PFRE-Logo-white-bg
Reading
blue-triangle-element

Articles

PFRE is the original online resource for real estate and interior photographers. Since 2006, it has been a community hub where like-minded professionals from around the world gather to share information with a common goal of improving their work and advancing their business. With thousands of articles, covering hundreds of topics, PFRE offers the most robust collection of educational material in our field. The history of real estate photography has been documented within these pages.
All Articles
blue-triangle-element

Latest

Image banner for the November 2023 PFRE Photographer of the Month Winner Javier Sotomayor, with a featured image of his winning photo titled "Open"

Congratulations to Javier Sotomayor, November 2023 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Open." Javier Sotomayor - Entry #879 Dave Koch - Entry #877 Peter Wingfield - Entry #874 Here's what Javier has to say: Hello First of all I wa ...

Contest
blue-triangle-element

OVERVIEW

For over a decade, photographers from around the world have participated in PFRE’s monthly photography contests, culminating in the year-end crowning of PFRE’s Photographer of the Year. With a new theme each month and commentary offered by some of the finest real estate & interior photographers anywhere, these contests offer a fun, competitive environment with rich learning opportunities. 

Contest Rules
blue-triangle-element

CURRENT CONTESTS

View / Submit
blue-triangle-element

PAST CONTESTS

View Archive
Resources
blue-triangle-element

Resources

PFRE prides itself on the depth and breadth of the information and professional development resources it makes available to our community. Our goal is to help real estate and interior photographers be successful while bringing the community together and elevating the industry as a whole.
blue-triangle-element

Conference News

No items found

Best Lens for Sony A7iii [2023 Review]

In: 
Published: 10/03/2023

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

After equipping yourself with a high-quality camera such as the Sony A7iii, remember it’s not the only part of the equation. To shoot high-quality images, you also need to equip yourself with the best lens for Sony A7iii. Otherwise, you may deliver disappointing results.

Our Top Sony A7iii Lens Reviews

Sony A7iii has a wide range of lenses, but all are not created equal. In this review, I focus on the best lens for Sony A7iii that produces impressive results.

Best Overall
Brand:
Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8
Best Ultra Wide
Brand:
Sony FE 24-105mm f/4
Best Prime
Brand:
Sony FE 28mm f/2
Lens Type:
Wide Angle
Lens Type:
Wide Angle
Lens Type:
Standard
Item Weight:
1.5 pounds
Item Weight:
1.46 pounds
Item Weight:
7.1 ounces
4.7
4.8
4.4
Best Overall
Brand:
Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8
Lens Type:
Wide Angle
Item Weight:
1.5 pounds
4.7
Best Ultra Wide
Brand:
Sony FE 24-105mm f/4
Lens Type:
Wide Angle
Item Weight:
1.46 pounds
4.8
Best Prime
Brand:
Sony FE 28mm f/2
Lens Type:
Standard
Item Weight:
7.1 ounces
4.4

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8

The Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 is a flexible wide-angle zoom lens with a great design for mirrorless and full-frame cameras. It can keep a great constant aperture of f/2.8 throughout the zoom range, enhancing low-lighting working. 

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8

Unlike the Sony FE 28mm f/2, it features four dispersion elements, three aspherical elements, and two XA elements. The low dispersion elements help suppress the chromatic aberration, while the aspherical elements help minimize spherical aberrations for better image sharpness and clarity. 

Besides, it comes with a Nano AR coating on its elements to help minimize flare and ghosting, which helps improve the overall image color fidelity and contrast when shooting in strong lighting. 

Also, it features an 11-blade aperture diaphragm, enabling it to produce soft-edged and smooth bokeh. The construction is high-quality and weather-resistant, allowing you to use it in harsh weather. 

It features two Direct Drive autofocus motors, which makes focusing responsive, smooth, and fast. However, it weighs 1.5 pounds, the heaviest on my list, and unsuitable for carrying around.

