Launched back in 2021, the Sony A7 IV remains a very capable full-frame mirrorless camera. It has excellent all-around performance and is capable of gorgeous image quality for both stills and video. However, it doesn’t boast the flashy new tech of its replacement, the Sony A7 V, or the mighty megapixel count of Sony’s Alpha ‘R’ line of cameras, currently culminating in the 66.8MP Sony A7R VI. The net result, in financial terms, is that the A7 IV has become great value for money, especially if you buy a used example, of which there are very many on the market. Indeed, some of the leading online stores for used photographic gear each had over 100 in stock at the time of writing.
Considering the price point of the camera body, either new or used, I’ve selected what I think are the best-fit lenses for this guide. As such, they deliver suitably impressive image quality and all-round performance, and smart handling characteristics, while also giving you the most bang for your buck. I’ve selected lenses that I’ve personally tested and reviewed, and quite a few of which I own and often use myself.
All of the lenses in this guide are reasonably affordable yet more than up to the task. However, they’re mostly made by third-party manufacturers and represent great value compared with some of Sony’s own-brand glass. If you’re determined to spend more on some of Sony’s top-end glass, check out our alternative guides to the best lenses for the Sony A7 V, or the best lenses for the Sony A7R V, A7R IV, and A7R III, or the best lenses for the Sony A7R VI. Even then, you might find a fair bit of overlap. So let’s cut to the chase and get straight on to what I think are currently the best choices for the A7 IV camera body…
Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners!
His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.
In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.
Best lenses for the Sony A7 IV
Best standard zoom lens for the A7 IV
A while back, 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 f/2.8 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
Features ★★★★★ |
Advanced features include a click/de-click aperture ring and two Fn buttons. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The Mark II sheds a little weight while enhancing autofocus speed and quality. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
Fast and consistently accurate autofocus teams up with excellent image quality. |
Value ★★★★★ |
Compared with own-brand ‘trinity’ standard zooms, the Sigma Mark II is bargain. |
Best wide-angle lens for the A7 IV
I mostly use ultra-wide-angle zoom lenses for landscape photography, although they’re equally adept at cityscapes, architectural interiors, vlogging, astrophotography, and more besides. Like many ‘alternative trinity’ ultra-wide zooms, this one bucks the conventional 14-24mm trend but retains a relatively fast and constant f/2.8 aperture rating. And it does this in a much more compact, lightweight, and affordable package.
A significant upgrade over the original Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD, this G2 (Generation 2) lens has a more generous zoom range and a faster ‘voice-coil motor’ autofocus system, instead of a more basic stepping motor. Sure, it’s not the ‘widest’ ultra-wide zoom, but I love that it has a regular 67mm front filter attachment thread. That’s really useful in landscape photography, for adding one of the best ND Grads or the best high-density ND filters. You might also like using circular polarizer filters, but they tend to give an uneven effect at ultra-wide focal lengths.
Ultimately, the Tamron 16-30mm has lovely handling characteristics, a high-precision autofocus system, and delivers excellent image quality in terms of sharpness, clarity, and color rendition, along with impressive suppression of color fringing, ghosting, and flare. It’s also less reliant on automatic in-camera correction for distortion, compared with many recent wide-angle lenses designed for mirrorless cameras.
Read more: Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 review
Features ★★★★★ |
Top features include an ultra-wide zoom range with a constant f/2.8 aperture, rapid voice-coil motor based autofocus, and a customizable function button. |
Design ★★★★★ |
True to Tamron’s original design concept, this ‘alternative trinity’ zoom is refreshingly compact and lightweight, but well built with an extensive set of weather-seals. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
The lens is sharp and crisp, from edge to edge and corner to corner across the whole image frame, matching fast and accurate autofocus with excellent optical quality. |
Value ★★★★★ |
It’s not exactly a cheap lens, but it massively undercuts the price of regular trinity wide-angle zooms and is a real bargain for Sony E mount camera systems. |
Best telephoto lens for the A7 IV
I love that this lens is much more compact, lightweight, and affordable than conventional 70-200mm f/2.8 ‘trinity’ telephoto zooms. Sure, it doesn’t quite stretch to 200mm at the long end, but it comes pretty close, while retaining that all-important constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the entire zoom range. It works a treat for weddings and events, and even for sports and wildlife photography, while keeping the weight off for long periods of handheld shooting.
