Ready to start taking incredible portrait photos with your Sony a6400?

A new lens can definitely help you with that!

I’ve put to the test for you dozen of lenses, to find the very best portrait lens for Sony 6400. You’ll find below the winners of the test, complete with reviews, technicals specs, and pros & cons. 

 

No Time to Waste? Here’s My #1 Favorite!

 

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The Best Portrait Lens for Sony a6400 – Comparison Table

When I need more options than just the best pick, I usually like to look at the luxury pick, and the budget option.

See how these 3 great portrait lenses for Sony a6400 compare on main key features with this comparison table:

Title
🥇‎‎ ‎Best Overall
💎 ‎Luxury Pick
💰 ‎Budget Option
Image
Sigma 56mm for E-Mount (Sony) Fixed Prime Camera Lens, Black (351965)
Sony 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens - Fixed
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E Black
Rating
-
-
-
Price
$444.00
$998.00 Amazon Prime
$309.00
+
  • Fast f/1.4 aperture
  • Excellent sharpness
  • Great bokeh
  • Fast & quiet autofocus
  • Exceptional sharpness
  • Fast & reliable autofocus
  • Weather-sealed
  • Fast f/1.4 aperture
  • Incredible value for money
  • Great sharpness
🥇‎‎ ‎Best Overall
Image
Sigma 56mm for E-Mount (Sony) Fixed Prime Camera Lens, Black (351965)
Rating
-
Price
$444.00
+
  • Fast f/1.4 aperture
  • Excellent sharpness
  • Great bokeh
  • Fast & quiet autofocus
Button
💎 ‎Luxury Pick
Image
Sony 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens - Fixed
Rating
-
Price
$998.00 Amazon Prime
+
  • Exceptional sharpness
  • Fast & reliable autofocus
  • Weather-sealed
Button
💰 ‎Budget Option
Image
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E Black
Rating
-
Price
$309.00
+
  • Fast f/1.4 aperture
  • Incredible value for money
  • Great sharpness
Button

 

The Best Portrait Lens for a6400 – Product Reviews

You can actually shoot great portraits with any kind of lens. But for best results, portrait photographers often use prime lenses, with focal length between 35mm and 85mm.

With that being said, there are dozen of lenses that could be a good fit.

Don’t worry, I’ve done all the heavy lifting for you. If you want the best portrait lens for Sony a6400, you can’t go wrong with any of the 5 lenses listed below.

🥇 Overall Best: Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN

💎 Luxury Lens: Sony Sonnar FE 55mm f/1.8

💰 Budget Pick: Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN

⚖️ Image Stabilization: Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS

🔍 Telephoto Portrait: Sony E 85mm f/1.8

Whichever you end up picking will depend on personal preferences and shooting style.

Let’s see the reviews!

 

The BEST Sony a6400 Portrait Lens: Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN

Sale: -7% off!
Sigma 56mm for E-Mount (Sony) Fixed Prime Camera Lens, Black (351965)
  • 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...
Technical Specs

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

 

The Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN is the best portrait lens for Sony a6400, hands down.

Let’s start with the obvious: it’s an incredibly fast lens. With a max aperture of f/1.4, it’s one of the only 3 lenses for Sony E-mount that open this wide. It will help you always get tack sharp portraits, and it’s great to shoot low-light portraits.

Speaking about sharpness, this Sigma lens has excellent sharpness; acceptable at f/1.4, but downright excellent from f/2.

My favorite thing about this lens is the wonderful bokeh it produces, thanks to its 9-blade design: smooth and creamy.

Any weak points? Of course, like any lens. There’s no image stabilization, and the a6400 doesn’t have built-in image stabilization, but the f/1.4 max aperture will make up for it in most cases. And finally it’s not weather-sealed, but I personally rarely shoot portraits under the rain.

 

Pros

Fast f/1.4 aperture

Excellent sharpness

Great bokeh

Fast & quiet autofocus

Cons

No image stabilization

Not weather-sealed

👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo

 

See example of portraits taken on the Sigma 56mm with Sony a6400:

 

The Best Luxury Portrait Lens for a6400: Sony Sonnar FE 55mm f/1.8

Sony 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens - Fixed
  • Diaphragm Blades 9, Rounded. Lens Groups / Elements is 5/7
  • Focal Length: 55mm, Filter Diameter: 49mm
  • Minimum Focus Distance: 19-11/16 inches (.50m)
Technical Specs

Focal length: 55mm

Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22

Weight: 281g (0.62 lbs)

Size (Ø x L): 65x71mm (2.54×2.78″)

Filter size: 49mm

Format: full frame

Autofocus: yes

Image stabilization: no

 

Won’t settle for anything less than best in class? Then the Sony Sonnar FE 55mm f/1.8 is your new portrait lens!

