Olympus PEN E-PL9 vs. Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Olympus PEN E-PL9 and Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4. 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 Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Product Type Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 6.8 cm 9.64 cm
Width 11.71 cm 13.13 cm
Depth 3.9 cm 7.98 cm
Weight 332 g 658 g
Weight Details Camera body only: 332 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 380 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 658 g
Body Material - Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour White | Brown | Black -
Protection - Dust-resistant, moisture-resistant
Digital Zoom - 4x
SENSOR Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Sensor Resolution 16.1 Megapixel 33.0 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Exmor R CMOS
Total Pixels 17,200,000 pixels 34,100,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,100,000 pixels 33,000,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) Full Frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) 30 fps 60 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction Yes Yes
Sensor Features Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF) Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), Anti-Dust coating
Image Stabiliser Optical (3-axis image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (Steady Shot with 5-axis Intelligent Active Mode)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
Sensors - Digital level metre
PROCESSOR Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Image Processor - BIONZ XR
LENS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds Sony E-mount
FOCUSING Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
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, Predictive Focus Control
AE/AF Control Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF, Eye priority AF Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Zone AF, Real-time Eye AF, Real-time Tracking AF, Wide-area AF, Expanded area AF, animal eye detection, bird eye detection, right/left eye select
Face Detection Eye Detect AF Eye Detect AF, face-priority AF function
VIEWFINDER Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Viewfinder Type - Electronic - OLED
Viewfinder Colour Support - Colour
Viewfinder Diagonal Size - 0.5"
Viewfinder Resolution - 3,686,400 pixels
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage - 100%
Optical Viewfinder Magnification - 0.78x
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range - -4 to +3
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
ISO (Max) 25600 204800
Native ISO 100-6400 100-51200
Extended ISO (Max) 25600 204800
Extended ISO (Min) - 50
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600) ISO 50, ISO auto, ISO 204800, ISO 100-51200
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, average, highlight spot
Exposure Metering Zones 324 1200
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority 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 Soft Skin, Creative Look presets
White Balance Custom, automatic, presets Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets - Incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, Flash, daylight, shade, Underwater, 2500K - 9900K
Shutter Type Mechanical Mechanical electronically-controlled
Max Shutter Speed 1/16000 sec 1/8000 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 3, 5 or 9 steps
X-sync Speed - 1/250sec
Exposure Range EV -2-20 (ISO 100) EV -3-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Type 3" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen Yes Yes
Display Format 1,040,000 pixels 1,036,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Folding Folding
Display Features Display brightness control, display colour control Display brightness control
FLASH Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
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 Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV MPEG-4, H.264, XAVC S, H.265, XAVC HS
Image Recording Format JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG, HEIF, RAW + HEIF
Max Video Resolution 3840 x 2160 3840 x 2160
Audio Signal Format Linear PCM, WAV Linear PCM, AAC
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control Wind noise reduction
MEMORY Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Memory Card Slot SD card SD card, 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 -
Image Storage RAW 4608 x 3456
JPEG 4608 x 3456
JPEG 3200 x 2400
JPEG 1280 x 960
7008 x 4672
4608 x 3072
3504 x 2336
4608 x 3072 - APS-C mode
3504 x 2336 - APS-C mode
6224 x 4672
4096 x 3072
3120 x 2336
4096 x 3072 - APS-C mode
3120 x 2336 - APS-C mode
7008 x 3944
4608 x 2592
3504 x 1968
4608 x 2592 - APS-C mode
3504 x 1968 - APS-C mode
4672 x 4672
3072 x 3072
2336 x 2336
3072 x 3072 - APS-C mode
2336 x 2336 - APS-C mode
Video Capture MOV - 3840 x 2160 p
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p
MOV - 1280 x 720 p
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 60 fps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 fps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 50 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 60 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 30 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 50 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 25 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 60 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 50 fps
XAVC S - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
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 - 520 shots (EVF on)
Photo shooting - 580 shots (LCD Monitor on)
Video recording - 100 minutes (EVF on)
Video recording - 110 minutes (LCD Monitor on)
CONNECTIONS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Interface HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB 2.0, USB-C, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1
Connectivity Features Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, QR code scanning Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, Wireless Image Transfer, wireless video upload to FTP server, PC Remote functions via Wi-Fi
Print Standard Exif Print support Exif Print support, PRINT Image Matching
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0 (5 pin Micro-USB Type B)
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
USB 2.0 (5 pin Micro-USB Type B)
USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB Type-C)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
FEATURES Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
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, 10 frames per second, 6 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, camera orientation detection, histogram display, shadow point display, highlight point display, Dynamic Range Optimizer, USB charging, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), fast motion recording, noise reduction over long exposures, high ISO speed noise reduction, silent shooting, BRAVIA Sync function, distortion correction function, S-Log2 gamma setting, slow motion recording, peripheral shading correction, chromatic aberration correction, anti-flicker, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) recording, S-Log3 gamma setting, 4:2:2 10-bit internal rercording, simultaneous streaming & recording mode, focus breathing compensation, USB streaming, 14-bit RAW
OTHERS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7 IV ILCE-7M4
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable Eyepiece cover, body cap, shoulder strap, AC power adaptor, shoe cap, 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 -
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