Pentax K-3 vs. Olympus PEN E-PL9

Camera Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Pentax K-3 and Olympus PEN E-PL9. 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

Pentax K-3 vs. Olympus PEN E-PL9 Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Product Type Digital camera - SLR with movie recording Digital camera - 4K - mirrorless system
Lens Included Body only Body only
Height 10 cm 6.8 cm
Width 13.15 cm 11.71 cm
Depth 7.75 cm 3.9 cm
Weight 715 g 332 g
Weight Details - Camera body only: 332 g
Camera with battery and memory card: 380 g
Body Material Magnesium alloy -
Enclosure Colour Black White | Brown | Black
Protection Weatherproof, freezeproof, dust-resistant -
SENSOR Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Sensor Resolution 23.35 Megapixel 16.1 Megapixel
Optical Sensor Type CMOS Live MOS
Total Pixels 24,710,000 pixels 17,200,000 pixels
Effective Sensor Resolution 23,350,000 pixels 16,100,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) Four Thirds (17.3 x 13.0 mm)
Frame Rate (Max Resolution) - 30 fps
Sensor Dust Reduction - Yes
Sensor Features Dust Reduction (image sensor vibration), anti-aliasing simulator function Supersonic Wave Filter (SWF)
Image Stabiliser Optical (image sensor shift mechanism) Optical (3-axis image sensor shift mechanism)
Built-in Optical Image Stabiliser Yes Yes
Sensors Dust alert sensor, digital level metre -
PROCESSOR Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Image Processor PRIME III -
LENS Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Lens Mounting Type Pentax K Micro Four Thirds
FOCUSING Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Auto Focus TTL phase detection TTL contrast detection
Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 27 121
Auto Focus Features - Focus Peaking function
AE/AF Control - Face-priority AF, Subject-tracking AF, Touch Area AF, Eye detection AF, Eye priority AF
Face Detection Yes Eye Detect AF
VIEWFINDER Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Viewfinder Type Optical - fixed eye-level pentaprism -
Optical Viewfinder Field Coverage 100% -
Optical Viewfinder Magnification 0.95x -
Optical Viewfinder Dioptric Correction Range -2.5 to +1.5 -
Interchangeable Focusing Screens Yes -
EXPOSURE & WHITE BALANCE Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
ISO (Max) 51200 25600
Native ISO 100-51200 100-6400
Extended ISO (Max) - 25600
Light Sensitivity ISO 100-51200, ISO auto (100-51200) ISO 100-25600, ISO auto (100-25600)
Exposure Metering Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, highlight spot, shadow spot
Exposure Metering Zones - 324
Exposure Modes Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter & aperture priority Programme, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
Bracketing Modes - Focus bracketing
Special Effects Soft, Slim, Pastel, fisheye, natural, bright, Vibrant, Sketch, monochrome, Muted, landscape, portrait, Water Colour, miniature, Cross Process, Retro, Colour Extract, Toy camera, starburst, High contrast, Colour Invert, Bleach Bypass, Posterisation, Radiant, Reversal Film, Shading, Tone Expansion, Bold Monochrome, Unicolour Bold 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 Cloudy, tungsten light, Flash, daylight, shade, fluorescent light (cool white), fluorescent light (daylight), fluorescent light (warm white), Color Temperature Enhancement (CTE), fluorescent light (daylight white) -
Shutter Type Mechanical electronically-controlled Mechanical
Max Shutter Speed 1/8000 sec 1/16000 sec
Min Shutter Speed 30 sec 60 sec
Exposure Compensation ±5 EV range, in 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps ±5 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
Auto Exposure Bracketing 2, 3 or 5 steps 3 steps in 1 EV steps, 5 steps in 2/3 EV steps
X-sync Speed 1/180 sec -
Exposure Range EV -3-20 (ISO 100) EV -2-20 (ISO 100)
DISPLAY Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Type 3.2" LCD display 3" LCD display
Touch Screen - Yes
Display Format 1,037,000 pixels 1,040,000 pixels
Display Form Factor Built-in Folding
Display Features Colour control Display brightness control, display colour control
FLASH Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Camera Flash Pop-up flash Pop-up flash
