Customer Ratings & Reviews

Good Lens and good price. Compliments my a6000 nicely. At 50mm, it is mostly a portraits lens. That's not to say you can't use it to take a variety of pictures. The focal length at times makes it challenging to take anything but single targets, especially indoors. I feel this is where it is best used for. I don't think I would ever just bring this lens with me without another lens with a shorter focal length like a 19mm, 30mm, or 35mm. On the plus side, the 50mm is less intrusive to the subject's space. For example, I brought this lens with me to the pool hall to take pictures of my brothers as they played. Though it was nice that I wasn't really distracting to them as they played. I found myself having to go as far as 2 tables to capture anything more than just upper body shots. I'm pretty sure experienced photographers already know this, just letting those who never used a 50mm APS-C lens know what to expect. As for the quality of the photos. I'm still a beginner, so to me they look very good. Sharpness is good. AF is silent. I find the photos pretty sharp at f4-f5.6. Lowlight is great at f1.8-f2.8. Bokeh is good. Video is fantastic with OSS. I really can't complain about anything other than getting used to the focal length. I mostly take photos for enjoyment. So far the pictures taken by this lens have given me joy. I know probably down the road I will get something more expensive and better but for now this will do. There are only 2 50mm-60mm e mount lens at the $200-$300 price range. I chose this over the Sigma 60mm f2.8 because of 3 reason: OSS, f1.8, and the fact the SEL5018 uses 179 phase-detection AF points and the Sigma only uses a small portion of the center. Not to mention the price difference is only $90. If there was only one con about this lens, it would be the slow auto focus. It is fairly slow but not so bad. Takes about a second to focus. If you're using this only to take portraits, it shouldn't really be a problem. If you're trying to decide to pick between this and the 35mm f1.8, just know that the 35mm is more of an all-around lens and this one kind of compliments it. I always bring both with me when I go out. My 35mm usually stays on my a6000, while I bring this out for certain situations or when I want a change of perspective and want to keep my distance a bit. Best to get this if you already have a 19mm-35mm. You can get a Sigma 30mm or 19mm and this lens for about the same price of the SEL3518. Even better, you can get the Sigma 19mm, 30mm, and 60mm for less than $600. I ended up with the SEL3518 and SEL5018 only because I knew the lingering thought of OSS and f1.8 would always haunt me. I would have ultimately bought the sony e mount lens anyways.

If you are looking to buy a first prime lens for your kit, this is a great place to start. I bought this lens first before buying the 18-105mm f4 G zoom lens and still keep this lens in my rotation paired with the a6400. Chromatic aberration is definitely present between f1.8-f3 around sharply contrasting edges but gets better beyond that. It's a $300 lens so you cannot expect it to be as sharp as a Zeiss, but the quality of images it produces is still stunning. Really nice bokeh. When this lens was initially released, many users were unhappy with the slow autofocus, however firmware upgrades have improved this greatly. I still find that it is not fast enough to shoot sports, or anything fast paced. The autofocus makes a bit of noise so if you need your lens to be very quiet, this is not for you. It's not internally stabilized, so do not expect to use this for video unless you are using a gimbal or tripod. I mainly use this lens for portraits and low light. Taking into account the limitations, it is still a great lens and worth purchasing.

This is currently the only lens I have for my Sony a7 camera. The quality is superb. It gives me very sharp focus on the subject and very nice buttery backgrounds. It is a great portrait lens and great under low-light settings too.

This is a Sony prime lens (not a zoom lens) that is suited for the smaller APS-C sensor type camera. Perfect for the NEX series, and the a5000, 5001 and 6000. These cameras were built to take multiple lenses and gives the user additional tools to work with that go far and beyond a point and shoot camera. It is actually a 75mm lens in 35mm format due to the smaller sensor. This lens is a moderate telephoto that is excellent for portraits and landscapes. Great in low light with an 1.8f. The OSS or stabilizing feature adds to the cost of this lens, but is important because this is not built into the above noted Sony cameras. Quality exterior materials and fine glass makes it an exceptional buy on sale. I suggest you review your pictures and determine the mm setting that you generally use for most of your shots. If for example you have the 16-50mm zoom lens (actually in 35mm format a 25-75mm) and most of your shots fit into the far end of this lens at 40 to 50mm framing -- this lens is faster (superior in low light) and clearer (better optics as a prime lens). It is a definite step up as an additional lens for your camera outfit.

