The Best Prime Lenses for Sony a6400
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 a6400?
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 a6400 (for several shooting styles).
No Time to Waste? Here’s My #1 Favorite!
- Human eye focal length
- Image stabilization
- Light & compact
The Best Prime Lens for Sony a6400 – Comparison Table
Not sure the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS is the best a6400 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 35mm is probably not the best for you. And if you plan to only shoot portraits with your a6400, then again the 35mm 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 a6400 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 a6400, 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 a6400 prime lenses for the main shooting styles:
🥇 Overall Best: Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS
📏 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 a6400: Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS
- Compact, lightweight fixed F1.8 lens.Angle of View (APS C) 44 °
- Minimum Focus Distance : 0.99 ft (0.3 m), Maximum Magnification ratio : 0.15x, Focal Length : 1.38...
- New optical design for excellent peripheral sharpness and contrast, Built in image stabilization
Focal length: 35mm
Aperture range: f/1.8 to f/22
Weight: 154g (0.34 lbs)
Size (Ø x L): 63x45mm (2.48×1.77″)
Filter size: 49mm
Format: crop
Autofocus: yes
Image stabilization: yes
If you’re planning to shoot many different things (portraits, landscapes, videos, street, …), and want only 1 lens, then the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS is the overall best prime lens for Sony a6400.
Mounted on the a6400, this Sony 35mm lens gives a 52.5mm 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 a6400. It’s also the only lens in this selection with image stabilization, which is perfect for shooting videos and helping you take handheld photos in low-light.
Don’t care about image stabilization? (you don’t shoot videos, and always use a tripod in low-light?) Then get the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 instead.
My main regret about this lens is the price: it’s not that expensive for a Sony lens, but it’s definitely priced high for a prime lens. The second thing to be aware of is that corners of the photos tend to be soft when you’re shooting wide open at f/1.8 – if you want sharp corners, you’ll need to stop down to f/4 (image stabilization helps to still get sharp photos even when stopping down).
Human eye focal length
Image stabilization
Light & compact
Fast autofocus
Expensive for a prime lens
Soft corners when wide open
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
See example shots from this lens on the Sony a6400 + some video footage:
Best Wide-Angle Sony a6400 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 a6400.
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!
There’s no image stabilization on this lens, but to take photos of landscapes you probably don’t need it anyway. 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
No image stabilization
Heavy & bulky for a prime
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
Best Portrait Prime Lens for a6400: 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; other than the lack of image stabilization for the a6400, 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
No image stabilization
Heavy distortion and vignetting
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
Best Telephoto a6400 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 a6400 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 a6400), 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
No image stabilization
Expensive
👉 See price + reviews on Amazon or on B&H Photo
Final Thoughts
And voila, these were the 4 best prime lenses for Sony a6400 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 a6400 prime lenses led me to rate the Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS as the overall best Sony a6400 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 even has image stabilization built-in. 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.
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