10 Best Portrait Lens for Sony A7III (2023 Guides & Reviews)

Rajib Mukherjee

18 January, 2023 • Updated 19 days ago

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Despite this, the A7 III is an affordable camera, currently retailing at under 1700 dollars, making it a superb entry-level option for someone looking for a full-frame mirrorless camera.

Every great camera needs a complementary lens. When it comes to the A7 III, there is no shortage of fine optics to work with. For the sake of this discussion, we’ll limit ourselves to the finest portrait lenses on the market for the Sony A7 III

Related Post: Best Lens for Nikon Z30

QUICK OVERVIEW

Products	Features
EDITOR’S PICK 4.8 +1100 +1100 Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN ArtSigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art	Minimum Focus Distance — 7.09″ / 18 cm Maximum Magnification — 0.34x PRICE RANGE: Under $1200 Minimum Focus Distance — 7.09″ / 18 cm Maximum Magnification — 0.34x PRICE RANGE: Under $1200 Check price at Amazon
TOP PICK 4.7 +740 +740 Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS IISony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II	Diaphragm Blades — 11, Rounded Filter Size — 77 mm (Front) PRICE RANGE: Under $2900 Diaphragm Blades — 11, Rounded Filter Size — 77 mm (Front) PRICE RANGE: Under $2900 Check price at Amazon
MOST REVIEWED 4.8 +1200 +1200 Sony FE 85mm f/1.8Sony FE 85mm f/1.8	Maximum Magnification — 0.13x Optical Design — 9 Elements in 8 Groups PRICE RANGE: Under $900 Maximum Magnification — 0.13x Optical Design — 9 Elements in 8 Groups PRICE RANGE: Under $900 Check price at Amazon
BUDGET PICK 4.6 140 140 Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2	Focal length — 28 to 75mm Minimum Focus Distance — 7.1″ / 18 cm PRICE RANGE: Under $900 Focal length — 28 to 75mm Minimum Focus Distance — 7.1″ / 18 cm PRICE RANGE: Under $900 Check price at Amazon

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II

This is a Sony Grandmaster lens designed for full-frame Sony E-mount cameras. The long end of the lens, that is, the 70mm focal length, is suitable for portrait photography. The fast aperture of f/2.8 is ideal for capturing a lot of light in any lighting condition. It also helps create a soft, out-of-focus background and foreground effect that is ideally suited for portrait photography. You can experiment with isolating your subject from the background with this lens thanks to the lens diaphragm that consists of 11 rounded blades, allowing for capturing soft bokeh.

This lens is built to last and includes 20 elements arranged in 15 groups.

The system incorporates faster AF performance and a floating focus mechanism. These include four powerful dynamic linear motors that help to improve the focusing performance of the lens. Focusing is precise and quiet, making this lens ideal for videography on top of portrait photography. The most exciting aspect of the lens is the focus tracking system which works even when the lens is zooming. That means you can track a subject while it’s moving and zoom in and out while keeping the subject focused all the way through.

The shooting focusing mechanism helps keep the image quality steady throughout the focusing and zoom ranges. Additionally, the lens incorporates internal focusing elements, which means the barrel length of the lens remains the same throughout the focusing range.

Although we are not concerned with the cinematic use of this lens, it’s worth mentioning that the system incorporates the Breathing Compensation Function, which works with some of the cine-line and Alpha cameras.

This is one of the lightest f/2.8 zoom lenses in the industry. The lens is weather sealed and can thus be used no matter your travel destination. If you’re an outdoor portrait photographer and routinely work in overcast conditions, this lens was made for you.

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Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

If you feel that the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II is out of your budget, you could try the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art lens for the same purpose (shooting portraits). The selling point of this lens is the price. At less than half the price of the Sony FE lens I mentioned above, you get fantastic optical performance with a fast f/2.8 aperture.

The 70mm focal length (the tele-end) is ideally suited for shooting portrait photos. Like the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens, this lens also offers a focal length of 24-70mm. The 70mm is an excellent focal length for shooting portraits. But why limit yourself to only the 70mm focal length? You can also experiment with the 50mm and the 35mm focal lengths, which are great for shooting environmental portraits. Remember, when shooting at anything under 50mm, you shouldn’t attempt to fill the frame with the subject, but rather leave some space around the subject i.e., shoot environmental portraits.

The fast f/2.8 aperture captures a lot of light in any lighting situation. Also, the aperture is perfectly suitable for capturing beautiful background blur. The 11-rounded blade aperture diaphragm facilitates this feature even more.

