Sony’s Next Full-Frame Sensor to Offer 60MP, 8K, 16-Bit RAW: Report

Here’s a peek of what’s to come in the camera industry: Sony is reportedly getting ready to announce two new full-frame sensors, one of which will be capable of 60 megapixel photos, 16 channels, and 8K video recording.

sonyalpharumors is reporting with near certainty — the info was received from a trusted source — that the next two sensors will have the following specs:

Sensor #1

60 megapixels
16 channels (“which is crazy, normally it should be 8,” writes sonyalpharumors)
4.6FPS @ 16-bit
12FPS @ 14-bit
8K30P @ 12-bit
8K60p @ 10-bit
4K60p @ 12-bit
FHD300P @ 10-bit

Sensor #2

36 megapixels
10FPS @ 16-bit
60FPS @ 10-bit
On-chip phase-detection autofocus (PDAF)

“On paper [the sensors] could [shoot 16-bit RAW photos],” sonyalpharumors tells PetaPixel. “But most often camera specs cripple the full sensor capabilities. What’s cool is that on paper it does 8K too!”

sonyalpharumors is also hearing from the source that the sensors will have the following features:

“Weighted pixel binning: Improves the image quality when shooting videos with pixel binning. Already featured in a lot of Sony sensors.”
“A new dual-gain ADC mode: Improves the dynamic range by almost 2 stops. The sensor loses 50% speed when using it. Details not known yet. Already in X-T3’s sensor.”
“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.”

The two sensors will reportedly be available for both Sony’s own cameras as well as third-party companies that use Sony’s sensors. Even if these sensors are only sold to other companies and not used in-house, they give us a baseline indication of what the coming generation of Sony cameras may offer.