Sony's 1.8/50 is a prime focal lens and is extream sharp! it takes great pictures and has an amazing Bokeh effect. It is also quick to take focus on what ever object you aim. This is definitely a must own lens.

Bought this as my first lens other than the kit lens. It takes very high quality photos and is really great for portraits. The low aperture is wonderful for taking photos in low light. Sometimes it is a little difficult to get multiple people in one shot if you are in a small space but other than that it takes really great photos. I haven’t gone back to my kit lens since I put this one on.

The alpha 6000 is the best camera I've ever owned and the Sony 50mm f1.8 prime lens is the icing on the cake. I bought the camera with the two kit lenses and they are great for their intended purposes. I decided I would buy the prime 50mm to have a 1.8f stop lens . WOW does it add another dimension. It is not only a fantastic portrait lens (it loves people's faces ) it added the ability to take pictures in very low light , great night scenes , sunrises and sunsets. My family and friends think I have become a real photographer !

I received the Sony a6000 for Christmas, and I decided to try this lens since I heard prime lenses take better quality pictures than zoom. I love this lens! It is great in low light and you can get some nice bokeh. It also produces sharper images than the kit lens.

The Sony 50mm is a very sharp lens that produces creamy bokeh and great image quality. The resolution of the photos when paired with the a6000 are nothing short of stunning. I attached a photo ( nothing special) but i cropped it to 13.5mp and the amount of remaining detail is superb. The a6000 sensor is really good. Great lens!

GREAT FOR LOW LOW PHOTOGRAPHY – with the wide aperture of f1.8, especially going from your typical kit lens which is usually f5.6, this lens gives you 3 stops or EIGHT times (2x2x2) more light coming through the lens opening. This allows you to use either a faster shutter speed and avoid camera shake, or a lower ISO and avoid the noise you get from higher ISOs, or a combination of both.

This has been a great little go to, everyday type lens. It shoots nice clean pictures, it's light, compact and affordable. It's a decent little prime lens. It's a perfect first lens.

Great quality for the price. Decent sharpness, of course for $300. Its a great starter lens to start building a photography kit. I'm upgrading soon, but I have LOVED this.

Great quality lens, wide aperture, small and portable in size. Good for lowlight pictures and portraits

I dont regret selling my Canon 50mm F1.4 USM. This replacement is superb. I get good bokehs and my shot is alway complimented. I highly recommend it to all Sony Camera Owners.

I purchased this lens for my a6300 and have been thoroughly pleased with the sharpness and how fast it is to focus. My Sigma 30/2.8 is a very sharp lens with great bokeh, but this Sony 50/1.8 takes almost no time to focus--and the bokeh is amazing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a great performing and budget-friendly lens for their Sony mirrorless camera.

Considering Sony doesn't really make good lens for the E-mount, the 50mm 1.8 is actually quite good. Sharp, good CA control, quite stabilization, decently quick focus. Buying from BB was a poor experience though. I went in to purchase this one as an open box item. After they found it hidden in the store, it rung up higher than as labelled. When I mentioned to the associate that the price tag is lower than what the computer says, he says nothing, walks off, and comes back 5 minutes later with a new higher price tag stuck on top of the old one where it's still readable. Who does that? On top of that, he messed up multiple times, just trying to ring it up including my gift card. I got tired of dealing with him and went straight to the CS desk after our transaction, explained what he did and they agreed that it was wrong and refunded me so that it was the original price as labelled. 45 minutes just to walk out with this lens.

The f stop is 1.8 and creates a great background blur for photos. The OSS allows for steady pictures and videos with minimal effort. I previously had the other 50 mm lens without the OSS and did not like how easily it was to blur pictures and shaky video. Overall, great product and I am excited to take some pictures

This was the first lens I bought for my Sony a6000 (2 kit lens came with the camera). The focus on this is extremely sharp and the bokeh is very smooth and not distracting at all. The with the f stop at 1.8, this takes great low light pictures too. The only thing, on my APS-C sensor, this is actually more like a 75mm instead of a 50mm. Planning on getting this lens for my a6300.

This little 50 mm lens is great! I actually use it for some of my macro work as well. I just spent a week seaside and took over 300 photos, using this one for much of my work. With the Sony a6300, I get sharp images and great bokeh! Every serious photographer ought to have this lens in their kit.

I bought this for my Sony Alpha a3000 camera, takes great photos, easy to attach to camera and very pleased with it. I am just waiting for better weather to really enjoy it. I have captured some neat photos from across the field from where I live (live in country), the subject was quite a distance from my back door also. It was a small town church, appeared to be in my back yard.