Autofocusing on the lens is powered by an integrated stepping motor mechanism. This mechanism results in quieter autofocusing than the traditional USM autofocusing technology. This technology is ideally suitable for shooting videos as well.

Despite the lens missing out on body-based image stabilization, this is not a deal breaker. Most of the latest Sony cameras come with some form of image stabilization built-in. Therefore this lens will automatically image stabilize when mounted on a Sony mirrorless camera.

The lens is built very well. It comes with rubber ceiling on strategic areas that ensures that the lens can withstand the vagaries of nature. If you prefer to shoot outdoors for most of your portrait sessions, this lens will make for great company.

Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II

This is a genuine all-purpose lens for the Sony E-mount. This lens covers all the sweet focal lengths ideal for shooting portrait photography – 135mm, 105mm, and 85mm. It also covers 70mm like the lenses discussed above. The 70 isn’t considered the best focal length for shooting portraits, but it isn’t inappropriate either.

The fast f/2.8 aperture is constant across the focal length and is ideal for shooting portraits and capturing those shallow depth-of-field effects. The 11-rounded blade aperture diaphragm also contributes to the beautiful, soft bokeh.

Being a Grandmaster lens, this is a very well-built tool. The new design has undergone significant weight loss compared to the older version (up to 29%). The new design is weather sealed, ensuring it’s usable even in inclement weather. Not that you would be shooting portraits in bad weather, but if you love shooting in overcast conditions and it rains, this lens will be just fine.

The 70-200mm is a great outdoor lens – not only because it comes with weather sealing but because it handles poor lighting very well. There is only slight ghosting and flaring, even when shooting into the sun, which is great when you’re backlighting your subjects.

Bokeh is wonderful when shooting wide open. You’ll notice a bit of cats-eye background blur wide open at the center of the frame. This will go away as soon as the lens is stopped. Still, I find the lens a joy to shoot with at f/2.8.

The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II is particularly good with tracking, zooming, and simultaneously focusing. You will be able to maintain focus very easily, even if your subject is moving erratically or coming closer or moving away from the camera.

Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM

Sony’s fastest prime lens, the Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM, is the quickest lens that Sony has made yet. This means that in poor light, you will not need that ISO bump, and in good light, you can experiment with the fastest shutter speeds that your camera can fire. Not that there is a shortage of f/1.2 lenses in the market, but it is still a feat for Sony.

Some may wonder why to bother with a 50mm lens when there are 85mm and longer lenses to work with. This is because there is a misconception that you cannot shoot good portraits with a 50mm lens. You definitely can – and because this lens has a fast aperture, you can get beautiful background blur using it. Plus, this lens is compatible with APS-C cameras, and because of the crop factor, this lens becomes 75mm (or 80mm) and is thus ideally suitable for portrait work.

For a 50mm f/1.2, however, the front element isn’t that large. The filter thread specification reads 72mm, which is still decent.

One of the cool things about this lens is the declickable aperture ring. So, you can choose to leave it clickable, which I prefer when shooting stills so that I have an audio reference when I change the aperture, or you can set it to non-clickable when shooting videos.

Autofocusing speed is something that not all f/1.2 lenses master. History has shown that these lenses are slower than standard lenses. However, Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM is very fast and very good at shifting focus from something closer to the camera to something far away.

In terms of performance, this lens has zero ghosting and flares. Even if you’re shooting backlit portraits, you won’t find a fault. The bokeh performance is wonderful. Some amount of cat’s eye effect with the bokeh circles is evident when shooting at f/1.2 wide open but this goes away when you stop down to f/2.

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2

This versatile lens covers the focal length range of 28-75mm in a 35mm format. Because of the crop factor, the lens can also be mounted on APS-C camera systems with an extended focal length. The 35mm format equivalent focal length on an APS-C camera would be 42-112.5mm.

The maximum aperture is f/2.8 across the focal length. This will capture a decent amount of light in any lighting situation, ensuring clear, clean photos.

The nine rounded aperture diaphragm blades offer beautiful, creamy bokeh.

The lens’s tele-end is suitable for portrait photography. The 75mm is just short of the sweet spot for shooting portrait photography, but it’s still quite good.

The lens features a Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive linear motor technology that promises fast and accurate autofocusing performance. In real-life situations, the focus lock is almost instantaneous. From close to infinity, switching the focus is very fast.