The original Tamron 70-180mm was a great lens, but I love that the G2 adds optical image stabilization, uprated handling, and revamped optics. And it delivers all this at a more inexpensive launch purchase price than the original lens. I find that any camera's in-body image stabilization is second-best with telephoto lenses, so the addition of optical stabilization is particularly welcome.
Autofocus is super-fast, based on a VXD (Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive) system, and well able to do justice to the Fast Hybrid AF, Eye AF and advanced tracking options in Sony’s recent mirrorless cameras. The proof of the pudding is in the image quality, and I'm very impressed that the lens's many optical upgrades translate into fabulous pictorial excellence. It’s simply a terrific lens at a bargain price.
Read more: Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 review
Features ★★★★★ |
Fancy features in the ‘Generation 2’ include a three-pole Custom switch, function button and USB-C port. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The design gives you almost the same zoom range as a classic 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom but in a much smaller, lighter package. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
From super-fast and highly accurate autofocus to great image quality and effective optical stabilization, it’s a cracker. |
Value ★★★★★ |
It’s less than half the price of many ‘trinity’ telephoto zooms, making it a standout bargain. |
Best super-telephoto lens for the A7 IV
So-called ‘great white’ super-telephoto lenses have a habit of being very large, massively heavy, and hugely expensive. They’re frankly cumbersome and unaffordable. This one follows suit with its white paint job, high-end handling characteristics, and generous telephoto reach, but that’s where the similarities end. It’s incredibly compact and lightweight for this type of lens (under a kilogram) and insanely great value for money by any standards, and especially by the standards of other Sony G Master lenses.
I tested this FE 400mm at length, and it completely bowled me over, resulting in a 5-star review and a gold award. Ideal for action, sports, motorsports, wildlife, bird and aircraft photography, the lens ticks all the right boxes. It has superfast autofocus with tenacious tracking abilities, based on not one but two XD (eXtreme Dynamic) linear motors. Compact and lightweight enough for even long periods of handheld shooting, it also boasts 5.5-stop optical image stabilization with three switchable modes, plus a large collection of switches and buttons to hone its operating characteristics to the shooting scenario at hand.
Image quality is super-sharp with fabulous clarity and beautiful color rendition, along with delightfully smooth bokeh. There’s also very good resistance to ghosting and flare, while color fringing and distortion are virtually non-existent. Naturally, something has to give when you’re squeezing a quart into a pint pot, so it’s not the ‘fastest’ 400mm prime in the world. It’s a trade-off that I’m more than happy to make. If you feel that you’d prefer an even greater focal length, the lens is compatible with Sony’s teleconverters, or you might prefer the Sony FE 600mm f/6.3 GM OSS. The 600mm is virtually identical in size, weight, and handling characteristics, but has a slower aperture rating and is rather pricier to buy.
Read more: Sony FE 400mm f/4.5 GM OSS review
Features ★★★★★ |
Top-flight features include dual XD autofocus motors, highly efficient triple-mode optical stabilization, and a bucketload of handling extras. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The design is a masterpiece of miniaturization, shoehorning a 400mm super-telephoto focal length into an incredibly compact and lightweight, yet tough and weather-sealed build. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
Autofocus is super-fast and tenacious, optical stabilization works brilliantly, and image quality is gorgeous in all respects. |
Value ★★★★★ |
I’m not going to pretend it’s a cheap lens to buy but considering its design, handling and performance, it’s great value for money. |
Best standard prime for the A7 IV
This ‘Evo’ lens from Viltrox takes a winning formula in terms of image quality and all-around performance, and packs it into a next-gen design that adds a dedicated aperture control ring with a click/de-click switch, an AF/MF focus mode switch, and a customizable function button. Handling is further enhanced by a lightweight build that is nevertheless robust, with a high-quality feel based on an all-metal construction complete with weather seals.
