Canon makes Super35 global shutter sensor available to third parties

Canon’s LI5070SA sensor delivers 4K at up to 60p with no rolling shutter, with Canon suggesting ‘Cinema’ as one of its potential applications. Image: Canon

Canon has made a 4K/60-capable Super35 (∼APS-C) video sensor with global shutter available to third-party buyers.

The 10.3MP sensor added to the product page of its industrial equipment and semiconductor business unit is 27.4 x 15.3mm, making it a 1.34x crop, relative to a full-frame stills camera, but in a roughly 16:9 aspect ratio.

Its 4288 x 2398 pixel count is clearly designed for delivering 4K footage. We’d usually expect Canon to have already offered it in a camera, if it planned to, before offering it to external users.

Canon sold a 4K/60 Super35 ‘GS’ global shutter version of its EOS C700 camera, back in 2017, though available specs suggest its sensor was slightly smaller, so presumably wasn’t the same as the one now being offered to external companies. Notably, Canon claimed its dynamic range was one stop lower than the progressive scan Super35 chip in the regular C700 model. There’s still a chance this new chip will underpin a successor to the C700 GS.

An image of Canon semiconductor’s LI7080SA sensor: a progressive scan Super35 sensor that closely resembles its global shutter cousin. Image: Canon

At present, we’re not aware of any other consumer camera maker using Canon sensors. Specialist industrial / security camera makers such as Illunis have used its sensors to make high-speed and high-resolution cameras for applications such as aerial photography and machine vision applications, but we’ve not seen its 120MP or 250MP APS-H chips in consumer cameras, including those from Canon itself.

Canon said it was developing a DSLR based on its 120MP sensor, back in 2015. Prototypes based on EOS 5DS bodies appeared at trade shows, but no final product ever emerged.

Canon’s semiconductor business also offers a “full-frame” global shutter sensor. Again this has a roughly 16:9 aspect ratio and proposed uses include microscopy, factory automation and traffic surveillance. This sensor has been available since early 2023.