Olympus PEN E-PL9 vs. Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Olympus PEN E-PL9 and Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3. 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 Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Product Type Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system Digital camera - 4K - 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 699 g
Weight Details Camera body only: 332 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 380 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 699 g
Body Material - Magnesium alloy
Enclosure Colour White | Brown | Black -
Protection - Dust-resistant, moisture-resistant
Digital Zoom - 4x
SENSOR Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Sensor Resolution 16.1 Megapixel 12.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type Live MOS Exmor R CMOS
Total Pixels 17,200,000 pixels 12,900,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 16,100,000 pixels 12,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm) Full Frame (35.6 x 23.8 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) 30 fps 120 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 (5-axis Steady Shot)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
Sensors - Digital level metre
PROCESSOR Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Image Processor - BIONZ XR
LENS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Lens Mounting Type Micro Four Thirds Sony E-mount
FOCUSING Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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 Flex Focus Point, Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Eye detection AF
Face Detection Eye Detect AF Face Recognition, face-priority AF function
VIEWFINDER Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
ISO (Max) 25600 409600
Native ISO 100-6400 -
Extended ISO (Max) 25600 409600
Extended ISO (Min) - 40
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600) ISO 204800, ISO 409600, ISO 80-102400, ISO 40
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot
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
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 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 Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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 Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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 Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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, RAW + JPEG
Max Video Resolution 3840 x 2160 3840 x 2160
Audio Signal Format Linear PCM, WAV AAC
Microphone Operation Mode Stereo Stereo
Microphone Features Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control -
MEMORY Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Memory Card Slot SD card Dual SD card, dual CFexpress
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
JPEG 4240 x 2832
JPEG 2768 x 1848
JPEG 2128 x 1416
JPEG 1376 x 920
JPEG 3776 x 2832
JPEG 2464 x 1848
JPEG 1888 x 1416
JPEG 1232 x 920
JPEG 4240 x 2348
JPEG 2768 x 1550
JPEG 2128 x 1200
JPEG 1376 x 776
JPEG 2832 x 2832
JPEG 1840 x 1840
JPEG 1408 x 1408
JPEG 912 x 912
Video Capture MOV - 3840 x 2160 p
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p
MOV - 1280 x 720 p
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 120 fps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 60 fps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 100 fps - 200Mbps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 50 fps
XAVC HS - 3840 x 2160 p - 24 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 120 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 - 100 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 50 fps
XAVC S - 3840 x 2160 p - 25 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 120 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 60 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 30 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 24 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 100 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 50 fps
XAVC S HD - 1920 x 1080 p - 25 fps
BATTERY AND CHARGING Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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 - 510 shots (EVF on)
Photo shooting - 600 shots (LCD Monitor on)
Video recording - 80 minutes (EVF on)
Video recording - 135 minutes (LCD Monitor on)
CONNECTIONS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Interface HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 HDMI, USB-C, Wireless LAN, NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth 5.0
Connectivity Features Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, QR code scanning Remote control via mobile devices, Wireless Image Transfer, 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 (USB Type-C)
HDMI output (19 pin HDMI Type A)
Microphone (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm)
FEATURES Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
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, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, shadow point display, interval shooting mode, highlight point display, Dynamic Range Optimizer, USB charging, built-in help guide, Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), HDR image enhancement technology, Intelligent AUTO (iAUTO), fast motion recording, Lens Distortion Compensation (LDC), noise reduction over long exposures, high ISO speed noise reduction, silent shooting, BRAVIA Sync function, PhotoTV HD, GPS via mobile, slow motion recording, peripheral shading correction, anti-flicker, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) recording
OTHERS Olympus PEN E-PL9 Sony Alpha7s III ILCE-7SM3
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB 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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