Efficient A6400 lenses that provide flawless picture quality.
Making the right choice when picking from the best lenses for Sony A6400 is important if you want to reap all the benefits provided by this camera. This model entered the market in 2019 and has won over the hearts of many photographers with its terrific autofocus performance and 24.2MP APS-C sensor.
Moreover, even though this camera offers terrific functionality, it remains a relatively cheap model (about $1000), particularly if you compare it to full-frame alternatives. The A6400 is a fantastic option for travel and urban photography, vlogging, and everyday use.
That said, a good camera body isn’t worth much until you pair it with a proper lens. Thankfully, the list of quality Sony Alpha A6400 lenses is nearly endless, as it ranges from wide-angle to telephoto models while covering all other types in between as well. The prices for such lenses start at $300, meaning everyone can find a suitable option for themselves.
The list below goes over the best lenses for Sony A6400 in many different categories including wide-angle, telephoto, universal fixed, portrait, and macro. This rating includes both Sony’s proprietary lenses and products made by third-party brands like Sigma, Tamron, and several others.
Dimensions: 61.98 x 61.98 mm | Weight: 202g | Focal Length: 50mm | Lens Type: Prime | Autofocus: Yes
Fantastic picture quality and mesmerizing bokeh are one of the key benefits of this lens for Sony A6400. This model is the perfect choice for portrait, wedding, travel, and food photography, particularly because of its fantastic background blur functionality. The integrated stabilization sensors help you take clean, crisp handheld photos while the lens’ built-in focusing capabilities provide high-speed autofocus results and a great minimal focusing distance.
In line with other flagship Sony lenses, this model offers a quick, precise, and quiet autofocus system. In case you require manual control, you can switch to this mode but sadly you'll have to make peace with a digital manual focusing mechanism. As such, you won't be able to rely on tactile feedback when adjusting the focus ring, which makes manual focusing less intuitive and more time-consuming.
Dimensions: 70.1 x 63.5 mm | Weight: 225g | Focal Length: 10-18mm | Lens Type: Wide-angle | Autofocus: Yes
Regardless of whether you want to take ultra-wide landscape shots or work in narrow interiors, this Sony lens has you covered. It provides an extremely broad 15-27mm equivalent zoom range as well as a fixed f/4 aperture, allowing you to receive top-tier results in all kinds of complex scenarios.
The inclusion of a single Super ED and three aspherical components helps further boost the delivered picture quality by reducing aberrations throughout the entire range. Moreover, this lens is supplied with Optical SteadyShot image stabilization that virtually nullifies camera shake. In addition to the aforementioned functionality, I should note that this wide-angle lens also provides a built-in focusing mechanism that allows you to enjoy a quick and responsive AF with a minimum focal distance of 9.8”. Lastly, the 7-blade circular diaphragm is great for creating beautiful bokeh.
Dimensions: 77 x 142 mm | Weight: 625g | Focal Length: 70-350mm | Lens Type: Telephoto | Autofocus: Yes
This model covers a broad range of telephoto focal lengths while offering a 105-525mm equivalent zoom for APS-C-format E-mount cameras. The huge reach of the 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS makes it arguably the best lens for Sony A6400 when it comes to taking nature, landscape, and sports photos, particularly because it comes with Optical SteadyShot image stabilization that reduces camera shake to the minimum and lets you take stunning handheld shots.
I should also point out the impressive dust and moisture resistance, which ensures this model is suitable for active outdoor usage, particularly when paired with cameras that also offer some form of weather sealing.
Dimensions: 74 x 135.6 mm | Weight: 710g | Focal Length: 105mm | Lens Type: Macro | Autofocus: Yes
Top-tier optics as well as great close-distance focusing functionality, ensure this Sony E-Mount Macro Art lens made by Sigma is arguably your best choice for macro photography. It offers a minimal focal distance of 11.6” as well as a 5.5” working distance, which allows this macro lens to deliver a realistic, 1:1 reproduction ratio when taking photos of close-up objects.
This model features a single SLD element that serves to facilitate top-tier picture quality and color accuracy by minimizing all sorts of aberrations and color fringing. It’s also supplied with efficient Multilayer Coating that helps control flare and ghosting to deliver better contrast. I also highly value this lens’ handling capabilities, as it comes with a Hyper-Sonic Motor that delivers fast and silent autofocusing as well as convenient manual focusing control.
Dimensions: 74.6 x 119.3 mm | Weight: 525g | Focal Length: 17-70mm | Lens Type: Standard | Autofocus: Yes
The Tamron 17-700mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD deserves to be mentioned among the best lenses for Sony A6400, as it offers a terrific zoom range and bright design while representing a 25-105mm equivalent for APS-C-format E-mount cameras. The fact that this model can be used as both a wide and telephoto model makes it a fantastic choice for everyday use while its high-speed f/2.8 fixed aperture offers terrific performance in suboptimal lighting conditions and provides superior depth of field control.
I have to mention the fact that this lens is complemented by an array of specialized optics like aspherical and low dispersion components that deliver properly-corrected pictures with terrific sharpness, clarity, and color accuracy. Separate elements are also enhanced with Tamron’s BBAR coating that serves to minimize flare and ghosting to improve contrast when taking photos in backlit scenes or environments with harsh lighting.
