Rumor: Sony A7s will have 4K video

The Sony A7s keeps surprising us! It will get announced on Sunday already(!) and it will record 4K video. And now I just learned it features a new 12 megapixel Full Frame sensor! It completely goes in the opposite direction of the market who calls for “more megapixels”. And I think Sony’s move makes a lot of sense: Larger pixels, cleaner high ISO images, more fps! This is going to be an amazing 4K camera!Reminder: The A7s will be unveiled live at 2pm in Las Vegas (on Sunday). You can follow the live video stream on SAR!!! This is the time in other time zones:
- 5pm New York time on Sunday April 6
- 3am (22:00) London time on Sunday April 6
- 11pm (23:00) Berlin time on Sunday April 6
- 6am (06:00) Tokyo time on Monday April 7
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http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-sony-a7s-has-12-megapixel-full-frame-sensor/
12MP full frame sensor is perfect for 4K !
 
I've been waiting for a nice Full Frame camera, only other option being an open mount for Blackmagic's 4K camera then Metabones doing a booster.

This might be that camera, and would be the first Sony camera I've ever owned. Well, if the rumors are true.

I like the idea of a 12MP Sensor for 4k as well.
 
12MP! Yes! Finally a company is sensible enough to realise more mega-pixels does not mean a superior image! This is going to be a low-light beast!
 
My first thought was "envy rumour" (Panasonic has one, we Sony users need to believe we'll have one too), but that detail of a 12MP sensor makes this a lot more likely.

Think 4230x2820 sensor shooting with a slight 1.10x crop for 3840x2160 video with digital IBIS (exactly the same crop-for-IBIS that some Sony DSLRs have). It should have crazy high-ISO capabilities, and crazy DR... if they put a good log profile in the camera (which I doubt they would do, even if it is the one simple feature that I think would make Nikon or Sony cameras shine above other DSLRs).

I still love my NEX-5N +speedbooster, but I was already thinking about the A6000 as a replacement. This could be a lot better (specially if the IBIS thing I just made up happens too).
 
I wonder if it will have cinema 4K 4096x2160 mode like the GH4. If it does it could have 1:1 with the 12mp full frame sensor.
 
The A7's body is a bit annoying, for me, and I wish they'd actually gone with the bigger FZ/A-mount A77 type body if the camera was meant for more cinema style use. But as a hybrid camera I think it's the perfect choice, and the E-mount is super adaptable too. Sony might make a killing on this, and it looks like Canon has badly missed the boat if Sony get it right. I think this is the camera people will have been expecting from Canon.
 
* A bigger grip would sometimes be better, but I love how small my NEX is
* This could definitely be the camera I've been waiting for... depending on codec and DR (I still think I don't need 4K for anything, but these GH4 crops are SHARP!) (but yeah, no matter how sharp they are, what I want most is better codec and DR)
* 4104x2736 is 11.2 Mpix, that's why I think it will be more like 4230x2820, which takes a 1.03x crop for 4096 and 1.1x for 3840
 
Samuel H said:
* 4104x2736 is 11.2 Mpix, that's why I think it will be more like 4230x2820, which takes a 1.03x crop for 4096 and 1.1x for 3840
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With a fullframe the crops hardly matter anymore. Though they're not great cinema lenses the new FE lenses are supposedly quite good optically, particularly the 55/1.8 which would be almost like using a 40mm in S35. It's almost as sharp as the Otus too. Imagine if the camera has 70D style touchscreen focussing!
 
Samuel H said:
4104x2736 is 11.2 Mpix, that's why I think it will be more like 4230x2820, which takes a 1.03x crop for 4096 and 1.1x for 3840
Click to expand...
When I first read the bit about 12 Mpix I thought it a bit of an odd number - small for stills, but still a bit large for video.

But take the 3:2 aspect ratio of the sensor into account and it starts to make sense. Cropping top and bottom for 16:9 brings it to 10 Mpix - not too much more than the "magic" 8.8 Mpix which is optimal for video. So yes, makes sense to simply crop to 4096x2160 or 3840x2160 and make the processing easy with pretty small crop factors.

If this is what will be done, it marks the dawn of a primary stills camera with no video compromise - no need for any of the line/pixel skipping or high crop factors that sensors with more than 12 Mpix have meant. The more I think about it, the more interesting it gets.
 
Sony's on the right track here, like Panasonic, because they didn't attach their 4K to a pro DSLR that costs $7,000 in the first place. Canon really should have come up with a 7DC instead, but it's easy to crit in retrospect because of how much things have changed in the 2 years since the 1DCs release. Either way, they made a killing selling that thing for 12-15 thousand until now so good for them.
 
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