Olympus PEN E-PL9 vs. Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Olympus PEN E-PL9 and Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1. 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 PEN E-PL9 vs. Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Product Type Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system Digital camera - 8K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 6.8 cm 9.69 cm
Width 11.71 cm 12.89 cm
Depth 3.9 cm 8.08 cm
Weight 332 g 652 g
Weight Details Camera body only: 332 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 380 g
Camera body only: 652 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 737 g
Body Material - Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour White | Brown | Black Black
SENSOR Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Sensor Resolution 16.1 Megapixel 50.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Exmor RS CMOS
Total Pixels 17,200,000 pixels 50,500,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,100,000 pixels 50,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) Full Frame (35.9 x 24 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) 30 fps 30 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF) Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Anti-Dust coating, APS-C compatible mode
Image Stabiliser Optical (3-axis image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (5-axis image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
PROCESSOR Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Image Processor - BIONZ XR
LENS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds Sony E-mount
FOCUSING Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection TTL contrast and phase detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 121 759
Auto Focus Features Focus Peaking function Focus Peaking function
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF, Eye priority AF Subject-tracking AF, Eye detection AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, Zone AF
Face Detection Eye Detect AF Eye Detect AF, Pet Detection
VIEWFINDER Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Viewfinder Type - Built-in - electronic
Viewfinder Colour Support - Colour
Viewfinder Diagonal Size - 0.64"
Viewfinder Resolution - 9,437,184 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage - 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification - 0.9x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range - -4 to +3
Field of View Crop Factor - 1.0
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
ISO (Max) 25600 102400
Native ISO 100-6400 -
Extended ISO (Max) 25600 102400
Extended ISO (Min) - 50
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600) ISO 50, ISO auto, ISO 102400, ISO 100-32000
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow 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 Focus bracketing Dynamic Range Bracketing, white balance bracketing
Special Effects Monotone, Vivid, Custom Effect, soft focus, natural, Muted, Water Colour, Diorama, Cross Process, partial colour, Grainy Film, Light Tone, Pop Art, Pale & Light Colour, pin hole, Gentle Sepia, i-Enhance, Dramatic Tone, Bleach Bypass, High Key, Low Key, Key Line, Vintage, Instant Film, e-Portrait -
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets - Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, Underwater, 2500K - 9900K
Shutter Type Mechanical Electronic, mechanical electronically-controlled
Max Shutter Speed 1/16000 sec 1/32000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 60 sec 30 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1 EV steps, 5 steps in 2/3 EV steps -
X-sync Speed - 1/200sec, 1/500 sec, 1/400 sec, 1/250sec
Exposure Range EV -2-20 (ISO 100) EV -3-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen Yes Yes
Display Format 1,040,000 pixels 1,440,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Folding Folding
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control
FLASH Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Camera Flash Pop-up flash -
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 5.4 -
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction -
Red-Eye Reduction Yes -
Features Flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control -
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV H.264, XAVC S, H.265, XAVC HS
Image Recording Format JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG JPEG, RAW, MPF, HEIF
Max Video Resolution 3840 x 2160 7680 x 4320
Audio Signal Format Linear PCM, WAV Linear PCM, AAC
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control -
MEMORY Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Memory Card Slot SD card Dual CFexpress / 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, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card, SDHC UHS-II Memory Card, SDXC UHS-II Memory Card, CFexpress
Memory Card Included No No
Image Storage RAW 4608 x 3456
JPEG 4608 x 3456
JPEG 3200 x 2400
JPEG 1280 x 960
8640 x 5760
5616 x 3744
4320 x 2880
5616 x 3744 - APS-C mode
4320 x 2880 - APS-C mode
7680 x 5760
4992 x 3744
3840 x 2880
4992 x 3744 - APS-C mode
3840 x 2880 - APS-C mode
8760 x 4864
5616 x 3160
4320 x 2432
5616 x 3160 - APS-C mode
4320 x 2432 - APS-C mode
5760 x 5760
3744 x 3744
2880 x 2880
3744 x 3744 - APS-C mode
2880 x 2880 - APS-C mode
Video Capture MOV - 3840 x 2160 p
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p
MOV - 1280 x 720 p
XAVC HS - 7680 x 4320 p - 30 fps - 400Mbps
XAVC HS - 7680 x 4320 p - 24 fps - 400Mbps
XAVC HS - 7680 x 4320 p - 25 fps - 400Mbps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 - 120 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 - 120 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 - 120 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Battery Type Olympus BLS-50 Lithium Ion Sony NP-FZ100 Lithium Ion
Details Olympus BLS-50 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Sony NP-FZ100 Li-ion rechargeable battery - 2280 mAh (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 350 shots
Video recording - 2.5 hours
Photo shooting - 430 shots (LCD Monitor on)
Photo shooting - 530 shots (EVF on)
Video recording - 150 minutes (LCD Monitor on)
Video recording - 145 minutes (EVF on)
CONNECTIONS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Interface HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 HDMI, USB-C, NFC (Near Field Communication), IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0
Connectivity Features Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, QR code scanning Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view
Print Standard Exif Print support Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe, PC terminal
Connector Type USB 2.0 (5 pin Micro-USB Type B)
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
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)
USB / AV output (micro-USB)
USB (USB Type-C)
FEATURES Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec, 1 - 30 sec 10 sec, 2sec, 5 sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 4.3 frames per second, 6.1 frames per second, 8.6 frames per second, 4.8 frames per second, 14.1 frames per second 8 frames per second, 3 frames per second, 20 frames per second, 10 frames per second, 30 frames per second, 6 frames per second, 15 frames per second
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode, HDR post-processing -
Additional Features Audio recording, built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, auto power save, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, in-camera red-eye removal, cropping an image, resizing an image, shadow point display, highlight point display, in-camera film editing, in-camera RAW processing, Full-time Live View, Eye-Fi Card Ready, high-speed recording, Time-Lapse recording Built-in speaker, RGB primary colour filter, AE lock, AF lock, interval shooting mode, Dynamic Range Optimizer, USB charging, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), Clear Image Zoom, noise reduction over long exposures, Lens Distortion Correction, high ISO speed noise reduction, silent shooting, BRAVIA Sync function, PhotoTV HD, GPS via mobile, peripheral shading correction, Flickering Reduction function
OTHERS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha1 ILCE-1
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, eyecup, shoe cap, cable protector, USB-C to USB-A cable
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature 0 °C 0 °C
Service & Support Limited warranty - 2 years Limited warranty - parts and labour - 1 year
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