Just Announced: Sony's A7 II - faster autofocus and image stabilization
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I reviewed the Sony A7 in April of this year - found it to be a lovely camera but suffered from slower AF and a small lens selection, unless you use adapters which causes focus to get even slower. Since then I have reviewed the Sony a7r (36MP) and the Sony a7s (Amazing low light capabilities) along with the Sony FE mount to EF mount Metabones adapter that will provide access to all of my Canon lenses. A complaint that is common across these sony A7 bodies and the more DSLR like A77 is lack of lenses - Sony now has something like 5 full frame bodies currently on the market and about 10 lenses that work natively (no adapters needed) with those bodies. Not a good ratio when you compare to Canon or Nikon. But! the new Sony A7 II offers in body 5-axis image stabilization, this opens up greater possibilities with using older lenses and increases the catalog of lenses.
Sony A7 II Specs (Same as Original)
- 24MP Full Frame Sony Sensor
- 117 phase detect and 25 contrast detect points
- 5fps continuous shots
- Same Battery providing about 350 shots
Sony A7 II Upgrades:
5-Axis in body image stabilization. This is similar to what Olympus offers in their micro 4/3 series and I love the capabilities. Sony claims up to 4.5 stops of stabilization. Added benefit of making handheld video wonderful with any lensFaster AF - 30% improvement in the a7 II's AF speed and 1.5x better tracking performance than the original Sony A7
Slight redesign to the body providing a deeper grip and more DSLR like feel.XVACs codec for video at 50MBPS and support for S-Log2 profile for better grading control of video in post Should be shipping in early December in Japan - not clear when it will be available here in the US. Sony Product video showing the A7 Mark II Image Stabilization in action -
