Sony A7RII to feature 56-megapixel or higher-resolution sensor

Zeiss has uploaded a 56-megapixel photo captured with the latest Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens and an unknown FE-mount camera, which could be the new A7RII.

Loxia is a series of manual focus lenses designed by Zeiss for Sony FE-mount cameras, which was introduced before Photokina 2014. In addition to Loxia, another lens line-up was announced by the German company in April 2015. It is called Batis, it consists of autofocus optics, and it has also been created for FE-mount mirrorless cameras.

As part of the marketing strategy, the manufacturer has uploaded photos captured using the lenses on its official Flickr account. One of the shots has an original resolution of 56 megapixels, which is well-above the capabilities of any existing Sony FE-mount model, so it might have been taken with the sought-after A7RII.

Zeiss’ photo has a resolution of 8910 x 6300 pixels or about 56 megapixels.

Zeiss’ 56-megapixel photo uploaded to Flickr may have been captured with a Sony A7RII

A portrait photo captured with a Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens has a resolution of 8910 x 6300 pixels. These pixels are translating into about 56 megapixels and Zeiss says that the shot has been taken with a Sony A7R camera. However, the A7R has a 36.4-megapixel sensor and it does not offer pixel-shift technology like the Olympus E-M5 Mark II.

Moreover, a software update would not be capable of bringing the pixel-shift technology to the A7R because this mirrorless camera does not have an in-body image stabilization system.

It is worth noting that the A7II, which replaced the A7 in late 2014, has a 5-axis IBIS system and it could receive a software update to enable high-res mode. Nevertheless, you can see how the photo was captured in the subject’s eyes. This is a handheld shot and Olympus’ high-resolution mode only works from a tripod.

Another possibility is that the image has been upsized for some weird reason. However, it is a very sharp photo and upsizing a 36.4MP shot to 56MP would not have such high sharpness, despite the fact that the A7R is a big-megapixel camera with a sensor of 36.4 megapixels.

It is also worth noting that the aspect ratio is not 3:2, meaning that the image has been cropped and that the photo’s resolution is even higher than 56 megapixels. In case of upsizing, the shot would be even less sharp.

This is all just speculation and this may well be just fancy image-processing from Zeiss, but the we should keep our options open. The image might have been captured with a 56-megapixel Sony A7RII. Thankfully, the camera’s announcement event is nearing and the truth will be revealed soon.