $165. It covers $3,000 worth of damage. I also have a camera floater on my USAA Valuable Property insurance. With both of these in place, a mechanical failure down the line will result in me receiving a new lens.

Be careful, Your Sony is full Frame. I am not familiar with Nikon decode. You do not want any APS-C lenses. That is why I chose the old Film Lenses. They are all Full Frame. Seems like the Metabones adapters are a bit pricy. But if it works in AF it may be worth it. My Generic adapter for the Minolta lens to Sony-E was only $10 for manual lenses. If you want super dooper primes, look at "film" lenses for Contax and Rollie, They are all Zeiss lenses. Note that these will be all manual lenses. I also have a Sigma MC-11 adapter for AF, Canon lenses and all the AF and F stop functions work great, on my Sony a7S and a6000.

I'm going to a Sony meeting at the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles. I'll be taking a close look at the Sony FE 28mm f2 lens to see if it matches the handling and quality of the 55mm 1.8. It's only about 8 oz. I'd love to be shooting a zoom but as far as I know, they're either too heavy (I try for a 1-pound cutoff), too expensive (>$1000), or of just average quality (Sony 24-70 kit lens). If anyone has good things to say about the kit zoom or any third-party zoom meeting these constraints, please let me know!

I'm looking for a prime lens for my new Sony a7iii and was considering a 50mm. I think it would make a great traveling camera instead of taking my 24-70/4 (I kinda wished I would've gotten the 24-105!).

The zoom is great for everyday pictures and I have my D500 for action and portraits, so I don't want a slew of lenses for the Sony. The 24-70 is the only full frame Sony lens I have.

I've watched many reviews and youtube videos and still can't decide. Now, I'd like to hear from actual users. I read that the 55 has a mechanical flaw by this reviewer on B&H, who said,

"While its optically excellent, it is mechanically flawed. A well-known photo equipment rental company has had to repair many of these lenses due to a STUPID engineering design. A crucial part of the focusing motor, used for both AF and manual focusing, is only secured by a glob of glue!! When this coil releases from the glue, the lens cannot focus. From online discussions, it seems that Sony out-sourced repair centers will deem this defect 'unrepairable' (the rental company disassembles their lenses and reapply another glob of glue). The result for the rest of us is a very expensive paperweight."

I don't want to buy an very expensive paperweight!!