Sony has released a document detailing the specifications for a 47-megapixel Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor capable of shooting up to 8K video up to 30 frames per second (fps).
The sensor, known as IMX492LQJ (there’s also a monochrome IMX492LLJ version), is listed as ‘a diagonal 23.1 mm (Type 1.4) CMOS image sensor with a color square pixel array and approximately 47.08 M effective pixels.’ According to the features list, the sensor features 12-bit A/D conversion, has a 2.315 micrometer (?m) pixel size and offers a variable-speed electronic shutter function.
As the above specifications note, the sensor can capture, in 10-bit mode with a 17:9 crop, 8K video (8192 × 4320 pixels) at up to 30 fps when paired with an SLVS-EC output interface. This resolution is exactly double the 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) resolution of the 17:9 crop mode on the Panasonic GH5S.
Decreased power consumption is also noted, which should help extend the battery life of any camera it’s used in (or at least make up for a fragment of the increased processing power that will be required to handle all of the data).
It’s worth noting that although Sony lists the applications for this sensor as ‘Surveillance, FA cameras and Industrial cameras,’ the IMX299 inside Panasonic’s GH5S was labeled as such as well.
We could speculate whether or not this will be available on the next-generation MFT camera from Panasonic or Olympus, but the reality of it is we have no idea and won’t until any such camera is released—and maybe not even then.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