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8
4.7
Pros:
  • The broad field of view allows capturing a wider scene
  • The many optical elements make it the most effective in distortion reduction on my list
  • The weather-sealed design makes it suitable for use in harsh conditions
Cons:
  • The weight may be exhausting to carry around
  • Low-light performance can't match the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Sony FE 24-105mm f/4

The Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 is designed with versatility in mind, being a short telephoto to a wide-angle lens for mirrorless cameras. Aside from the impressive range of focal length, it features a constant aperture of f/4 throughout the zoom range. 

Sony FE 24-105mm f/4

The constant aperture allows it to maintain great performance throughout the zoom and have better control over shallow depth of field. To suppress chromatic aberrations, distortion, and color fringing for better image clarity and sharpness, it employs extra-low dispersion elements and aspherical elements in its optical design. 

Unlike the Sony 55mm f/1.8, these elements feature a Nano-coating which helps reduce flare and ghosting for better color accuracy and high contrast, especially when working in bright light. 

Unlike the Sony 55mm f/1.8, it comes with an Optical SteadyShot image stabilization functionality to eliminate the camera shaking effect, ensuring sharp images even when shooting handheld. 

However, it’s the second heaviest on my list, weighing 1.46 pounds, making it unsuitable for extended shooting periods.

Sony FE 24-105mm f/4
4.8
Pros:
  • It has the best zoom range
  • It comes with image stabilization to eliminate the camera shaking effect
Cons:
  • It’s the second heaviest on my list, making it less portable
  • Its low light performance is less appealing than the one in the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Sony FE 28mm f/2

The Sony FE 28mm f/2 comes with a fast maximum wide aperture of f/2, making it ideal for working in poor lighting conditions and selective focus effects. 

Sony FE 28mm f/2-22

Unlike the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.38, the optical design consists of three elements that reduce the chromatic and spherical aberrations. It comes with an internal focus design that uses a linear motor for autofocus functionality. 

The linear motor significantly improves the focusing experience, while the internal focus design eliminates the increase in length during focusing. Like the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8, it features a weather-resistant construction, allowing you to work even in tough environments. 

It comes with a 9-blade aperture diaphragm, which helps produce a smooth and good quality bokeh. 

This lens accepts fisheye and ultra-wide converters, allowing you to transform it into a 16mm or 21mm lens for improved versatility. It weighs 0.4 pounds, lightweight enough to carry and shoot for an extended period without making your wrists hurt after a while.

This light weight and wide angle also makes it the perfect lens to mount on a gimbal designed for Sony A7iii cameras.

Sony FE 28mm f/2-22
4.4
Pros:
  • It’s the most lightweight on my list, making it ideal for carrying
  • Unlike other lenses in my list, it accepts fisheye converters
Cons:
  • It produces less appealing bokeh than the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4
  • Unlike the Sony 90mm f/2.8-22, it doesn’t have image stabilization.
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Sony FE 35mm f/1.8

The Sony FE 35mm f/1.8 is a versatile wide-angle lens with an excellent wide aperture of f/1.8, ideal for low-light and selective focus shooting. The optical design features aspherical elements that help suppress spherical and chromatic aberrations, producing a clear and sharp image. 

Sony FE 35mm f/1.8

Like the Sony FE 28mm f/2, it comes with a linear motor and internal focus design to enhance the autofocus experience. Typically, it comes with an AF/MF switch, allowing fast and convenient selection between manual focus and autofocus. 

Unlike the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8, it comes with a 9-blade aperture diaphragm, ensuring the production of an impressive bokeh. The construction is dust and moisture resistant, allowing you to use it in harsh environments. 

Although it’s 0.2 pounds heavier than the Sony FE 28mm f/2, it weighs 0.6 pounds, which is lightweight and suitable for carrying around. The focus hold button is customizable, and you can use it to lock the focus or set it to activate other functionalities, making the shoot effortless. 

