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!

 

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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:

Title
🥇‎‎ ‎Best Overall
📏 ‎Wide-angle Prime
👩🏽 ‎Portrait Prime
Image
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E Black
Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Sony E (402965) Black
Sigma 56mm for E-Mount (Sony) Fixed Prime Camera Lens, Black (351965)
Rating
-
-
-
Price
$309.00
$434.00 Amazon Prime
$444.00
+
  • Human eye focal length
  • Excellent image quality
  • Incredible value for money
  • Fast f/1.4 aperture
  • Best value for money
  • Fast f/1.4 lens
  • Excellent sharpness
  • Great bokeh
  • Fast f/1.4 lens
  • Excellent sharpness
🥇‎‎ ‎Best Overall
Image
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E Black
Rating
-
Price
$309.00
+
  • Human eye focal length
  • Excellent image quality
  • Incredible value for money
  • Fast f/1.4 aperture
Button
📏 ‎Wide-angle Prime
Image
Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Sony E (402965) Black
Rating
-
Price
$434.00 Amazon Prime
+
  • Best value for money
  • Fast f/1.4 lens
  • Excellent sharpness
Button
👩🏽 ‎Portrait Prime
Image
Sigma 56mm for E-Mount (Sony) Fixed Prime Camera Lens, Black (351965)
Rating
-
Price
$444.00
+
  • Great bokeh
  • Fast f/1.4 lens
  • Excellent sharpness
Button

 

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

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

 

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.

 

Pros

Human eye focal length

Incredible value for money

Great sharpness

Fast f/1.4 aperture

Cons

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

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Sony E (402965) Black
  • Compatible with Sony E mount cameras
  • Perfect for nature & event photography
  • Large f/1.4 aperture for superb lowlight performance

Technical Specs

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.

 

Pros

Best value for money

Fast f/1.4 lens

Excellent sharpness

Cons

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

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


 

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.

 

Pros

Fast f/1.4 lens

Great bokeh

Excellent image quality

Cons

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

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 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.

 

Pros

Excellent image quality

Good bokeh

Excellent autofocus

Physical focus-hold button

Cons

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.