The lens construction includes 17 elements arranged in 15 groups. The lens includes rubber sealing which ensures that the lens can handle inclement weather well. The metal mount is reassuring, yet this second-generation lens feels and is lighter than the older version. This makes it easy to carry and further adds to its appeal as an outdoor lens.

I noticed a bit of focus breathing when manually focusing – it’s small but still noticeable. If you’re planning on using this lens to shoot videos, you must keep this in mind.

I have also noticed that the lens suffers from a tiny bit of flaring and ghosting. Even if it’s minor, it’s still there; this may pose a problem to some.

Overall this is a sharp lens. Even the corners are very sharp, which should be the primary deciding factor. You can always work around ghosting and flares, and you’re not bothered about focus breathing as a portrait shooter. So, if you clicked on this article hoping for a dedicated portrait lens, this is a fantastic choice.

If you’re particularly looking for a Tamron brand lens for videography, check out this guide: Best Tamron Lens for Video

Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM

The Sony FE 35mm is a standard prime lens and one that comes with a maximum aperture of f/1.4. There is no shortage of fast standard primes. I have reviewed the likes of 50mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.2. These are all suitable for portrait photography. You might ask if the 35mm is really ideal for shooting portraits. Depending on your style, yes. The 35mm is a great focal length for shooting environmental portraits.

As long as you don’t get too close to your subject and keep the subject towards the center of the frame, capturing portrait images with the 35mm will be no issue.

The f/1.4 open aperture takes charge of any low-light situation. The f/1.4 is very wide; therefore, the shallow depth of field that you can produce with this lens is also very useful for isolating your subject from the background.

The 35mm is what you call a right-down-the-middle kind of lens; it’s neither too wide nor a 50mm telephoto. This means it sits somewhere in the middle and has its advantages. You get the best of both worlds.

This Grandmaster series lens is very well put together. The lens comes with good solid weather sealing that ensures that the lens can withstand the effects of nature’s vagaries.

The quality of bokeh with this lens is beautiful. There is a minimal issue with the cat’s eye bokeh, which cannot be overlooked. However, once you stop down, the effect goes away and everything is perfectly round and smooth.

Two XD Linear motors constitute the autofocusing mechanism of the lens. This autofocusing mechanism offers superb autofocusing performance. Focus lock is accurate and almost instantaneous. In addition, the focusing mechanism has internal focusing, ensuring that the lens barrel does not extend when the lens focuses.

For all its advantages, the lens also has its cons. One of them is the heavy focus breathing that I noticed while operating the focusing mechanism. From near to far focusing, the lens breathes heavily, which will be an issue for creators who wish to shoot videos with this lens.

Sony FE 85mm f/1.8

The Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 is an optimum choice for shooting portrait photography with the Sony A7 III. Many would argue that 85mm is the best focal length for shooting portraits. However, this can be countered by photographers who shoot at 105mm or those who shoot at 135mm. I feel that these three focal lengths have their own charm, which is why each is special.

The selling point of the 85mm is its bright f/1.8 aperture. It’s one of the fastest in the business and captures a lot of light. The f/1.8 aperture is capable of capturing a shallow depth of field and using that effect to isolate the subject from the background.

The construction of the lens consists of 9 elements arranged in 8 groups. This is a simple prime lens. The elements include one extra-low dispersion element. The lens features weather sealing and can therefore go wherever you go.

A double linear AF motor powers autofocusing. This is a quiet and accurate autofocusing mechanism. The lens has a focus hold button and an Auto to Manual focus switch option.

One of the things about the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 is that it does not have image stabilization built-in. However, as we’ve established, most of the newest Sony cameras come with body-based image stabilization system, meaning you wouldn’t miss image stabilization on this lens.

Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD

A versatile lens with a fast aperture of f/2.8 that’s constant across the focal length, the Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD is a great lens for any portrait photographer. Designed for E-mount Sony full-frame camera systems, this is an excellent lens covering all the necessary focal lengths for shooting portrait images.

The construction of the lens includes 19 elements arranged in 14 groups. There are a total of six low-dispersion elements that take care of chromatic aberrations and color fringing. Also included are three aspherical elements that take care of spherical aberrations.

The lens features Broad-Band Anti-Reflection Generation 2. This coating has been applied to counter the effects of flares and ghosting. This coating helps the lens perform in difficult lighting situations and helps retain contrast and saturation.

I noticed that the zoom ring is a bit firm when you’re attempting to zoom in and out, making it rather inconvenient at times.

