In a move that came as a bit of a surprise, Sony on Thursday unveiled the new Alpha 7 II (ILCE-7M2) mirrorless camera. The new Alpha 7 II has a special 5-axis optical image stabilisation (sensor-shift), which is the first of its kind in a full-frame mirrorless camera.

The five axis optical image stabilisation (OIS) can move along the regular left/ right and up/ down axis. The sensor can try to negate three other angular movements of the camera – tilting up/ down (pitch), swinging left/ right (yaw) and rotating clockwise/ anti-clockwise (roll). Using the CIPA standard, Sony claims that the this OIS system can reduce shakes up to 4.5-stops, which indicates that you can hold the camera in your hands and use shutter speeds that are 4.5-stops slower without a perceptible shake.

Since the OIS is reliant on the sensor, it will work with any lens attached to it, including non-Sony lenses that are attached using an adapter. In fact, if a Sony-Standard E-mount lens with image stabilisation is attached, then the camera leverages on both the image stabilisation systems to further reduce camera shake.

The Alpha 7 II comes with a 24.3-megapixel Exmor CMOS Sensor that features the predecessor’s 117 phase detect and 25 contrast detect points, but Sony claims there is a 30 percent improvement in the auto-focus speed.

With respect to video recording, while Sony hasn’t added 4K video capability, the Alpha 7 II does get support for the XAVC S codec, which can record 1080/ 60p video at 50Mbps. The camera also has support for S-Log 2, thus adding a wider dynamic range.

Unfortunately, all the changes in specifications and design has resulted in an increase in dimensions and weight of the Alpha 7 II, compared to all the cameras in the Alpha 7 range, which also includes the Alpha 7R and the Alpha 7S. The Alpha 7 II weighs 556g, which is a good 140g heavier than its predecessor.

Also, with respect to the design, the Alpha 7 II has a bigger grip and has an additional front dial. The shutter release button has now been placed on the grip, which Sony claims is similar to DSLRs. We will have to test the camera to figure out how it performs ergonomically.

The Sony Alpha 7 II is slated to be available in Japan from December 5 and should hit the European markets by January 2015. Sony hasn’t revealed the pricing of the new camera. We have no information on India availability and prices as of now.