Earlier on this week, Sony announced the A7 Mk II in Japan. But today, they’re finally announcing it here in the US. The camera is the world’s first full frame mirrorless camera with image stabilization built into the sensor. It uses a five axis stabilization system they Sony claims is not the same that Olympus has despite the partnership between the two companies. The company also claims around 4.5 stops of stabilization from the new image stabilized sensor. It will work with all of the lenses that Sony has created as well as third party options, though they state that some lenses aren’t compatible.
It houses the same 24.3MP full frame sensor in the A7 but adds a 35% performance improvement in autofocus responsiveness. In fact, it boasts 117 focal plane phase detection AF points and 25 contrast detection points. Sony also states in their press release that AF and AE now work while tracking subjects.
The Sony A7 Mk II gets a boost in the video capabilities by bringing with it the XAVC-S video codec that was previously only on the A7s. You also get time code, picture profiles and dual video recording to an external recorder and the SD card inside.
Sony is also claiming a 40% start-up time–which is a big problem with the current A7. It will come in at $1,700 body only on February 9th when it launches. But the company is announcing much more.
Besides the A7 Mk II, they’re also announcing the new 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM lens that we mentioned in our original post. But they also are working on new T* 24-70mm F2.8 ZA SSM II and the Vario-Sonnar T* 16-35mm F2.8 ZA SSM II lenses for their A mount–which shows that the company isn’t ready to throw away the aging DSLRs yet. Not many more details were shared otherwise.
