The best lenses for the Sony A7 IV: make the most of this camera’s inherent capabilities

I think that the Sony A7 IV is the perfect camera for wedding, social, and event photography. And I’m certainly not the only one if the camera’s fanbase is to be believed. Its 30MP resolution is more than enough for these sorts of applications, and a worthwhile step up from the 24MP found in many of its rivals. Better still, Sony has packed some seriously good autofocus technology into this camera, with the likes of face/eye AF and real-time tracking that give you a great hit rate whenever there are people in the frame.

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that wedding, social and event photography is no longer about taking stills. With hybrid shooting in mind, the A7 IV is also ideal for video. Unlike higher-resolution Alphas including the A7R V, it can still capture oversampled full-width 4K for best quality with no crop factor, and therefore not limiting a lens’s wide-angle potential. Ultimately, the Sony A7 IV one of the best professional cameras and perhaps one of the best cameras for filmmaking. The highest-resolution cameras are great for stills, but more limited for video capture. So it pays to buy lenses that follow suit.

Client expectations can be astronomic for this kind of photography, so I think Sony’s G Master lenses, although expensive, are some of the best Sony lenses to get. Of course, you don’t need to get every lens on my list and we all need to keep an eye on the budget these days, so I’ve included some excellent Sigma alternatives that deliver superb performance at lower price points.

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 was one of the first people to use the Sony A7 IV when it was launched.

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Best lenses for the Sony A7 IV

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Best standard zoom lens for the A7 IV

Back in a previous era when I had a DSLR, the Sigma 24-70mm Art was my go-to lens for everyday shooting, and I loved it. The original version of the ‘DN’ zoom for mirrorless cameras was a marked improvement and this revamped Mark II is even better. It has a redesigned optical path for greater edge-to-edge sharpness, as well as reducing sagittal coma flare, so pinpricks of light don’t take on irregular shapes. Along with excellent sharpness, the lens delivers smooth bokeh, the quality of which is enhanced by a particularly well-rounded 11-blade aperture.

I really like the handling of this lens. Additions over the original include an aperture control ring which comes complete with a click/de-click switch and a locking switch to avoid accidental operation. The de-click option is great for shooting video, and the lens has also been designed to minimize focus breathing. That’s another box ticked for shooting video. The Mark II also doubles up on AF-L function buttons, ideal for portrait as well as landscape orientation shooting, and they can be customized for other functions in camera menus, where available.

Autofocus is about three times faster than in the original lens, and well able to keep pace when tracking moving subjects, based on an HLA (High-response Linear Actuator) motor. All in all, it’s a brilliant lens for everyday shooting and I’d go as far as to say it’s pretty much as good as the Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 G Master II which costs about twice as much to buy. This Sigma is a steal at the price.

Read more: Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II Art review

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Best wide-angle lens for the A7 IV

Featuring exotic glass that includes two ultra-high-precision XA (Extreme Aspherical) elements, the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master was Sony’s top-quality wide zoom until the arrival of the even wider Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master.

For event photography, however, we think a 12-24mm is just too wide. This 16-35mm, however, doubles as an ultra-wide lens and a semi-wide everyday lens. For indoor shooting, it's an ideal 'standard' lens.

Other highlights include nano-structure coatings, a keep-clean fluorine coating on the front element, and extensive weather seals. There’s a fast and constant f/2.8 aperture and, when stopping down, the aperture remains extremely well-rounded thanks to an 11-blade diaphragm.

The DDSSM autofocus system is incredibly accurate and the lens also features a customizable focus hold button on the barrel. It is expensive, though, so you might also want too consider the rather good and much cheaper Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD.

Read more: Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 G review

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Best telephoto lens for the A7 IV

Why a 70-200mm f/2.8? Because the longer focal range is ideal when you can't get up close to your subjects – very common at weddings! – and because the f/2.8 maximum aperture can give you really shallow depth of field, especially at 200mm.

In many ways, a 70-200mm f/2.8 is a better portrait lens than an actual portrait lens! The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master OSS is one seriously well-specced optic, with one double-sided XA (Extreme Aspherical) element, two other aspherical elements, four ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, and two Super ED elements.

There are not one but two autofocus systems, incorporating a double linear motor plus an RDSSM (Ring Drive Super Sonic wave Motor), the latter being used for the heavier forward focus groups. The construction is fully weather-sealed and includes a fluorine coating on the front element.

Handling is particularly refined, with an autofocus range limiter, customizable focus hold buttons, and dual-mode stabilization for static and panning shots. All this translates into decent performance.

Image sharpness is very good indeed wide-open at f/2.8, throughout the entire zoom range, becoming excellent at f/4. Color fringing is minimal but distortion is a little worse than average for this type of lens. You might also want to take a look at the much cheaper Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD.

Read more: Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master OSS review

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Best lens with a wide reach for the A7 IV

The ‘DG’ version of this lens for Canon and Nikon DSLRs has long been my favorite ultra-telephoto zoom lens, thanks to its great all-round performance and image quality, wrapped up in a sturdy weather-sealed build. Not just a minor tweak, the ‘DN’ version for Sony mirrorless cameras is based on a complete redesign and, while it’s still a weighty beast, it’s significantly lighter than the original lens. It’s brilliant for bird photography, airshows, wildlife and all manner of different sporting occasions.

The autofocus is excellent, being both very fast and ultra-quiet, and it’s able to take full advantage of Sony’s Eye AF and advanced tracking abilities. I particularly like the tactile zoom and focus rings and that two custom settings for the likes of AF speed and stabilization intensity can be set up with Sigma’s optional USB Dock.

Another neat new feature in the DN mirrorless version of the lens is a Zoom Torque control, for adjusting the resistance of the zoom ring. This gives the option of free-flowing adjustment or stiffer control that makes the lens less susceptible to zoom creep.