Dimensions: 53 x 60 mm | Weight: 215g | Focal Length: 9mm | Lens Type: Wide-angle | Autofocus: No
This Laowa lens is arguably the widest wide-angle model that is currently available for Sony A6400. One of its biggest strengths is that it virtually doesn’t create any distortions while providing excellent performance for a wide-angle lens. Moreover, this model boasts top-tier optics and a reliable build for a relatively low price, offering a great bang for your buck. The lens is also pleasantly compact and can become the optimal travel companion for the road.
This lens for landscape photography offers impeccable edge-to-edge sharpness with near-zero distortions. Straight lines are reproduced properly even at the edges of the shot. The biggest drawback of this model is the absence of autofocus, which means you’ll have to focus all your shots manually. The lens also lacks image stabilization and can occasionally suffer from vignetting regardless of the aperture setting.
Dimensions: 73 x 100 mm | Weight: 494g | Focal Length: 16-55mm | Lens Type: Standard | Autofocus: Yes
You can’t be a professional photographer without a standard zoom lens in your kit, which is a 50mm (full-frame equivalent) model that also lets you take some wide-angle and telephoto shots. Sony’s APS-C standard zoom supports a focal length equivalent of 24-82mm while offering superior reach compared to the regular 24-70mm full-frame zoom. Such a broad range allows you to use this lens for nearly any purpose. You can employ this Sony model for wildlife, portrait, landscape, and even close-up photography.
One of the best aspects of this lens is its quick and fixed f/2.8 aperture that lets you avoid losing aperture stops in suboptimal lighting while providing superior depth of field control.
| IMAGE | NAME | FEATURES | |
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Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS
OUR CHOICE
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CHECK PRICE → | |
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Sony E 10-18mm F4 OSS
COMPACT
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CHECK PRICE → | |
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Sony 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
FOR PROS
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CHECK PRICE → |
The clearer you’ll see the specific goals in front of you, the easier it’ll be to pick the optimal model from the list of the best lenses for Sony A6400 presented above. To help you make that decision, I’ll go over the most important aspects of any lens while also explaining when specific parameters are relevant and when some of them can be ignored in favor of others.
The focal length is determined by the distance between the optical center of the lens and the camera's sensor and is measured in millimeters. The larger the focal length, the smaller the image angle and the bigger the zoom offered by the lens. Long-focus or tele- lenses are usually used for taking photos of distant subjects. On the other hand, short-focus or wide-angle lenses offer a broader image angle and can encompass expansive environments.
The minimum aperture value of a specific lens is represented by the maximum size of the adjustable lens opening. It’s described as a relation between the focal length and the aperture opening diameter. For instance, an aperture of f/4 means that the opening diameter is four times smaller than the focal length.
The larger the aperture (the smaller the aperture number), the more light will go through the lens, and the shorter exposure times you'll be able to use. Generally, the larger the aperture – the better, but it should be noted that high-aperture lenses are always bigger and more expensive than their alternatives so if you’re a landscape photographer who always takes photos with an aperture of f/8 or higher, then chasing over superior apertures doesn’t make any practical sense.
Price is another crucial aspect to consider when picking from A6400 lenses. Determining your budget (preferably with a soft and a hard cap) is the first thing you should do before you even begin comparing all the different features and parameters of various models.
If you’re a beginner who treats photography as a hobby, then your budget will probably be more limited than that of a professional photographer. Some lenses can be extremely expensive so don’t the mistake of investing more money than you can afford.
In my opinion, a more lightweight and compact lens for your Sony camera is always the better option as long as it isn’t noticeably inferior in all other relevant parameters. In some situations, like during a tourist trip, I’m willing to sacrifice some of the convenience and functionality of a lens for the sake of lowering the weight of my photography gear as long as it doesn’t drastically hurt the image quality.
However, it’s important to understand that many lenses can’t possibly be small and lightweight due to their build. This is particularly relevant for lenses with extreme focal lengths, primarily super-telephoto models as well as high-aperture lenses. It’s also worth noting that a large weight is the reverse side of reliability and sturdiness, which are hallmarks of professional optics.
Other than the primary parameters, there are also some extra aspects you can take into consideration:
Weather sealing. If you’re on the road a lot and want to employ your new lens for documentary purposes, weather sealing can be a must-have inclusion.
Optical stabilization. Due to the lack of built-in stabilization in the A6400 camera, getting a lens with optical stabilization can be instrumental for ensuring smooth, convenient performance.
Yes, you have to get a lens for the A6400. This mirrorless camera has an interchangeable lens build, allowing you to take out and replace compatible lenses as you see fit. Without a lens, you won’t be able to use the camera to take photos at all. Even though interchangeable lens cameras require you to make some extra purchases, the provided creative control and versatility of such models more than makes up for it.
The price of a Sony A6400 lens completely depends on the specific model. Some lenses are as cheap as $250 while high-quality full-frame models can cost up to $3000 if you’re willing to invest in the premium Sony GM series.
The Sony A6400 is equipped with an APS-C-format sensor and employs the E-mount mechanism. As such, you can pair this camera with all E-mount lenses regardless of whether they were produced by Sony or other manufacturers like Tamron or Sigma.
Sony states that this camera is both dust- and moisture-resistant but the way it’s worded, it becomes clear that they don’t guarantee it will remain safe should it get seriously wet. Resistant typically means it will withstand a certain degree of moisture or short rainfall. My own A6400 camera has gotten wet on occasion and I didn’t have any problems, but I always dry it off as soon as possible and employ a protective cover if I have to work in the rain for long.