Autofocusing is powered by a Voice-coil eXtreme-torque Drive linear motor system. The performance of these motors ensures that the lens can focus very quietly and accurately. The minimum focusing distance is 2.8-inches. Additionally, despite the lens not being an actual macro lens, there are still some semi-macro capabilities. The lens offers a maximum magnification of 1:4.6 at a total focal length of 180mm.

The lens features full-time manual focusing override, which is useful when you need to tweak the focus with precise adjustments.

One con of the focusing system is that the lens has a breathing problem. This is apparent when you zoom in and out and can cause problems when shooting videos.

Another lens con is that it does not feature an image stabilization system. Perhaps not so much of a problem if you own one of the latest Sony E-mount camera systems because, in that case, the camera will come with a built-in image stabilization system.

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art

The 85mm is fantastic portrait photography focal length. This is common knowledge. But the f/1.4 aperture is a solid aperture capable of capturing a lot of light in the most trying of conditions.

Let’s take a look at the construction of the lens. This lens offers a compact design compared to some of the other 85mm primes on the market. There are 15 elements arranged in 11 groups. The construction includes five special low-dispersion features and one aspherical element. The lens includes a super multi-layer coating that ensures that the lens can counter the effects of flares and ghosting.

The lens is mainly made out of metal components, with the lens mount also being metal. A weather-sealing gasket ensures that the lens is protected against all weather conditions.

An integrated stepping motor technology powers autofocusing. This ensures that the autofocusing technology is smooth and precise.

An interesting thing about this lens is the clickable aperture ring. You can leave the aperture ring to click at every 1/3rd stop for still shooters, but when shooting videos, you can flick a switch that makes the aperture ring de-clicked. The aperture ring now turns smoothly without making any noise – perfect for video work. There is also an auto mode switch. When you flick this, the aperture ring’s manual operation ceases to be operational. You can still change the camera’s aperture, but it won’t accidentally turn the aperture ring if you touch it.

Speaking of aperture, the aperture diaphragm is made out of 11 rounded blades, allowing it to produce beautiful background blur.

In terms of performance, the lens is very good when shooting wide open at f/1.4. Details are fairly sharp in the middle, and contrast is also acceptable. The corners are a tiny bit softer compared to the frame’s center. There is no color fringing at the corners and image sharpness and contrast do not jump any further when you stop down the lens.

Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS

The Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS is a versatile tool. It offers a focal length ranging from 24-105mm, which covers the essential portrait focal lengths. But that’s not all this lens is ideal for. With this lens, you can shoot landscapes, cityscapes, architecture, weddings, and everything else. This is a genuine all-purpose lens.

The maximum aperture of f/4 is constant across the focal length. Although not the fastest aperture in the business, the constant aperture still makes it faster than some kit lenses.

This is a great walkaround lens for everyday shooting situations, and if you are traveling, you will find this lens to be perfect to mount on your camera and rarely take off.

The construction of the lens includes four aspherical elements, including two advanced aspherical elements. Three extra low-dispersion elements take care of color fringing and chromatic aberrations.

The lens also features a Nano AR coating that takes care of ghosting and flares and improves color contrast.

Additionally, the lens has rubber sealing that ensures that the lens can withstand the vagaries of nature. A fluorine coating has also been used to ensure that the lens is easy to clean.

Autofocusing on the lens is powered by a Direct Drive Super Sonic wave AF motor. This lens is very smooth when autofocusing and locks focus very accurately.

Manual focusing is very smooth with the focusing ring. I have noticed that the lens focuses with very little focus breathing, which should be good news for users looking to shoot videos with this lens.

In terms of performance, the lens is very sharp towards the middle of the frame. The corners on the right-hand side are softer than the corners on the left-hand side of the frame – a clear sign that there are some decentralizing issues with the lens. This issue, however, was primarily noticed when the lens was tested at 24mm. At 105mm, no decentralization was noticed.

If the lens is used on an APS-C sensor, the lens is very sharp in the middle, and the corners are slightly softer than the middle of the frame.

Written by

Rajib Mukherjee

Rajib is an avid travel photographer and an overall shutterbug. The first time he ever clicked an image was with an Agfa Click IV back in 1984. A medium format film camera. From that auspicious introduction to photography, he has remained hooked to this art form. He loves to test and review new photography gear. Rajib travels quite a lot, loves driving on Indian roads, playing fetch with his Labrador retriever, and loves photography. And yes, he still proudly owns that Agfa Click IV!