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When Sony released the Alpha 7 back in 2013, it created genuine waves in the photography world. It was the most compact body to boast a full-frame sensor and compatibility with practically every 35mm lens on the planet, including the company’s own E-mount lenses. Now the follow-up camera, the Alpha 7 II, is hitting the market in Japan—catching photo rumor sites rather off-guard—and it has a major new trick up its sleeves.

While the 24-megapixel sensor offers the same resolution as the previous incarnation, the A7 II features another first for a full-frame camera: five-axis sensor-shift image stabilization. The company claims that the system can reduce shake by as much as 4.5 stops. Not only that, if you attach an Optical SteadyShot (OSS) E-mount lens, the camera will use both in-body and in-lens stabilization to ensure your images remain razor sharp.

The A7 II’s other enhancements include a 30-percent increase in autofocus speed, better tracking performance, and two improvements on the video side: 1080/60p recording at 50Mbps, and support for the S-Log2 gamma function, which aims to preserve a wide dynamic range. The 117 phase detect points and 25 contrast detect points on its CMOS sensor remain the same as on the original A7.

The bad news for Sony fans outside Japan: the A7 II is shipping locally in early December, but there’s no news about availability in other regions.
 

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