Read more: Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports review

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Best 50mm lens for the A7 IV

The Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 is the lens that is most suited to most Sony shooters, impressively light and compact, but not compromising one bit on optical quality, this lens is almost perfect when it comes to sharpness in the center. With only a small falloff towards the edges of the frame and some vignetting wide open, this lens gets almost full marks.

The 50mm perspective offers a very versatile focal length, and it is definitely a lens that can be left on your camera for a moment's notice. If you don't need the extra aperture stop, or the added size, weight, or considerable cost of the FE 50mm f/1.2 GM, then the Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 will serve you perfectly.

Unfortunately, the downside is the lens is expensive when compared to similar rivals, with much cheaper third-party glass out there that will achieve similar visual results. However, few which share quite the same size and weight, lightning-fast autofocus, and solid moisture-resistant construction that this lens offers.

Read more: Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM review

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Best street photography lens for the A7 IV

A 24-70mm zoom and a 16-35mm will both cover the 35mm focal length, but neither will produce the results this lens can. A 35mm prime is often considered the perfect candid/street lens, offer a semi-wide angle of view for a large range of subjects – and the f/1.4 maximum aperture of this lens combines that wide view with strong background blur for unique environmental portraits.

It's a very versatile lens, suited to anything from portraits and weddings, to landscape and astrophotography. As you'd expect, it isn't cheap, but it delivers a spectacular optical performance.

It's not the smallest 35mm prime we've seen, but the handling really impressed, with a perfectly weighted ‘de-clickable’ aperture ring for video, to the smooth and light focus ring.

It’s a lovely lens, but it inevitably comes at a hefty price. Alternatively, why not consider the pint-sized Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G? It's nowhere near as fast, but it's light and easy to shoot with and might be perfect for filming on a gimbal – and it too has a de-clickable aperture ring.

Read more: Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 G Master review

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Best portrait photography lens for the A7 IV

A portrait lens is practically a must for anyone shooting weddings and events. The 85mm focal length gives natural-looking facial perspectives and the f/1.4 maximum aperture gives a beautiful background blur, helping to isolate your main subject against a blurred background.

As well as being super-sharp, the quality of the bokeh is wonderfully soft and dreamy, and remains so even when stopping down a little, helped by a very well-rounded 11-blade diaphragm.

It’s undeniably a very pricey lens but its performance more than justifies the cost. Talking of cost, though, there is a cheaper option which is almost as good. The Sony 85mm f/1.8 loses a little in maximum aperture, but its lighter and cheaper and a pretty stellar performer in its own right.

Read more: Sony FE 85mm f1.4 GM review

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Best macro photography lens for the A7 IV

Most of the lenses on our list will focus close enough for flowers and decorations, but if you want to capture something as small as a ring, you need a proper macro lens. At its minimum focus distance of 0.28 meters, the Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS lens delivers full 1.0x or 1:1 magnification.

That basically means that small objects are reproduced on the camera’s image sensor at full life size. Naturally, if you’re filling the whole image frame with something as small as a postage stamp, the potential for massively enlarging tiny details is enormous.

Beautifully built, this lens has up-market handling attractions including a customizable focus hold button, autofocus range limiter switch, and Optical SteadyShot.

Given that manual focusing is often preferred for extreme close-up shooting, there’s also a handy push-pull mechanism in the focus ring, for switching between auto and manual focus modes. It is pretty big and expensive, but keep in mind that it could also double as a portrait lens. You won't get the same background blur from its smaller f/2.8 maximum aperture, but you will still get the same flattering portrait perspective.

Read more: Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS review

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Best astrophotography lens for the A7 IV

This is a beast of a lens that is designed for astrophotographers - offering an impressive f/1.4 maximum aperture, with an ultra-wide 14mm focal length that is great for photographing nightscapes of the Milky Way. Sigma's previous 14mm for DSLR cameras could only manage f/1.8 - so this mirrorless-only version is a world-record breaker. Its light-gathering powers come into their own after dark but this is no one-trick pony – it’s also great for shooting landscapes, cityscapes, and architectural interiors, giving fabulous image quality backed up by superb handling and excellent build quality. In our laboratory tests, we remarked that the levels of sharpness are thoroughly excellent across the whole frame, even when shooting wide-open at f/1.4.

Read more: Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art review

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Lab data and comparisons

The graphs below show the comparative performance of the lenses in this guide, based on our in-house lab tests. The Sony FE 50mm comes up trumps for sharpness and the FE 35mm and FE 85mm aren’t far behind. Color fringing and distortions are pretty low across the board, apart from the Sigma 14mm which shows clearly noticeable barrel distortion. Automatic in-camera corrections for these aberrations are available with the Sony A7 IV.

Scores for sharpness and color fringing are averaged from data taken across the entire image frame, from the center to the edges and corners, throughout the aperture range. For zoom lenses, the scores are also averaged from data measured at all marked focal lengths, and the same applies to distortion. Bear in mind that these average values don't fully reflect specific areas of performance. For example, a zoom lens might have noticeable barrel distortion at its shortest focal length, which is less obvious when everything is averaged out. For more detailed graphs of each lens's performance, take a look at the graphs published in our full standalone reviews.

How to choose the best lens for the Sony A7 IV

The A7R III and A7R IV, like all Alpha 7 cameras, use the Sony E lens mount. Sony’s own E-mount lenses have either FE or E in their model names: all work on the A7R III and A7R IV. FE lenses are designed for use with full-frame Sony cameras, including the A7R III and A7R IV, 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 A7R III and A7R IV, they produce a cropped image, so they’re not an ideal choice.

Check out our guide to the best Sony lenses if you want to know more

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How we test lenses

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.

Find out more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World

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