The Best Prime Lenses for Sony a6500
So you’ve already made your choice between prime lenses and zoom lenses?
You’ve decided that the best for you is to get a prime lens for your Sony a6500?
Great! But now, a second question remains: which prime lens should you get?
I’ve reviewed them all for you, and I have selected the 4 very best prime lenses for Sony a6500 (for several shooting styles).
No Time to Waste? Here’s My #1 Favorite!
- Incredible value for money
- Human eye focal length
- Fast f/1.4 aperture
The Best Prime Lens for Sony a6500 – Comparison Table
Not sure the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is the best a6500 prime lens for you? Want to have a look at the other options available?
I get it. I also like to see all options available before making a choice.
This is exactly why I’ve included more than 1 lens in this guide. If you shoot mostly landscapes, then the 30mm is probably not the best for you. And if you plan to only shoot portraits with your a6500, then again the 30mm is not the best choice.
Have a look at this comparison table, with the best prime lens for each shooting style:
Product Reviews – Best Sony a6500 Prime Lenses
There are 2 main type of lenses: prime lenses, and zoom lenses.
Prime lenses have a fixed focal length (eg: 35mm), which means you can’t zoom it/zoom out. But they’re usually sharper than zoom lenses, and much lighter.
Especially for the Sony a6500, which is a pretty light & compact camera, it makes sense to go for a prime lens to keep a minimal setup.
Which focal length you’ll end up choosing will depend on your shooting style. I’ve selected the best Sony a6500 prime lenses for the main shooting styles:
🥇 Overall Best: Sigma 30mm f/1.4
📏 Wide-Angle Prime: Sigma 16mm f/1.4
👩🏽 Portrait Prime Lens: Sigma 56mm f/1.4
🔍 Telephoto Prime Lens: Sony FE 85mm f/1.8
Let’s see the reviews!
The BEST Prime Lens for Sony a6500: Sigma 30mm f/1.4
- SONY E-mount
- With nine rounded aperture blades, a stepping ring motor, and compact design
- Perfect paring of high performance and pricing, Contemporary compactness, Art line Image Quality
Focal length: 30mm
Aperture range: f/1.4 to f/16
Weight: 265g (0.58 lbs)
Size (Ø x L): 65x73mm (2.55×2.89″)
Filter size: 52mm
Format: crop
Autofocus: yes
Image stabilization: no
If you’re planning to shoot many different things (portraits, landscapes, videos, street, …), and want only 1 lens, then the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN is the overall best prime lens for Sony a6500.
Mounted on the a6500, this Sigma 30mm lens gives a 45mm equivalent; this makes it the nifty-fifty of Sony E-mounts. It’s the closest to the human eye perception, and it’s a very versatile lens that can be used in a variety of situations.
It’s the lightest and smallest lens out of this selection, which will keep your setup very compact with the a6500. The fast aperture of f/1.4 also makes full use of the prime lens, which is an aperture you wouldn’t be able to achieve with a zoom lens. And for sure let’s not forget the sharpness of this lens, which is nothing short of amazing.
You have to dig deep to find any major con, the only one would be the lack of weather sealing for this lens, which could be a deal-breaker if you plan to shoot in bad weather conditions.
Human eye focal length
Incredible value for money
Great sharpness
Fast f/1.4 aperture
No weather sealing
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
See example shots from this lens on the Sony a6500:
Best Wide-Angle Sony a6500 Prime Lens: Sigma 16mm f/1.4
- Compatible with Sony E mount cameras
- Perfect for nature & event photography
- Large f/1.4 aperture for superb lowlight performance
Focal length: 16mm
Aperture range: f/1.4 to f/16
Weight: 405g (0.89 lbs)
Size (Ø x L): 72x92mm (2.84×3.63″)
Filter size: 67mm
Format: crop
Autofocus: yes
Image stabilization: no
For landscape photographers, and everyone planning to shoot mostly landscapes, the main lens to get is a wide-angle lens (from 10mm to 20mm on APS-C sensors).
The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 is the best wide-angle prime lens you can get in front of your Sony a6500.
It’s an incredibly fast lens with a f/1.4 max aperture, perfect to shoot even at night and to take photos of stars. The image quality on this Sigma lens is absolutely awesome; great at f/1.4 and downright exceptional at f/2.0 and lower.
And best of all? The price is incredibly low for such a great lens!
The main con is the size: it’s the heaviest & largest lens in this selection, even more than wide-angle zoom lenses.
Best value for money
Fast f/1.4 lens
Excellent sharpness
Heavy & bulky for a prime
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
Best Portrait Prime Lens for a6500: Sigma 56mm f/1.4
- Featuring compact design, Light weight and outstanding image quality offered in sigma’s...
- N addition, this lens is characterized by smooth and quiet autofocus ideal for video shooting....
- By using the face recognition or eye AF functions of the camera, focus Will continuously be on the...
Focal length: 56mm
Aperture range: f/1.4 to f/16
Weight: 280g (0.62 lbs)
Size (Ø x L): 67x59mm (2.62×2.34″)
Filter size: 55mm
Format: crop
Autofocus: yes
Image stabilization: no
You’re a portrait photographer? If you’re planning to shoot mostly portraits, then the best choice for you is the Sigma 56mm f/1.4.
The focal length is equivalent to 85mm on a full-frame camera, and that’s what I personally use to shoot my portraits. It’s a long focal length, perfect to separate your subjects from the background. The max f/1.4 aperture will also make wonders in that regards, and the 9 blade system creates a smooth bokeh that suits portraits perfectly.
Image quality is absolutely excellent at f/2.0 and lower, and great at f/1.4; the biggest con I’ve found is heavy distortion and vignetting especially when shooting wide open. These can easily be corrected in post-production though, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless you don’t plan to edit your photos.
Fast f/1.4 lens
Great bokeh
Excellent image quality
Heavy distortion and vignetting
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
Best Telephoto a6500 Prime Lens: Sony FE 85mm f/1.8
- Fast telephoto lens
- ED glass compensates for aberrations
- Circular aperture with nine blades for beautiful blur effects, minimum focus distance 0.8 m
Focal length: 85mm
Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22
Weight: 371g (0.82 lbs)
Size (Ø x L): 78x82mm (3.07×3.23″)
Filter size: 67mm
Format: full frame
Autofocus: yes
Image stabilization: no
And finally, the last Sony a6500 prime lens I’m recommending after extensive research.
The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 is on the telephoto range (127mm when mounted on the a6500), and it’s perfect for anyone looking for a long focal length.
It’s actually a full-frame lens, which means you’ll also be able to use it on full-frame cameras if you have other cameras, or when you upgrade to a full-frame model (such as the Sony Alpha 7S, 7R, or 9). But it also means it’s a more expensive lens than the other APS-C lenses selected above.
The image quality is excellent throughout the frame, and the bokeh at f/1.8 with the long lens is definitely very nice. I love the physical focus-hold button, perfect when taking action shots.
Excellent image quality
Good bokeh
Excellent autofocus
Physical focus-hold button
Expensive
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
Final Thoughts
And voila, these were the 4 best prime lenses for Sony a6500 that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a nice prime lens. Which one you’ll end up choosing depends a lot on your shooting style, but in any case you can’t go wrong with any of the lenses listed above.
My extensive research on a6500 prime lenses led me to rate the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN as the overall best Sony a6500 prime lens.
It’s the most versatile prime lense that can be used in a wide variety of situations. It’s light & compact, has a reliable autofocus, and excellent image quality. Overall it’s the best prime lens for anyone looking for a versatile lens, or not too sure yet what style of photography they want to specialize in.