The high-grade optical path is based on 13 elements arranged in 9 groups, including an aspherical element, two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, and two HR (High Refractive index) elements. It’s a few millimeters longer than a ‘standard’ 50mm lens but is an absolute joy to use on both full-frame and APS-C format cameras, having a portrait-friendly ‘effective’ 82.5mm focal length on the latter. You can get a similar effect using the crop mode on your A7 IV.
Read more: Viltrox AF 55mm f/1.8 FE Evo review
Features ★★★★★ |
The feature set belies the budget asking price, including a click/de-click aperture control ring and a customizable function button. |
Design ★★★★★ |
Build quality feels very substantial, with an all-metal casing and mounting plate that include weather-seals. The design is also refreshingly compact and lightweight. |
Performance ★★★★½ |
Image quality is excellent, with impressive sharpness, clarity, and color rendition, along with the absence of unwanted aberrations. Autofocus is fast and consistently accurate. |
Value ★★★★★ |
I’ve yet to find a Viltrox lens that’s not excellent value for money. This one’s worth every cent and more besides. |
Best street photography lens for the A7 IV
I’ve come to expect a lot from Viltrox lenses, and for comparatively little outlay compared with equivalent own-brand Sony lenses. Even so, the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8 Evo II really comes up trumps with excellent all-metal build quality despite its compact and lightweight construction, along with advanced handling characteristics that include a click/de-click aperture ring and a customizable function button.
More importantly, as far as I’m concerned, the autofocus mechanism is fast, near-silent, and consistently accurate, while image quality is superb in terms of sharpness and clarity, smooth bokeh, and a minimum of unwanted aberrations. Everything’s packed into a compact and lightweight package that helps with remaining inconspicuous when you’re out and about, shooting on the streets.
Read more: Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8 Evo II review
Features ★★★★★ |
There’s a fine feature set for such a budget-friendly lens, including a click/de-click aperture control ring and a customizable function button. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The all-metal casing and mounting plate feel robust and well-engineered, there are weather-seals, and the design is nicely compact and lightweight. |
Performance ★★★★½ |
Autofocus is fast and reliably accurate, while image quality is highly impressive in all respects. |
Value ★★★★★ |
Like other Viltrox lenses, this one is standout value for money and you get a great deal for your outlay. |
Best superzoom travel lens for the A7 IV
For walkabout and travel photography, whether I’m ambling around city streets, trekking into the wilds, or flying to the other side of the world, I often like to take just one lens for the journey, fitted on my camera. You might think that’s completely at odds with the ethos of an ‘interchangeable lens mirrorless camera’, but it saves on stowage size and weight, and avoids the need to swap lenses in adverse, dusty, or sandy conditions. That’s why I’ve always been keen on ‘superzoom’ lenses, with their all-in-one abilities.
I really liked the original Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD, which I personally praised for its compact, lightweight, travel-friendly build, relatively fast aperture rating, and impressive image quality, at least for a ‘superzoom’ lens. However, I always felt that its maximum field of view was rather limiting, and it simply didn’t go wide-angle enough for my liking. The 25-200mm ‘Generation 2’ puts that right. A difference of 3mm might not sound like much, but it makes a massive difference to the lens’s wide-angle potential.
The G2 has even improved upon itself, thanks to a V3 firmware update that enables closer focusing throughout the 25-70mm sector of the zoom range, delivering 0.5x or more macro magnification. That adds even more versatility. More importantly for general and travel shooting, the lens delivers very good sharpness and all-around image quality throughout its entire zoom range, backed up by fast and consistently accurate autofocus. It’s one of the best superzoom lenses on the planet at a very competitive price.
