The 64MP tele camera of the Galaxy S20 is for 8K video, not 4-in-1 binning

It seems the 64MP S5KGW2 sensor that will be used as a zoom camera in the Galaxy S20 and S20+ will not produce pixel-binned 4-in-1 16MP photos. Instead it will use plain old cropping to achieve zoomed-in shots.

Additionally it will offer 8K video support, likely 8K@30fps.

We've seen specs sheets that suggest that the Galaxy S20/S20+ will offer 3x optical zoom out of the 64MP S5KGW2 sensor (about which we have no official info) and up to 30x digital zoom. Now it looks like the zoom will be of the lossless variety as it will crop actual pixels from the sensor.

The telephoto sensor S5KGW2 of the S20 / S20+ is a special pure 64MP camera. It cannot be 4 in 1 combined into 16MP. It will be used for pixel cropping zoom and 8K video.

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) January 29, 2020

The Galaxy S20 Ultra will have a 48MP IMX586 periscope camera with 10x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. It's also expected to gain the new 108MP S5KHM1 sensor that promises 12MP snaps from a 9-in-1 binning process.

Early rumors suggest that the Galaxy S20/S20+ will not get that main snapper either.