3 Of The Best Sony A6000 Manual Lenses On The Market!

In this article, we are going to be going over what we feel are the strongest lenses for the title of best Sony a6000 manual lens on the market. We will be featuring a wide angle, a portrait, and a zoom lens and each one of them is a fully manual lens for those who prefer that style of photography.

As more and more people seem to be looking for fully manual lenses then we decided to publish this article. Our hope is that it will help any of our owners who are in this category while owning a Sony a6000. We really do feel that each of these lenses are strong in their individual category while also having a decent price tag associated with the meaning that the vast majority of our readers should be able to pick any of them up without breaking the bank.

The Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS – Wide Angle Option

First up, and what we feel is definitely the best Sony a6000 wide-angle manual lens on the market right now, the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 (Click here to check for product prices and availability). This is a hugely popular wide-angle lens that comes with full manual control and will natively fit the Sony E-mount lens on your a6000 without the need for a converter.

Being a prime lens based around the 12mm focal range with excellent build quality, a ton of functionality, great performance, and a budget-friendly price tag has resulted in a massive core customer base for the lens. Over the years, many of them have chosen to post their own independent review of the lens online that you can read if you wish.

A landscape photography captured using a Rokinon 12mm F2.0 lens showing the type of image quality it could provide for your a6000.
A landscape photography captured using a Rokinon 12mm F2.0 lens showing the type of image quality it could provide for your a6000.

The Rokinon 12mm F2.0 has established itself as a very popular lens in the landscape photography niche due to it providing an ultra-wide angle capability that provides some unique photographs. Its excellent low light performance has also made it a very popular choice in the various photography niches that revolve around capturing photographs of the night sky too.

As the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 is still in production, it is very easy to source a brand new lens although it may sometimes come with the Samyang branding on it rather than Rokinon. This is due to the Samyang brand being used for the lens in Asia with Rokinon being used in North America and most of Europe.

As it is easy to source the lens brand new you get all the benefits of being the first owner of the lens and being able to expect everything to work as it should. When looking for a manual lens this is usually not the case as many photographers choose an old school vintage manual lens that has previously had many owners that will have taken their toll on the lens.

All in all, the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 is going to make an excellent manual wide angle lens for your A6000. If this is the kind of thing that you are looking for then we would recommend you seriously consider investing in it.

Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!

Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!

The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Rokinon 12mm to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.

The Minolta MD 50mm – Portrait Option

Next up on our list is what we feel is the best Sony a6000 portrait manual lens, the Minolta MD 50mm (Click here to check for product prices and availability). This is a vintage lens and you will be hard pressed to find a first-hand version in this day and age but it is definitely a lens that has stood the test of time and offers some great performance. As the lens was not designed to work with the Sony E-mount lenses, you will have to pick up a Minolta MD to Sony E-mount converter (Click here to check for product prices and availability) but they are cheap enough.

Being a prime lens based around the 50mm focal length it offers some great portrait potential while giving that old school true manual feel that is coming back into fashion. With the build quality of the lens being so solid back in the day, it is not surprising to find a Minolta MD 50mm lens that has little to no damage on it either.

A portrait photograph captured with a Minolta MD 50mm giving an idea of what it can offer your Sony a6000.
A portrait photograph captured with a Minolta MD 50mm giving an idea of what it can offer your Sony a6000.

One thing that we would point out is that the resistance of the manual focus rings on some of the lenses has stiffened up over time. This probably won’t bother the majority of photographers as many people actually prefer a higher level of resistance on their manual control rings to prevent accidental over tweaking while manually changing the focus of an image.

As the lens has managed to stand the test of time, it is still able to offer you some excellent image quality for your A6000 and we would highly recommend you check it out if you are in the market for a manual portrait lens.

Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!

Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!

The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Minolta MD 50mm to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.

The Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70mm – Zoom Option

 

Moving onto our final Sony a6000 manual lens, this time out zoom option, we have the Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70mm (Click here to check for product prices and availability). As it is another Minolta MD lens, you will also have to pick up a cheap Minolta MD to Sony E-mount converter (Click here to check for product prices and availability) but as we mentioned earlier, they are very cheap these days.

Being a zoom lens with a variable focal range you get a manual zoom ring in addition to your manual focus ring on the lens. The great build quality Minolta used to offer has helped the lens stand the test of time meaning that even though many photographers will probably have owned the lens prior to you, its manual control rings are probably just as smooth and responsive as they were back in the day.

A photograph captured with the Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70mm. It gives a good idea of the type of photograph that you can expect from the lens but due to its variable focal length you are able to use it for a number of photography niches.
A photograph captured with the Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70mm. It gives a good idea of the type of photograph that you can expect from the lens but due to its variable focal length, you are able to use it for a number of photography niches.

If you are looking for a decent manual zoom lens that is very budget friendly then the Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70mm is probably worth considering. It is also very popular amongst the vintage photography community making it relatively easy to source too when required.

Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!

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Image Licensing

Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Giuseppe Milo – Sunset in Howth – Dublin, Ireland – Seascape photography – https://flic.kr/p/GYfVYv

Ben Seidelman – Just greenery and humid air – https://flic.kr/p/R1rCEb

Michael Fraley – Golden Gate Park 123 – https://flic.kr/p/ybwrZx