Guide Number (m / ISO 100) 13 5.4
Flash Modes Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction Fill-in mode, rear curtain sync, slow synchro, auto mode, flash OFF mode, red-eye reduction
Red-Eye Reduction Yes Yes
Features AF illuminator, flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control Flash +/- compensation, wireless off-camera control
VIDEOGRAPHY / CAMCORDER Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Digital Video Format AVI, MJPEG, H.264 AVI, MJPEG, H.264, MOV
Image Recording Format JPEG, DNG (RAW) + JPEG, DNG (RAW) JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG
Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 3840 x 2160
Audio Signal Format - Linear PCM, WAV
Microphone Operation Mode Mono Stereo
Microphone Features Sensitivity control Wind noise reduction, sensitivity control
MEMORY Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Memory Card Slot Dual SD 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, SDXC Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, SDHC UHS-I Memory Card, SDXC UHS-I Memory Card
Memory Card Included - No
Image Storage RAW 6016 x 4000
JPEG 6016 x 4000
JPEG 4608 x 3072
JPEG 3072 x 2048
JPEG 1920 x 1280
RAW 4608 x 3456
JPEG 4608 x 3456
JPEG 3200 x 2400
JPEG 1280 x 960
Video Capture H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 30 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 25 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 24 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 60 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 50 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 30 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 25 fps
H.264 - 1280 x 720 - 24 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 60 fps
H.264 - 1920 x 1080 - 50 fps
MOV - 3840 x 2160 p
MOV - 1920 x 1080 p
MOV - 1280 x 720 p
BATTERY AND CHARGING Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Battery Type Pentax D-Li90 Lithium Ion Olympus BLS-50 Lithium Ion
Details Pentax D-Li90 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included) Olympus BLS-50 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included)
Battery Life Photo shooting - 560 shots (50% flash usage)
Photo shooting - 720 shots (flash off)
Playback - 6.2 hours
Photo shooting - 350 shots
Video recording - 2.5 hours
CONNECTIONS Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Interface HDMI, USB 3.0 HDMI, USB 2.0, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Connectivity Features - Remote control via mobile devices, remote live view, QR code scanning
Print Standard Exif Print support Exif Print support
Flash Terminal Hot shoe Hot shoe
Connector Type USB 2.0
HDMI output
Microphone
Headphones
Remote control
USB 2.0 (5 pin Micro-USB Type B)
HDMI output (19 pin micro HDMI Type D)
FEATURES Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Self-Timer Delay 2sec, 12sec 2sec, 12sec, 1 - 30 sec
Continuous Shooting Speed 8.3 frames per second 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
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode Auto HDR mode, HDR post-processing
Additional Features Audio recording, digital image rotation, camera orientation detection, histogram display, AE lock, AF lock, cropping an image, resizing an image, saturation control, GPS ready, interval shooting mode, mirror lock, in-camera RAW processing, peripheral illumination correction, HDR image enhancement technology, Shade Correction, Eye-Fi Card Ready, NR Slow Shutter, High ISO NR, Dynamic Range Compensation, no anti-aliasing filter, Lens Distortion Correction, primary colour filter, Interval Movie Record, Automatic composition correction function, colour moire correction, Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction, Flucard Ready 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
OTHERS Pentax K-3 Olympus PEN E-PL9
Included Accessories Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable, eyecup, shoe cap, battery grip terminal cover, sync terminal cover Battery charger, body cap, shoulder strap, USB cable
Software Drivers & Utilities -
Max Operating Temperature 40 °C 40 °C
Min Operating Temperature -10 °C 0 °C
Service & Support - Limited warranty - 2 years
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