Read more: Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 review
Features ★★★★½ |
Strong features include an expansive 25-200mm zoom range with a relatively fast aperture rating, fast voice-coil autofocus, a 0.5x macro facility and a customizable function button. |
Design ★★★★½ |
The design is suitably lightweight and easily manageable yet extensively weather-sealed, ideal for a travel lens. Typically, however, it stretches quite noticeable at longer zoom settings. |
Performance ★★★★½ |
It’s not the sharpest lens in the world but the Tamron is nevertheless impressively sharp for a superzoom lens, with consistently accurate autofocus and very good overall image quality. |
Value ★★★★½ |
It is either a little more or less expensive than the Sony FE 24-240mm, depending on where in the world you live. |
Best portrait photography lens for the A7 IV
Fast primes generally come with price tags to match, especially if you’re thumbing through the price list of Sony G Master lenses. I love that this Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro really lives up to its ‘Pro’ aspirations, with exotic handling characteristics, a robust and weather-sealed metal construction, and most of all, gorgeous image quality, but at a much more budget-friendly purchase price.
Attractions include a rapid yet virtually silent VCM (Voice Coil Motor) autofocus, along with a top-grade optical path based on 15 elements arranged in 11 groups. These include three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, no less than nine HRI (High Refractive Index) elements, and one aspherical element. HD Nano multi-layer coatings are applied to minimize ghosting and flare, and a keep-clean fluorine coating is applied to the front element.
The Viltrox combines impressive sharpness and clarity with exquisitely soft bokeh. It’s simply a brilliant buy for Sony E-mount cameras, if you’re into portraiture and still life, or for any time you need a fast, short telephoto prime.
Read more: Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro review
Features ★★★★★ |
There are plenty of features on tap, including a click/de-click aperture control ring and function button. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The design works really well, from the robust metal weather-sealed build to the controls and VCM autofocus system. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
The lens does well to combine excellent sharpness with soft and dreamy bokeh, ideal for portraiture. |
Value ★★★★★ |
At less than a third of the price of the own-brand Sony 85mm f/1.4 lens, the Viltrox is outstanding value. |
Best macro photography lens for the A7 IV
With fully internal focusing, this Tamron lens retains its relatively compact physical length of about five inches even at its shortest focus distance. That helps to retain a comfortable working distance in macro photography, rather than the front of the lens encroaching on the subject.
Autofocus is driven by a VXD (Voicecoil eXtreme Drive) motor, which is rapid for general shooting as well as being virtually silent. For ultra-precise macro shooting, there’s the usual slowdown in autofocus speed to ensure optimum accuracy. Handling extras include an autofocus range limiter and a customizable function button.
The lens has 15 elements arranged in 12 groups, and includes four LD (Low Dispersion) elements to enhance clarity and color reproduction while minimizing color fringing. You also get a particularly well-rounded aperture diaphragm, based on 12 blades, which is a first for a Tamron lens. Image quality and all-around performance are top-drawer.
Read more: Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di III Macro VXD review
Features ★★★★☆ |
There’s an autofocus range limiter and function button but no optical stabilizer nor an aperture control ring. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The design features good build quality, weather-seals and great handling characteristics. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
Image quality is excellent in all respects, and the autofocus system works really well. |
Value ★★★★☆ |
It’s a fair bit less expensive than own-brand Sony 90mm macro lenses. |
How we test lenses and lab test comparisons
The lens experts in our testing lab run a range of tests under controlled conditions. We take photos of Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts, then use the Imatest Master testing suite to analyze sharpness, distortion, and chromatic aberrations at the centre of the image frame, corners, and mid-point distances across the range of aperture settings (up to f/22, where available).
The graphs below show the comparative performance of the lenses in this guide, based on our in-house lab tests. Only full f-stops are labelled on the X-axis for sharpness, so, for example, an f/1.2 or f/6.3 lens would correlate to f/1 and f/5.6, respectively.
Despite their budget-friendly price tags, both of the Viltrox Evo 35mm and 55mm do exceptionally well for sharpness. The Tamron 16-30mm and 25-200mm look relatively unimpressive for sharpness but are nevertheless very good for 'ultra-wide-angle' and 'superzoom' lenses, respectively, both of them delivering excellent results in real-world shooting. There's very little color fringing from any of the lenses. Technically, the Tamron 16-30mm looks worst, but fringing is still pretty negligible and well within the remit of automatic in-camera correction. The same goes for wide-angle distortion from the Tamron 25-200mm.
