The Sony A7S III will shoot 16-Bit RAW and 4K120fps without overheating, report says

So this is an interesting round-up of specs that’s just been posted to Sony Alpha Rumours. If true, the long (long!) awaited A7S III is going to get Sony video shooters very excited. Interestingly, Sony seems to have stuck with a 12-megapixel sensor, for maximum light gathering ability and to more closely match the native 4K video resolution – It would also be pretty beneficial in the speed department.

SAR does say that this information is coming from multiple sources, and some of it may not be entirely accurate as they say the sources only saw prototypes and not final units. But it’s a pretty interesting list, all the same. We do know that the A7S III is finally on the way, but not exactly when, although the updated list suggests the end of this month.

• New 12MP sensor with fast readout
• Shoots 1080p 240fps, 4k 120fps 10-Bit 4:2:2 and 4K120fps RAW over HDMI
• 600mbps bitrate
• Base ISO 160 for S-LOG3
• Max video ISO 409,600
• 16-bit RAW output
• 15-stops of dynamic range
• New high resolution 9.44 million dot EVF (QXGA resolution)
• A new kind of silent passive cooling system
• No overheating and no recording time limits (this may be different in Europe)
• UHS-II SD card slots
• Similar in appearance to the Sony A7R IV
• A fully articulating LCD screen (flippy out LCD on a Sony?!?!?)
• Announcement is expected late July
• Shipping to begin mid-August

Sticking with the 12-megapixel resolution is interesting, although they say it’s a new sensor. This conflicts with a report from last December that suggested the A7S III might see a 15-megapixel Quad-Bayer arrangement.

16-Bit RAW output (presumably this is either for stills or it’s the clean HDMI feed) is definitely interesting, and presently only really in the domain of the Medium Format world for stills. If it really does put out 16-Bit RAW files, then your hard drives are going to be happy that the sensor is only 12-megapixels.

Apparently it will have no overheating issues, even shooting at a claimed 10-Bit 4:2:2 4K 120fps, which will be a neat trick. This seems thanks to the new passive cooling system. 4K RAW over HDMI at 120fps will also be very impressive. If it’s true, then I’m curious if Atomos might be getting ready to announce something, too.

UHS-II SD card slots are logical if the video bitrate really is going to be up to 600mbps. 600mbps is around 75Meg/sec, which means you’re going to want those V90 UHS-II cards. But I’m curious why they don’t just go with CFexpress, as everybody seems to be shifting over to it these days.

Again, these are just rumours, and it will be interesting which of these makes it into the final spec. But I think if they can just offer at least 10-Bit 4K60 without overheating they’ll be onto a winner.

[via Sony Alpha Rumors]