A Quick Look At The Sony A7 II With 5-Axis SteadyShot

Earlier today Sony introduced an updated version of its original A7 full frame mirrorless camera- the A7 II. The new version includes a number of improvements including the first in body image stabilizer for the Sony mirrorless line.

The original A7 was the first mirrorless full frame camera from Sony and created a new family of FE mount cameras which currently includes the A7R (36MP sensor camera) and the A7S (12MP high sensitivity camera with 4K video capability). Now comes the second generation A7 and adds a big improvement – 5-Axis SteadyShot with 4.5 stops of still image stabilization (5 stops in video) and a few other interesting additions.

Here is a short list of new features of the A7 II (the 24MP full frame sensor of the A7 remains and so does most of the body layout):

New 5-Axis SteadyShot – 4.5 stops in stills/5 stops in video and the option to do “hybrid” optical/sensor based stabilizer when used with OSS lenses.
Improved hybrid AF system with up to 30% improvement in focusing speed and better focus tracking.
Video: XAVC-S / S-LOG 2 / S-Gamut features (but only 1080p @60p video recording – i.e. NO 4K).
Deeper grip with better ergonomics and a change to the shutter button.
New programmable C2 button and more programmable options.

The A7 II

An official Sony video demonstrating the α7 Ⅱ 5-axis SteadyShot in action

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svbUXedWsbA[/youtube]

5-axis SteadyShot

Pricing for the A7 II was not set officially outside Japan but it is believed to be under $1700.

Deeper grip and a programmable C2 button

Although it is not official yet we understand that both Sony and Zeiss are going to announce 3 new A-mount lenses (all updates) – all of them should be available sometime in early 2015:

Vario-Sonnar T * 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM II
Vario-Sonnar T * 16-35mm F2.8 ZA SSM II
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II

You can find many more previews and reviews on our Photography review section here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.