The 5 Best Travel Lenses for Sony Cameras: Buyers Guide & Reviews

Going on vacation presents you with many unique opportunities. Vacations are an excellent chance to unwind and just enjoy yourself for a little while. You want to be able to see some amazing sights while also sometimes just taking it easy. Many people also want to be able to capture the best moments of their trip for posterity.

If you own a nice Sony camera, then you’re probably pretty serious about taking good photos. When you plan on taking your camera on the trip, it’s worthwhile to think about getting a really good travel lens. The best travel lens for Sony cameras will be capable of capturing all of the magical moments of your trip while giving you the best possible experience. It might be worth investing a little bit of money on a better lens if you’re going to have many neat things to take pictures of during your travels.

Which is the Best Travel Lens for Sony Cameras? Find Out

Today we are going to be taking a look at the best travel lens options for Sony cameras. After going over the details of all of them, you’ll have a much easier time finding the perfect option for you. All of these are going to be worthwhile travel lens options of Sony cameras. Just read about their differences and what they bring to the table before you make your final decision on which one to purchase.

best travel lens for sony cameras

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD Lens for Sony E-Mount Cameras w/ Advanced Photo and Travel Bundle

This is a truly great travel lens that works with all Sony Mirrorless Cameras. These are often referred to as Sony E-Mount Cameras as well. This means that this will work perfectly with the a3000, a3500, a5000, a5100, a6000, a6300, and a6500 APS-C cameras. It’ll also work fantastically with the a7, a7 II, a7 III, a7R, a7R II, a7R III, a7S, and a7S II full frame cameras.

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Now that the compatibility questions are out of the way, we can look at how this camera performs. This is a very high-precision lens that can help you to take the best photos. This full-frame, compatible lens is great for many types of shots. Everything from wide-angle shots to portrait length is going to turn out really nice with this lens.

Another thing that is worth noting about this camera lens is the fact that it offers you increased control over depth of field. When you combine this with its ability to offer enhanced low-light performance, it becomes easy to see why this is such a worthwhile camera lens to purchase. You’ll definitely get a lot of use out of this one.

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras w/Advanced Photo and Travel Bundle (Tamron 6 Year Limited USA Warranty) This package comes with more than just the camera lens, too. You’ll also be getting the Altura photo sling backpack, the 67MM Altura photo filter kit, and an Altura photo cleaning kit. It also comes with a nice microfiber cloth for cleaning your camera lens. This is a good value for what you’re getting, assuming you have enough money to put down on this lens.

You’ll find that this lens is a little bit pricey, so this isn’t something that you’re likely to go out and buy on a whim. If you’re really dedicated to getting good vacation photos, then this is a perfect camera lens to own for your Sony camera. Consider it if you are in need of a versatile camera lens that can take great wide-angle shots while still doing good portrait-length shots. This is a good camera lens and it might be the right choice for you.

Pros

  • Comes with a lot of extras
  • Takes great wide-angle shots and portrait-length shots
  • Enhanced low-light performance
  • Increased control over depth of field

Cons

  • The price will make some people shy away from this

Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS

This is a camera lens that is made directly by Sony themselves. It’s a great option for anyone who is using a Sony E-mount camera. You’re going to be able to get excellent contrast on your shots if you decide to make use of this camera lens. People have been using this lens to take some truly excellent pictures.

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One of the best things about this lens is that it is really versatile overall. You’re going to have great zoom options and it shouldn’t be difficult to get the best possible shot at many different ranges. It has a good minimum focus distance and it even has a great maximum magnification ratio. Your angle of view is going to be good when you’re making use of this one.

Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS You’ll also be able to have constant F4 aperture throughout the zoom range. This allows you to take the shots at many different points in the zoom, without having to worry. Overall, this camera lens performs great in many situations. It should be a very good option for anyone who is traveling and wanting to take great vacation photos.

It’s also worth noting that you can buy this camera lens in a few different variants. For a little bit more money you can add a polarizer to enhance your experience. It’s also possible to add a bit more than that to the price to add a UV filter. Both of these can be beneficial, but we found that the base model is going to suit most people just fine.

Pros

  • Excellent contrast
  • Great zoom options
  • Can maintain F4 aperture through the zoom ranges

Cons

  • Not as good for studio photography

Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E-Mount Cameras w/ Advanced Photo and Travel Bundle

This is another bundle that is going to give you a lot of stuff besides just the camera lens. You’ll be getting a very nice sling backpack that can house your camera lens safely. You’ll also be receiving a photo compact, a filter kit, a cleaning kit, a microfiber cloth, a dedicated lens hood, and a lens cap with a cap keeper. There is a lot of stuff in this bundle and all of it is very worthwhile.