Sony FE 35mm f/1.8
4.7
Pros:
  • It's the most lightweight on my list and suitable for carrying.
  • The focus design is ideal for capturing camera-shy objects.
Cons:
  • The bokeh quality is less impressive than that of the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8.
  • Unlike the Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8, it's not weather resistant.
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Sony 55mm f/1.8

If you are looking for normal length high-performing prime, the Sony 55mm f/1.8 has a fast wide aperture of f/1.8 with excellent resolution. It comes with three aspherical elements to reduce spherical aberrations, improving image sharpness and clarity. 

Sony 55mm f/1.8

Also, it comes with an anti-reflective coating, which helps minimize flare and ghosting, especially when shooting in strong lighting conditions. 

It uses the Zeiss Sonnar optical concept, incorporating seven elements arranged in five groups, allowing you to achieve a wide aperture of f/1.8 with enhanced contrast and reduced flare. It features an internal focus design with a linear motor geared towards improving the autofocus experience for sharper images. 

Like the Sony FE 35mm f/1.8, it comes with a 9-blade aperture diaphragm which helps produce a good quality and smooth bokeh. Also similar to the Sony FE 28mm f/1.8, it weighs 0.6 pounds, being compact and lightweight enough for extended periods of shooting without exhaustion.

Sony 55mm f/1.8
4.7
Pros:
  • It's the most lightweight on my list, making it ideal for carrying when traveling
  • The rugged design is suitable for shooting in trying situations
  • The minimum focus distance is ideal for shooting nearby subjects
Cons:
  • The bokeh quality it produces is less impressive than the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4
  • The performance in poor lighting can't match the Sony Distagon 35mm f/1.4
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Sony 85mm f/1.8-22

The Sony 85mm f/1.8-22 is a sleek short-telephoto ideal for portraits and real estate photography. With a bright wide aperture of f/1.8, it’s excellent for using selective focus techniques and achieving shallow depth of field.

Sony 85mm f/1.8-22

Unlike the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8, the f/1.8 aperture performs better in low light. The optical construction features nine elements arranged in eight groups, including low-dispersion elements to suppress chromatic color fringing and aberrations, enhancing the color accuracy and image clarity. 

Like the Sony 35mm f/1.8, it comes with an AF/MF switch and a customizable focus hold button, making the focus functionality effortless. Also, it features a double linear autofocus motor for smooth and fast focusing and a snappy manual focus, which allows focusing fine-tuning. 

Like the Sony 55mm f/1.8, it comes with a 9-blade aperture diaphragm, which helps produce a pleasing bokeh quality. It weighs 0.6 pounds, which is convenient for carrying around.

Sony 85mm f/1.8-22
4.8
Pros:
  • The aperture is ideal for real estate photography
  • It suppresses chromatic aberrations and distortions better than the Sony FE 28mm f/2
  • It comes with a snappy manual focus for fine-tuning the focus
Cons:
  • Unlike the Sony 90mm f/2.8-22, it doesn’t feature any image stabilization
  • It produces less appealing bokeh compared to the Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Sony 90mm f/2.8-22

The Sony 90mm f/2.8-22, a G series lens, excellently balances bokeh and sharpness using unique elements, ensuring clear and sharp images. It also minimizes chromatic aberrations and distortion, as well as enhances smooth out-of-focus areas. 

Sony 90mm f/2.8-22

It comes with a fast aperture of f/2.8, which facilitates the control over depth of field, ideal for working in poorly lit areas. 

Like the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4, it comes with a Nano-coating on its elements which suppresses flare and ghosting for better image quality, especially when working in a strong light. It features a Direct Drive Super Sonic Motor, which enhances smooth and fast focusing. 

Also, it comes with a focus range limiter and the focus hold button to further optimize focusing. Like the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4, it’s equipped with an Optical SteadyShot image stabilization system to minimize the camera shaking effect even when shooting handheld. 

It weighs 0.98 pounds, which is less impressive for carrying around.

