Olympus OM-D E-M1 vs. Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Olympus OM-D E-M1 and Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9. Compare design, sensors, proximity features, memory capacities and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right camera for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the digital camera that will best fit your needs.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Olympus OM-D E-M1 vs. Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Product Type Digital camera - 1080p - mirrorless system Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 9.35 cm 9.56 cm
Width 13.04 cm 12.69 cm
Depth 6.31 cm 6.3 cm
Weight 443 g 673 g
Weight Details - Camera with battery and memory card: 673 g
Body Material Magnesium alloy Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour Silver | Black Black
Protection Splashproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant Dust-resistant, moisture-resistant
Digital Zoom - 4x
SENSOR Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Sensor Resolution 16.3 Megapixel 24.2 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Exmor RS CMOS
Total Pixels 16,800,000 pixels 28,300,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,300,000 pixels 24,200,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (4/3") Full Frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 30 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction - Yes
Sensor Features - Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Anti-Dust coating, APS-C compatible mode
Image Stabiliser Optical (5-axis image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (5-axis image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
Sensors Digital level metre Digital level metre
PROCESSOR Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Image Processor TruePic VII BIONZ X
LENS Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds Sony E-mount
FOCUSING Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Auto Focus TTL contrast and phase detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty - 693
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Eye detection AF Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, Zone AF
Face Detection Yes Yes
VIEWFINDER Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Viewfinder Type Built-in - electronic Electronic - OLED
Viewfinder Colour Support Colour Colour
Viewfinder Diagonal Size - 0.5"
Viewfinder Resolution 2,360,000 pixels 3,686,400 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 1.48x 0.78x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -4 to +2 -4 to +3
Field of View Crop Factor 2 1.0
Features - Viewfinder brightness control, colour temperature control
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
ISO (Max) 25600 204800
Native ISO - 100-51200
Extended ISO (Max) - 204800
Extended ISO (Min) - 50
Light Sensitivity ISO 200-25600, ISO auto (200-25600) ISO 50, ISO auto, ISO 102400, ISO 204800, ISO 100-51200
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, average, highlight-weighted
Exposure Metering Zones 324 1200
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority Bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
Bracketing Modes Art Filter bracketing, ISO sensitivity bracketing Dynamic Range Bracketing, white balance bracketing
Shooting Programs Landscape, portrait mode, macro, beach/snow, landscape-portrait, Children, fireworks, 3D image, panorama assist, night scene, sports mode, sunset, candle, high key, night scene with portrait, anti shake, low key, documents, nature macro, e-portrait, fisheye converter, wide converter, macro converter -
Special Effects Black & White, Sepia, soft focus, Water Colour, Diorama, Cross Process, Grainy Film, Light Tone, Pop Art, Pale & Light Colour, pin hole, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, Star Light, Defocus, White Edge Black & White, Sepia, Neutral, Vivid, sunset, landscape, portrait, clear, deep, light, autumn leaves, Retro, partial colour, Toy camera, Posterisation, High contrast monochrome, Pop Colour, Soft High-key, Night Scene, Standard, Style Box
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, sunlight, Flash, shade, Underwater, 2000K - 14000K Incandescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, fluorescent light (cool white), fluorescent light (daylight), fluorescent light (warm white), Underwater, 2500K - 9900K, fluorescent light (daylight white)
Shutter Type - Mechanical
Max Shutter Speed 1/8000 sec 1/32000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 60 sec 30 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1, 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing - 3, 5, 9 steps in 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, 2 or 3 EV steps
White Balance Bracketing - Yes
X-sync Speed - 1/250sec
Exposure Range EV 2-20 (ISO 100) EV -3-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen Yes Yes
Display Format 1,037,000 pixels 1,440,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Folding Folding
Display Features Contrast control, display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control
FLASH Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Camera Flash Detachable flash -
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 7 -
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction -
Red-Eye Reduction Yes -
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control, flash exposure bracketing AF illuminator
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV AVCHD, H.264, XAVC S
Image Recording Format JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, MPO JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 3840 x 2160
Audio Signal Format - Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel), Linear PCM, AAC
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control -
MEMORY Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Memory Card Slot SD card SD card, Memory Stick PRO Duo card / SD card
Supported Memory Cards SD Memory Card, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card SD Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO Duo, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card, SDHC UHS-II Memory Card, SDXC UHS-II Memory Card
Memory Card Included No No
Image Storage RAW 4608 x 3456 - 17 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 7.5 MB
JPEG 4608 x 3456 - 3.5 MB
JPEG 2560 x 1920 - 1.1 MB
6000 x 4000
3936 x 2624
3008 x 2000
1968 x 1312
6000 x 3376
3936 x 2216
3008 x 1688
1968 x 1112
Video Capture MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 30 fps - 24Mbps
MOV - 1920 x 1080 - 30 fps - 16Mbps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps - 12Mbps
MOV - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps - 8Mbps
MJPEG - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
MJPEG - 640 x 480 - 30 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 30 fps - 100Mbps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 fps - 100Mbps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 30 fps - 60Mbps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 fps - 60Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 120 fps - 100Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 120 fps - 60Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 60 fps - 50Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps - 50Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 fps - 50Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 p - 60 fps - 28Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 i - 60 fps - 24Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 i - 60 fps - 17Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 fps - 24Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 fps - 17Mbps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 60 fps - 28Mbps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps - 16Mbps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 30 fps - 6Mbps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 25 fps - 100Mbps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 25 fps - 60Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 100 fps - 100Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 100 fps - 60Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 50 fps - 50Mbps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps - 50Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 p - 50 fps - 28Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 i - 50 fps - 24Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 i - 50 fps - 17Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps - 24Mbps
AVCHD - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps - 17Mbps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 50 fps - 28Mbps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps - 16Mbps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 p - 25 fps - 6Mbps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Battery Type Olympus BLN-1 Lithium Ion Sony NP-FZ100 Lithium Ion
Details Olympus BLN-1 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Sony NP-FZ100 Li-ion rechargeable battery - 2280 mAh (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 250 shots Photo shooting - 650 shots (LCD Monitor on)
Photo shooting - 480 shots (LCD Monitor off)
CONNECTIONS Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Interface Composite video/audio, HDMI, USB 2.0, Wireless LAN HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth 4.1
Connectivity Features Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view -
Print Standard DPOF support, Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching DPOF support, Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe, PC terminal
Connector Type USB 2.0
Composite video/audio output
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
Microphone
Accessory port
USB 2.0
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Network (RJ-45)
FEATURES Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 10 sec, 2sec, 5 sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 10 frames per second, 6.5 frames per second 20 frames per second
Additional Features Audio recording, built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, auto power save, sharpness control, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, cropping an image, resizing an image, saturation control, in-camera red-eye fix, interval shooting mode, face detection, Shadow Adjustment Technology, in-camera RAW processing, Full-time Live View, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), Eye-Fi Card Ready, Touch Shutter technology, GPS via mobile Built-in speaker, sharpness control, digital image rotation, histogram display, saturation control, takes photos while film recording, contrast control, Dynamic Range Optimizer, built-in help guide, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), Clear Image Zoom, noise reduction over long exposures, Lens Distortion Correction, high ISO speed noise reduction, silent shooting, BRAVIA Sync function, PhotoTV HD, simultaneous multi-format recording, peripheral shading correction
OTHERS Olympus OM-D E-M1 Sony Alpha9 ILCE-9
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable Eyepiece cover, body cap, shoulder strap, AC power adaptor, USB cable, shoe cap
Software Drivers & Utilities, Olympus Viewer 3 -
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C 0 °C
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