It has been rated as #7 best lens of all time by Dxomark, which is pretty much everything you need to know to understand it’s the best portrait lens you could get for your Sony a6400.

Image quality is nothing short of exceptional, the autofocus is fast and reliable, there are limited distortion & vignetting, and it’s weather-sealed. It’s also a full-frame lens, which means you won’t need to replace it if you switch to a full-frame Sony camera.

My main regret is that there’s no image stabilization, which could be a turn-off if you plan to shoot mostly in low-light conditions.

 

Pros

Exceptional sharpness

Fast & reliable autofocus

Almost no distortion/vignetting

Weather-sealed

Cons

Chromatic aberration at high apertures

No image stabilization

👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo

 

The Best a6400 Budget Portrait Lens: Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN

Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E Black
  • 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
Technical Specs

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

 

After seeing the expensive Sonnar lens, time to check out the best budget option for a Sony a6400 portrait lens.

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN is the same series at our #1 pick (the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN), but it comes at almost half the price!

It’s an incredibly fast lens, with a max aperture of f/1.4, scoring great all-around on all features. It’s a 30mm, which is close to a 50mm equivalent when mounted on the a6400. This is a shorter focal length than all other lenses in this review, but closest to the human eye.

The low price point comes with a few cons, namely the lack of image stabilization and the lack of weather-sealing. These are definitely not major flaws, and all in all the Sigma 30mm is an impressive lens that could undoubtedly be priced much higher.

 

Pros

Incredible value for money

Fast f/1.4 aperture

Great sharpness

Cons

No image stabilization

Not weather-sealed

👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo

 

Best Stabilized Portrait Lens for a6400: Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS

Sony - E 50mm F1.8 OSS Portrait Lens (SEL50F18/B), Black
  • Built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilization and 7-blade circular aperture for beautiful defocus...
  • Minimum Focus Distance : 1.28 ft (0.39 m), Maximum Magnification ratio : 0.16x, Focal-Length : 50 mm...
  • Large F1.8 maximum aperture enables beautiful defocusing effects. Angle of View (APS-C) : 32°
Technical Specs

Focal length: 50mm

Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22

Weight: 202g (0.44 lbs)

Size (Ø x L): 62x62mm (2.44×2.44″)

Filter size: 49mm

Format: crop

Autofocus: yes

Image stabilization: yes

 

As you might have noticed, all lenses in this review lack one feature: image stabilization.

This is where the Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS comes into play. With the built-in image stabilization, it’s the perfect portrait lens for the Sony a6400 which doesn’t have this feature.

For shooting portraits, i.e moving subjects, having image stabilization will help you have sharper photos, especially if you’re a beginner.

It’s also a lightweight & compact lens, very affordably priced. I’ve noticed images often come up soft on the edges with this lens, but for portrait where your subject is most likely not on the edges, it’s not a huge con.

 

Pros

Built-in image stabilization

Great value for money

Lightweight & compact

Cons

Not weather-sealed

Soft corners

👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo

 

The Best Telephoto Portrait Lens for a6400: Sony E 85mm f/1.8

Sony SEL-85F18 Portrait Lens Fixed Focal 85mm F1.8 Full Frame Suitable for A7, ZV-E10, A6000 and Nex Series, E-Mount Black
  • Fast telephoto lens
  • ED glass compensates for aberrations
  • Circular aperture with nine blades for beautiful blur effects, minimum focus distance 0.8 m
Technical Specs

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 best portrait lens Sony a6400 users should consider picking up: the Sony E 85mm f/1.8.

If you’re happy with a 50mm or 85mm focal length, the lenses above are better choices. But if you’re looking for a longer lens, this is my suggestion.

Mounted on the Sony a6400, it’s a 127mm equivalent, going in telephoto range. It will create portraits with more compression, and can also be a great choice if you’re shooting portraits from a distance, in weddings for example.

Overall a great lens, with even a neat additional feature: a physical focus-hold button on the lens.

 

Pros

Great sharpness

Fast & quiet autofocus

Focus-hold button

Cons

No image stabilization

Heaviest/biggest of the bunch

👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo

 

Final Thoughts

So there you have them all, the best portrait lenses for Sony a6400!

I’ve put to the test many lenses, and the results made me rank the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN as the #1 best portrait lens for a6400.

It’s a very fast lens opening up to f/1.4, creating beautiful bokeh in portrait shots, with a fast & reliable autofocus.