Sony 90mm f/2.8-22
4.7
Pros:
  • The coatings significantly reduce the flare and ghosting even when shooting in bright lighting
  • It's the second most lightweight on my list, which enhances portability
  • It produces an impressive life-size magnification
Cons:
  • As a macro lens, it's unsuitable for street photography
  • Without image stabilization, there are chances of a camera shake effect
Check Price on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Features to Consider in the Best Lens for Sony A7III

The Sony A7III is one of the most advanced full-frame mirrorless cameras you can use for real estate photography. Even with its great sensor and good construction quality, the quality of the image it produces mainly depends on the quality of the lens. 

The following features can help you choose a lens that is equivalently advanced and high-end. The following table can also help you know the most crucial aspects to consider depending on your shooting conditions. 

Comparing Lenses for Sony A7III

Lenses Focal Length Diaphragm blades Aperture
Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 16-35mm11f/2.8
Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 24-105mm9f/4
Sony FE 28mm f/2 28mm9f/2
Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 35mm9f/1.8
Sony 55mm f/1.8 55mm9f/1.8
Sony 85mm f/1.8-22 85mm9f/1.8-22
Sony 90mm f/2.8-22 90mm9f/2.8-22

Background Blur

Background blur refers to the aesthetically pleasing look when the main subject is in focus, and the foreground and background elements are out of focus. Apart from making the photo look professional, a good background blur can make the viewers focus on the main subject rather than the background elements. 

Also, If you're shooting portraits or close-ups and you're planning to remove the background using a photo editing application such as Photoshop, a blurred background is more straightforward to remove as the application's artificial intelligence can be able to detect the main subject and separate it from the background. 

Although the Sony A7III is a full-frame camera that can capture images with a pleasing background blur, the quality of the blur depends on how fast the lens is and the number of aperture blades. Generally, a lens with a bright aperture, such as the Sony 85mm f/1.8, enhances the production of a beautiful bokeh quality. 

Autofocus Performance

If you are taking pictures of a subject in motion, there are high chances of missing out on the moments simply because you were not fast enough to focus manually and track the subject. There are also chances of ending up with soft images because the autofocus system couldn't detect and track the main subject. 

If the background or foreground is in focus and the main subject is out-of-focus, there are chances of the viewers focusing on other elements in the background or background rather than the main subject. You can avoid this problem by getting a lens with an advanced out-of-a-car system such as the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8. 

With such a system, you can capture high-quality photos and videos even if you're a beginner, as you only need to pan and tilt the camera, and the system will automatically track the main subject. 

Lens Elements

One of the main challenges you might face when taking real estate interior photos is flare and ghosting. Ghosting appears as artifacts on the image when a strong light is repeatedly reflected by the surface of the lens. 

Keeping in mind that most real estate properties do not have good lighting, you might need to use one or several sources of strong light. This increases the chances of flares and ghosting, making the resulting photos look lower quality. 

Fortunately, you can avoid this by getting a lens with nano-coatings, such as the Sony 90mm f/2.8. These coatings help to reduce these effects, making the resulting images have good contrast and accurate colors. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between Variable Aperture and Constant Aperture?

The constant apertures are found in prime lenses and high-end zoom lenses. The constant aperture means the aperture can't adjust itself when you vary the focal length. On the other hand, variable apertures are normally used in zoom lenses that can't keep the aperture settings constant throughout the zoom range.

Which Is Better Between, Zoom Lenses and Prime Lenses?

Normally the prime lenses are better than the zoom lenses because they come with a better optical quality due to the fewer moving parts. In a zoom lens, the barrel might extend to accommodate the moving elements as you zoom. This can lower its ability to resist dust and moisture, making zoom lenses unsuitable for use in harsh weather conditions.

What Are Mounts in Sony Cameras?

Mounts in Sony cameras generally dictate the compatibility of the lens. Generally, Sony cameras have A-mounts and E-mounts, which are commonly used with mirrorless cameras.

Conclusion

Due to the wide range of Sony A7iii lenses in the market, it may be confusing to identify one that will suit you. Although the right lens may depend on the shooting circumstance, you can’t go wrong with any lens from the above list.

Vendors

Rela Logo
CS6 PSE Logo
HD Photo Hub Logo
FullFrame Logo

Learning Topics

.
magnifiercrossmenucross-circle