Best wide-angle zoom

With an equivalent focal range of 24-82.5mm, the Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G is a must-have standard zoom for Sony E-Mount APS-C cameras.

Best ultra-wide zoom

If you’re looking for a top-quality ultra-wide-angle zoom for your full-frame Sony E-Mount camera, look no further than the Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master.

Best wide-angle prime

The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art is an incredibly fast ultra-wide-angle prime with excellent build quality, but it’s large and heavy.

Best 85mm

The Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM is an incredible lens offering exceptional image quality, but it's also quite large, heavy and expensive.

Best fisheye

The Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM is an EF-Mount lens offering great image quality and an impressive 8-15mm fisheye perspective.

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Best telephoto zoom

The Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR is the longest Nikon-made F-Mount lens available, and it remains an attractive option despite Nikon’s move to the mirrorless Z-Mount. This lens is ideal for moon, aviation, sports and wildlife photography. It’s also attractively priced, meaning you can enjoy a long reach at a bargain price.

Design: This is naturally a fairly large and heavy lens at nearly 10.6 inches / 27 cm long with a weight of 5 lbs / 2.27 kg. This means that it’s often going to be best paired with a tripod or monopod for more comfortable use. The lens includes a tripod collar and foot, a lens hood and offers a constant f/5.6 maximum aperture.

Performance: In our , we were impressed by the overall image quality produced by the lens. Chromatic aberration is minimal, although there is a small amount of vignetting. Both can be easily removed in editing software such as Adobe Lightroom.

Functionality: The Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR features an internal focusing mechanism so the front element doesn’t rotate during focusing, while the Silent Wave Motor provides fast and quiet autofocus. Vibration Reduction with up to 4.5 stops of support is also available to help you capture sharper shots handheld.

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Best wide-angle zoom

The Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G is a highly versatile zoom lens that could easily spend the majority of time attached to your APS-C Sony E-Mount camera. It’s a fantastic lens for travel due to its small and lightweight design, while the maximum f/2.8 aperture offers both creative and technical advantages, as we explained in our .

Design: The lens is compact and lightweight at just 17.43 oz / 494 g. Build quality is fantastic, and its dust and moisture resistance make it ideal for outdoor photography. The lens also features a 24-82.5mm equivalent focal range, although it doesn’t offer Optical Image Stabilization, so you’ll have to rely on IBIS if your camera body offers this feature.

Performance: This is an impressively sharp lens offering noticeable improvements over lower-quality kit lenses. It’s a true upgrade. Ghosting and chromatic aberration are virtually non-existent, and the color reproduction is excellent. Distortion is heavy and like many modern lenses, the 16-55mm relies heavily on lens corrections to reveal its impressive image quality.

Functionality: With its constant f/2.8 aperture and 16mm wide-angle setting, this is a useful lens for astrophotography among many other subjects. Autofocus is fast and silent in good light, while manual focus is smooth. It’s a great little lens overall and one that APS-C Sony E-Mount camera owners will love.

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Best ultra-wide zoom

The Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master is an absolute beast thanks to its ultra-wide-angle focal range and fast f/2.8 maximum aperture. It’s undoubtedly an expensive lens, but there are few options quite like it for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras, so if you need this focal range, it’s a difficult lens to beat, as we mentioned in our .

Design: Being a Sony G Master lens, build quality is excellent, and the fluorine-coated front element helps to keep dust and dirt at bay. The front element is, however, bulbous, which means filter options are limited to large and expensive 150mm square filters. It’s also heavy at 1.8 lbs / 847 g, although it is weather-sealed, making it ideal for long nights capturing the stars.

Performance: Image quality is great with sharpness at an impressive level. There is some vignetting at 12mm when shooting at f/2.8, which is to be expected, but this can be easily removed in editing software. These settings are ideal for astrophotography, while the overall focal range further increases its usefulness when shooting a range of night sky compositions.

Functionality: The main features of this lens are the focal range and maximum aperture. Manual focusing is smooth, while autofocus is fast and positive thanks to four XD Linear Motors. There’s also a customizable focus hold button that can be assigned with other functions using the camera menu.

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Best wide-angle prime

The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art is a unique combination of an ultra-wide-angle focal length prime coupled with a fast f/1.4 maximum aperture. It’s a technical marvel on many fronts, but this unique combination of main optical features does mean that it’s a rather large and heavy lens.

Design: This is pretty much a dream lens for astrophotographers shooting with Sigma L-Mount and Sony E-Mount cameras. Build quality is excellent, although the lens weighs in at 2.58 lbs / 1170 g. There is a tripod collar, which is essential, and the bulbous front element is protected to a degree by a built-in petal lens hood.

Performance: The image quality produced by this lens is nothing short of amazing. Chromatic aberration and distortion are well controlled, while overall sharpness, even in the corners of the frame, is impressive. These credentials alone make it ideal for astrophotography, landscapes, architecture and many more subjects, as we discussed in our .

Functionality: The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art features a manual aperture ring and a large and smooth manual focus ring. There’s the usual AF/MF switch, a focus lock and a customizable button. Since the front element is large and bulbous, there’s a rear filter holder for sheet-type filters so landscape photographers can still use certain types of filters.

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Best 85mm

Best fisheye

The Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM is arguably one of the best quality fisheye lenses available being a Canon L-Series lens. It works with full-frame, APS-H and APS-C cameras, although being an EF lens, you’ll have to use the Canon Mount Adaptor EF-EOS R if you intend to use it with a Canon R-Series mirrorless camera.

Design: This is a compact and lightweight fisheye lens with the standard bulbous front element. Build quality is excellent with dust and moisture resistance. The front element features a fluorine coating to help repel dust and dirt, although that front element does feel vulnerable to damage. Care when using the lens is required, so the removable lens hood is essential.

Performance: Image quality is superior to the average fisheye lens, although chromatic aberration is visible towards the edges of the frame alongside vignetting at f/4. Sharpness is, however, impressively high. The minimum focus distance is also just 20cm, so you can get creative when capturing subjects close up.

Functionality: Features are pretty basic, but it’s the focal range and optical effects of the lens that will make it attractive to some photographers. The lens is compatible with APS-C, APS-H and full-frame cameras, and although the f/4 maximum aperture isn’t the fastest, it’s still an interesting lens for astrophotography.

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM review coming soon

Best camera lenses frequently asked questions

Lenses are tested by our expert staff or freelance contributors who have a wealth of photography knowledge and experience. Every lens test follows strict real-world testing, where every feature and all functions are tested to assess overall performance.

For image quality, a wide variety of test photos are captured to compare and contrast settings and to check sharpness, distortion and other image quality defects. These are backed up by capturing photos of subjects relevant to Space.com readers.

With complete editorial independence, Space.com is here to ensure you get the best buying advice on camera lenses, whether you should purchase one or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.

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