Sony has announced two new APS-C lenses for the Sony E-mount, bringing Sony’s total E-mount lineup to 54 lenses. What does this mean for Sony alpha users in the near future, and should they invest?

In this post, we’ll take a look at these new Sony APS-C lenses to see their capabilities, what they bring to the table that previous lenses do not, and how much money you’ll need to get this glass into your greasy mitts

New Sony APS-C Zoom Lenses

The skinny on the new Sony lenses 

Sony has decided to roll out two new APS-C zoom lenses. Take a look at the video below to see the image quality and lens details:

Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G / E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS

The Sony APS-C 16-55mm F2.8 G standard zoom will be coming out sometime in October, whereas the 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS super-telephoto zoom will be coming out sometime in November. 

APS-C Camera Lenses for Sony

Sony APS-C 16-55mm F2.8 Zoom Lens

The 16-55mm F2.8 G standard zoom weighs in at 15.88 ounces and will cost Sony users a hefty $1,400. Because the lens has a 16-55mm range it’s nice for both wide-angle landscape photography as well as portraits.

Because of the crop factor, the 16-55mm F2.8 G standard zoom lens gives you a 24-82.5mm equivalent focal length range, but the lens is designed for an APS-C sensor, so it won’t completely cover a Full-Frame sensor.

Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G

Is the Sony APS-C 16-55mm F2.8 G standard zoom worth the cost? 

The $1,400 price tag is the highest of any APS-C lens offered by Sony, and this is because of the combination of the G technology along with the constant max aperture — the highest of any Sony APS-C lens.

Sony provides a single mount option for its full-frame and APS-C cameras, which allows Sony users to swap lenses from each without the need for an adapter or complicated adjustments to the actual lens.

Sony APS-C 16-55 Test Footage

This also means that anyone with an E-mount adapter can also use these lenses — so technically they aren’t limited to only Sony alpha users.

$1,400 is expensive for any APS-C lens, and while they share the E-mount, you’d rarely use any APS-C lens on a Full-Frame body. 

You may already know that placing a Full-Frame lens on an APS-C body will give you a 1.5x crop factor, and a 2x crop factor on an MFT body.

Conversely, if you attach an APS-C lens (these lenses) to a Full-Frame camera like the Sony A7iii the lens won’t project an image circle that’s big enough to cover the Full-Frame sensor, so keep that in mind.

SOny APS-C FOR E-Mount

Sony APS-C 70-355mm F4.5-6.3 Zoom

The 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS super-telephoto zoom weighs in at 20.09 ounces and will cost Sony users $1,000. The focal length range is pretty impressive and is useful for long-range wildlife photography.

Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS

Is the new 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS super-telephoto worth the cost? 

The $1,000 price tag is basically the second-highest of any APS-C lens offered by Sony, and while the max aperture rating isn’t constant like the 16-55mm, the F6.3 at 350mm is still pretty impressive. 

Part of me feels like this is the better lens option because 350mm is such an extreme focal length for a lens that weighs around 1 ¼ lb.

Up Next

The Best Carl Zeiss Lenses

Now that you’ve seen some of the new Sony APS-C lenses you might be inspired to go out and shoot. Do you know as much as you should about Carl Zeiss lenses? Want to know which Zeiss lenses are the best? 

Check out our list of the best Carl Zeiss lenses for photographers and filmmakers so you can get the right glass in your gear bag. 

Up Next: Best Carl Zeiss Lenses →
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  • SC Lannom is a screenwriter and director living in Los Angeles. He works as a writer, director, and content producer here at StudioBinder.

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