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You will find that this lens is one of the best overall values that is being put on this list. You can purchase this lens at a lower price than most of the other options being shown here. Also, it gives you much more stuff on the side which makes it that much more appealing. Of course, the camera lens has to be good for this to truly be a viable option.

Thankfully, this camera lens does perform very well. This lens is very fast when it comes to focusing. You’ll be able to focus on your target quickly so that you can take the optimal shot. This is a dynamic camera lens that is going to work well in many situations, too.

Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E You should know that this camera lens is capable of shooting many different types of pictures well. This works well for portraits and it also works brilliantly for landscapes. You’ll be able to get all of this done properly in bright light and it even works admirably in low-light situations. This is truly a lens that is going to be capable in most situations.

The only potential negative is that the autofocus could definitely be better. You might wind up finding that the manual focus is preferable due to the autofocus not getting things quite as sharp as you’d ideally like them to be. Even so, this is an easy lens to recommend. If you want a camera lens that is a great value, then you won’t be disappointed with this one.

Pros

  • Bundled with many convenient items
  • Affordable
  • Fast manual focusing
  • Works great for both landscapes and portraits
  • Works well in low-light situations

Cons

  • Autofocus could be better

Sony SEL35F18 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens

This is another Sony lens that is going to perform admirably while you’re on vacation. One thing that you’ll want to take into consideration when you’re traveling is that you need to be able to get around easily. Carrying a bunch of cumbersome camera equipment isn’t always going to be the most pleasant experience. That’s why buying a Sony camera lens that is more compact is a good idea.

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This is an extremely lightweight camera lens that is quite easy to carry around. You won’t have any problems keeping this in your camera bag and you’ll still be able to use it to help you get great shots. This is a very solid option that can make taking vacation photos a breeze. In fact, this lens is very affordable, while still being able to get you some of the best pictures.

One really good thing about this camera lens is that it’s capable of taking shots with great peripheral sharpness and contrast. You won’t have to feel like you’re losing out on bits of your image due to losing some clarity. The shots that you can take with this camera lens are bound to impress you. This actually works well for shooting video, too.

Sony SEL35F18 35mm f/1.8 Prime Fixed Lens This is a lens that is great for silent and smooth high-speed focusing. It gives it the necessary qualifications to shoot great videos. If you’re planning on capturing your vacation in video form, then this handy camera lens is definitely going to be good for that, too. It has superb focusing that you’ll be impressed by as soon as you see the results.

The only downside to this is that the lens is not zoomable. This is going to be good for basic vacation shots and shooting normal movies. The lack of zoom does mean that you won’t be able to get as creative with certain artistic shots. Depending on your needs, this may not wind up mattering that much.

Pros

  • Great high-speed focusing camera
  • Good for both pictures and video
  • Very affordable
  • Excellent peripheral sharpness and contrast
  • Lightweight and easy to carry around

Cons

  • Lack of zoom

Sony 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS APS-C E-Mount Zoom Lens

Finally, we have another lens that is made by Sony for the E-mount cameras. This is another lens that is going to be capable of many different things. One of the biggest reasons that people will choose to buy this camera lens is the zoom. This is a great lens to own when you want to be able to zoom in and take some intricate shots.

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The magnification on this camera lens is truly superb and you’ll really like the results. The sharpness of this lens is very much worth noting. You should be able to get some of the sharpest still images possible when using this camera lens. It’s going to allow you to capture the beauty of your vacation with ease.

When it comes to using this camera lens for video, it should be very good at that as well. The sharpness of the video is going to impress you if you decide to use this. It should work brilliantly for travel purposes and you won’t have a hard time documenting your trip. Being able to zoom in on certain landmarks or other cool features will be a real plus.

Sony 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS APS-C E-mount Zoom Lens You’ll likely fall in love with how great the autofocus is on this camera, too. It works really well to keep things in focus so that you can take the best pictures. It’s also great for videos due to how fast and quiet it is. You won’t have to worry about the focus noises distracting from what’s going on in the video, making it a good option for vacation vloggers.

Pros

  • Great autofocus that is also very quiet
  • Excellent sharpness
  • Fantastic zoom

Cons

  • Lacks the maximum aperture of more expensive lenses

Our Final Thoughts on the Best Travel Lens for Sony Cameras

After looking through all of the above lenses, it should be easy to see that you have many great options. Depending on your needs, some of these might work better for you than others. We recommend the [earnist_link ref=”sigma-30mm-f1-4-contemporary-dc-dn-lens-for-sony-e-mount-cameras-w-advanced-photo-and-travel-bundle” id=”13244″]Sigma lens offering[/earnist_link] as the most economical choice. Just take the time to decide which of these will be the best fit for your vacation photo needs and then get what you need.