For more detailed graphs of each lens's performance that give the full picture, check out the graphs in our standalone lens reviews.
Center sharpness
Use the dropdown menu to select between wide-angle, mid-wide, mid-tele, and telephoto zoom settings (prime lens data is replicated across all charts for ease of comparison)
| Timestamp (f-stop) | Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II | A () | Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 () | Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 () | Sony FE 400mm f/4.5 GM () | Viltrox AF 55mm f/1.8 Evo () | Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8 Evo II () | Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 () | Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro () | Tamron 90mm F/2.8 Di III Macro VXD () |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2854 | 2655 | N/A | 2230 | N/A |
| 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3047 | 2759 | N/A | 2359 | N/A |
| 3 | 2699 | N/A | 2834 | N/A | 3312 | 3226 | N/A | 2884 | 2656 |
| 4 | 2535 | 1769 | 2713 | N/A | 3172 | 2883 | 2176 | 2847 | 2700 |
| 5 | 2546 | 2099 | 2543 | 2533 | 3060 | 2765 | 2148 | 2429 | 2491 |
| 6 | 2463 | 2051 | 2576 | 2626 | 2643 | 2624 | 2075 | 2310 | 2411 |
| 7 | 2147 | 1896 | 2261 | 2506 | 2210 | 2358 | 1897 | 1859 | 2006 |
| 8 | 1834 | 1712 | 1821 | 2111 | 1690 | 1828 | 1765 | 1542 | 1694 |
| 9 | 1356 | 1472 | 1432 | 1754 | N/A | N/A | 1511 | N/A | 1605 |
Fringing @ f/8
Use the dropdown menu to select between wide-angle, mid-wide, mid-tele, and telephoto zoom settings (prime lens data is replicated across all charts for ease of comparison)
| Product | Value |
|---|---|
| Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II | A | 0.05 |
| Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 | 0.44 |
| Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 | 0.18 |
| Sony FE 400mm f/4.5 GM | 0.32 |
| Viltrox AF 55mm f/1.8 Evo | 0.31 |
| Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8 Evo II | 0.32 |
| Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 | 0.16 |
| Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro | 0.32 |
| Tamron 90mm F/2.8 Di III Macro VXD | 0.19 |
Distortion
Use the dropdown menu to select between wide-angle, mid-wide, mid-tele, and telephoto zoom settings (prime lens data is replicated across all charts for ease of comparison)
| Product | Value |
|---|---|
| Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II | A | -2.25 |
| Tamron 16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 | -1.35 |
| Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 | 1.51 |
| Sony FE 400mm f/4.5 GM | 0.67 |
| Viltrox AF 55mm f/1.8 Evo | -0.35 |
| Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.8 Evo II | -0.35 |
| Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 | -4.49 |
| Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro | 0.58 |
| Tamron 90mm F/2.8 Di III Macro VXD | -0.76 |
There's more to it than just the technical side, though! Beyond the lab, our reviewers test lenses in real-world environments. We work with lenses both indoors and outdoors, in studio conditions and in natural light, with as many different subjects as 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 autofocus speed and the overall quality of the images produced.
Find out more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World
How to choose the best lens for the Sony A7 IV
The A7 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 A7 IV, at least to some extent. FE lenses are designed for use with full-frame Sony cameras, including the A7 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 Sony bodies.
Sony lenses with an E (rather than FE) prefix, and similar lenses from other manufacturers, are designed for APS-C format cameras such as the A6000 series. They produce a smaller image circle so on the A7 IV, you'd need to shoot in APS-C / Super 35mm crop mode.
The crop mode gives you a 1.5x boost in 'effective' focal length, for example making a 100mm lens feel like using a 150mm lens. However, you lose a bunch of megapixels along the way, so can only capture relatively small images. With the A7 IV, you'll drop from full-sized 33MP images to 'cropped' 14.2MP images.
Check out our guide to the best Sony lenses if you want to know more
