60MP and 36MP sensors with 8K video could be coming to the Sony A7III, A9II and A7RIV

With the flood of new mirrorless cameras on the market offering 10-bit video, and those expected in the new year, it looks like Sony is taking no prisoners. Sony Alpha Rumors is reporting that Sony is about to announce two 36-megapixel and 60-megapixel sensors capable of shooting 8K video at up to 6o frames per second. And they may even offer 16-bit RAW stills.

According to SAR’s source, which they say has been 100% correct in previous information shares, the specs for the two sensors are very impressive.

Sensor 1

• 60-megapixel
• 16 channels
• 4.6fps @ 16-bit
• 12fps @ 14-bit
• 8k30p @ 12-bit
• 8K60p @ 10-bit
• 4K60p @ 12-bit
• FHD300p @ 10-bit

Sensor 2

• 36-megapixel
• 10fps @ 16-bit
• 60fps @ 10-bit
• On-chip PDAF

The 36-megapixel sensor will be a CMOS with a 4.88µm pixel pitch, shooting 3:2 or 16:9 aspect ratios in 10, 12, 14 or 16-bit depth.

SAR says that their source also told them that the new sensors will have…

1. Weighted pixel binning: improve the image quality when shooting videos with pixel binning. Already featured in a lot of Sony sensors.
2. A new dual-gain ADC mode: improve the dynamic range by almost 2 stops. The sensor loses 50% speed when using it. Details not known yet. Already in XT3’s sensor.
3. Digital Overlap HDR (DOL-HDR): It’s like bracketing, but you can shoot 2 frames almost at the same time! (The minimum time interval is only 1/6000 seconds). All the new sensors with 3.76um pixel size have this function.

8K does seem like it might be a little excessive. The bitrates required for recording quality 8K video are pretty ridiculous. Although, CFexpress would soon solve that particular issue. But the editing systems you’d need would be pretty immense – far beyond those of most that would typically be shooting Sony mirrorless (or any mirrorless, for that matter) cameras for video.

But Sony will apparently also make these sensors available to third parties. This means they could also appear in dedicated video cameras, and not just Sony’s own line of mirrorless cameras. In fact, SAR doesn’t believe these sensors will even make it into Sony mirrorless cameras. But I think it’s still possible. Just because a sensor is capable of a certain spec doesn’t necessarily mean the camera will make full use of it. Throttling hardware isn’t that uncommon.

But if a hypothetical A7SIII is to receive this 36-megapixel sensor, it might explain why it’s taken them so long to announce it. Of course, such high resolutions and the kind of ISO performance that made the A7SII so popular rarely go hand-in-hand.

So, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. The new sensors are expected to be officially announced soon.

[via Sony Alpha Rumors]