Sony A7R II looks to feature 9K sensor / 56MP

[Policar]

[Julian]

But you don't don't wanna be left behind if the 4k standard sneaks up on you.

Wouldn't more sensitivity mean less megapixels and less likely it can even do 4k? And the stills resolution is pretty low on the a7s, pushing it as is. 

It's the other way around. More pixels means 4K is less likely. Sony used 12MP in the A7S to make 4K with full sensor readout possible. 4K is only 8MP after all. Downscaling 36MP or more to 4K requires enormous power - which generates heat. Small cameras like the A7 series don't have space for the required heatsinks and fans. 

[Marco Tecno]

The nx1 does that from 28mp. With no fans...

[Julian]

Which is a great achievement indeed. The NX1 is a bit bigger than a Sony A7 though and has a smaller sensor. Samsung has more room for heat disposal.

My point still stands: high resolution is not an advantage for 4K, it's the opposite.

Look at the video quality of the Canon 5DS / 5DS R...

[Liam]

my point was more sensitivity in the a7s could mean dropping down closer to 8 megapixels for the full frame, which is fine.. (except as a stills camera really), but can't do any lower than that, and the crop mode would be like 2 megapixels.

[aldolega]

A sensor with an 8K res of 33.17MP in the center 16x9 crop would downscale cleanly to 4K in the same way that 4K downscales cleanly to 1080p... which doesn't seem to tax the GH4 or A7s all that much.

[Julian]

But downscaling 8K to 4K requires a lot more horsepower of course, since it is four times the data...

Also it means you need a sensor that can do full pixel readout at very high speed.
Here's a list of Sony sensors with some specs: http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/IS/sensor2/products/index.html

You can see the IMX094 (36MP fullframe) for example, as used in the Nikon D800 / Sony A7R. Max Frame Rate @All pixels = 4,7 fps.

Speeds are going up though. The current Sony 24MP asp-c sensor (IMX193) does 8.7 fps. There's a new one listed (IMX271) that is rated at 19 fps. Maybe this could be used for 4K with a small crop or little processing. Sadly the 12MP 35mm Sony sensor is not listed, would be interesting to know the max frame rate of that one.

 

[QB3]

Only thing interesting about this photo is ppl can't decide if it is real or not

[jax_rox]

Considering there's four images shot on the A7r (all of which have had the important parts of the EXIF scrubbed, by the way - and that 3 of the four are 7360x4912 (max resolution of A7r), I'm going to go ahead and suggest that this particular picture is upscaled - probably cropped and then upscaled.

Why else would they only take one photo, out of all of them, with a prototype - especially considering it's the same girl in one of the other photos, so one could assume it's from the same shoot.

[psolberg]

I have no doubt sony will push the limits of the MP race again. After all, sony already ships 1 inch sensors with 20+MPs which would scale up to ridiculous resolutions and they have the fabs and capacity to mass produce it. Ridiculous is what sony does best: blowing the competition to pieces using their sheer tech muscle, in this case, as they did when they pushed the 36MP sensor years ahead of anybody even daring and how their video line went from zero to awesome in no time at all.

The question is are they going to chicken out and stop at a mere 59MP, which is quite lame since there is little difference between 36 and 50's MP, at least not enough to bother unless you're buying a new camera anyway. Because you're dealing with a two dimensional plane, you need way, way more MPs to really make a difference in the pixel density. IMO, I think sony could easily, push 70+ MP and I think that is what they should aim for. What's the point of merely matching canon with its ~50MP. Yes, the 5Ds blows in terms of video specks lacking even basic 1080p60, blows in terms of DR with its rebel-inspired sensor, and blows in terms of image quality having kept the D800 times cancelled AA-filter approach over going AA-less. But if all sony does is beat the 5Ds sensor to a pulp in quality, while retaining the same minimal resolution gains, what's the point?

Regardless of it being fake, it is a given sony will be pushing the boundaries of resolution. high 40s and 50s is basically a no brainer. They will do it. But this would be a huge disappointment because unless you were a loyal canon shooter, you've had 36MP for ages and 50MP from where you were isn't going to excite you as much as it does the canon user who has been stuck stuck in the 20s for a decade with nowhere to go to. Sony's customers expect more than that. I hope they deliver an exciting jump because if even canon can put out a 50MP Full frame sensor, sony can easily do better than that then. 

I was expecting to see their big MP body by now. Surely they probably had several protypes with several resolutions, so I'm hoping this delay means that they are going to blow our minds now that they know exactly where canon parked itself for the next 4 years.

[peterwhite]

Do you guys know any other camera can record 9K videos? I'm not a Sony fan.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

are they going to chicken out and stop at a mere 59MP,

​What a world we live in.

[DBounce]

I need 100mp... Even though the  human eye can only resolve 7mp(in focus) + 1mp(out of focus). That's right, not 576mp.

[Joel]

I'm skeptical of these images. If they are from the A7RmkII I suspect there's some kind of pixel shift happening and not a full-blown ~60mp sensor. Could be wrong. 

While it seems most likely to me that Sony will follow Canon and make a high-res camera that doesn't do video as well, Sony has the added complication that by moving to mirrorless they NEED to do at least 1080P video very well because the camera relies on it to focus and to feed an image to the viewfinder.

Personally I hope for a new 24MP sensor that is a scaled up version of the Pregius line of industrial sensors made by Sony. The pixel pitch is right and the Pregius meets or exceeds IMX124 while adding a global shutter and much higher frame rate. 6k video in FF mode down-scaled to 4K in camera. (approx.)UHD in APS-C crop. Full HD at S16mm. Plus a silent shutter mode that would work with my strobes. Keep it close to the A7 size and THAT would be a camera worth my upgrade dollars. I don't print large enough to justify 36+ megapixels but while I love the A7S I find myself still reaching for the A7 when I know I'll be shooting at low ISOs (for stills anyway).

[RRRoger]

S for sensitivity, R for resolution. There's no V for video. It floats around the range to whatever suits.

Nothing to stop the A7R having 4K in future.

​Except heat!

It will need a new processor that runs cooler and a new body that better dissipates the heat.