It's been about two years since the introduction of the Sony Alpha 6000. In that time it has received accolades (it's still our Editors' Choice pick for affordable mirrorless cameras), and also sold quite well—Sony states that it's the best-selling mirrorless camera ever, and also the best-selling interchangeable lens camera priced above $600. But two years is a long time in the world of digital photography.

Today Sony announced what is essentially a beefed-up version of the Alpha 6000. The new Alpha 6300 is priced a bit higher (the Alpha 6000 will remain in the lineup for customers who are more budget-minded), but it adds quite a bit of functionality. There's a new 24-megapixel image sensor. It's still an APS-C size (you'll need to move up to the Alpha 7 II if you want a full-frame body), but it has an autofocus system that puts its full-frame siblings to shame. A total of 425 phase detect focus points cover the sensor from nearly edge to edge, working in conjunction with 169 contrast detect points (which cover a slightly narrower area) to track moving subjects.

The advanced autofocus system supports numerous specialized autofocus modes. Face Detection is almost a given in a modern interchangeable lens camera, but Sony goes a bit further with its Eye AF system, which ensures that your subject's iris is the point of focus for portraits. It's proven effective in other Sony cameras which with I've shot, but certainly works best when you're shooting a head-and-shoulders portrait. Eye AF is supported when the camera is set to continuous AF.

Another benefit of on-sensor phase detection is the ability to use SLR lenses with full autofocus capability via an adapter. You can use a Sony LA-EA3 adapter and leverage the library of Sony and Minolta A-mount lenses, or opt for a Metabones or Fotodiox adapter to mount Canon EF SLR lenses. This is a feature that we've tested with the Alpha 7 II and Alpha 7R II with mixed results—at times focus locks immediately and tracks just as well as a native lens, but at other times adapted lenses would hunt for seconds trying to find a subject. We'll try it out again with the Alpha 6300 when it comes in for review.

Like the Alpha 6000, the 6300 can shoot at 11.1 frames per second with automatic exposure and focus. There's also a drive mode setting to shoot at 8fps. You do lose some speed, but this method minimizes blackout—the time that you don't see an image in the viewfinder when shooting in a burst. Sony showed a side-by-side video comparing the Alpha 6300 with an unnamed competing consumer SLR—it shows that, at 8fps, the Alpha has less blackout when shooting in a burst. This allows you to effectively track a moving subject.

The new sensor isn't just about improved autofocus. Its design incorporates copper circuitry, which increases the size of the photodiodes and improves the readout speed. Larger photodiodes generally lead to better images at high ISOs, and the Alpha 6300 can be set from ISO 100 through ISO 51200. The Bionz X image processor powers the camera and its JPG output, but you can also shoot Raw images at 15-bit quality.

The other big upgrade is in the video realm. The camera is capable of 4K video acquisition at 24 or 30fps. Video is saved in an MP4 wrapper with compression handled by the XAVC S 4K codec at 60 or 100Mbps. If you have a field recorder you can use the HDMI port to record uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 video.

An oversampling method is used for 4K recording. This means that the camera is able to use the full width of its image sensor—equivalent to a 6K video frame at 16:9—when recording. Footage is saved at 4K, without pixel binning, a method which Sony promises delivers footage with more details than you'd get by shooting at native 4K. S-Gamut and S-Log profiles are available, making the 6300 a viable choice for use in a professional production environment. In addition to support for standard 3.5mm microphones, the Alpha 6300 supports Sony's multi-interface XLR adapter, which allows you to use pro-grade mics with the camera.

Full HD 1080p video capture is also an option—that's still a good choice for the consumer market, as editing 4K footage requires a pretty serious computer. XAVC S is also used here, with 50Mbps compression used for 24p, 30p, and 60p footage. If you shoot at 120fps the bit rate can be set at 60 or 100Mbps. You have the option of saving footage at the native 120fps rate so you can slow it down using editing software, or using the camera to create the slow-motion footage by saving it as a 30fps or 24fps file—4x and 5x slow-motion, respectively.

There are also some updates to the body itself. The EVF is a 2,359k-dot OLED, sharper than that of the Alpha 6000. And it displays motion more smoothly, thanks to a 120fps refresh rate. The new camera is quite compact, so there's no in-body image stabilization like you'll find with the second-generation full-frame Alpha 7 II models. There is weather-sealing around buttons and dials and a ruggedized lens mount, both of which are updates from the Alpha 6000.

The body style and design is largely unchanged from the Alpha 6000. The grip and shutter release have seen slight changes, but the tilting rear LCD (3 inches, 921k dots) is unchanged, and the controls are mostly the same—the big addition is a toggle switch around the AEL button that allows it to pull double duty as an AF/MF control. The pop-up flash and hot shoe are in the same place, as is the EVF. It almost goes without saying, but the Wi-Fi and NFC are included as well.

I got to shoot a bit with the Alpha 6300 at a Sony press event this morning. The camera was a pre-production model, so I wasn't able to keep my images, but in a studio setting I found the focus to be as quick and accurate as promised. We'll have more details on how the camera performs in the real world when it's released in March.

The Alpha 6300 is priced at $1,000 as a body only, or at $1,150 when bought along with the 16-50mm power zoom lens. Canadian pricing is higher: $1,350 for the body and $1,500 for the kit.

Sony also announced three full-frame mirrorless lenses as part of its new G Master line.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.