Olympus PEN E-PL9 vs Canon PowerShot SX700 HS

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus PEN E-PL9 and the Canon PowerShot SX700 HS, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 was introduced in February 2018 and Canon PowerShot SX700 HS was introduced in February 2014. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL9 over Canon PowerShot SX700 HS.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Canon PowerShot SX700 HS over Olympus PEN E-PL9.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Olympus PEN E-PL9 and Canon PowerShot SX700 HS have 3.0" screens with 1,040k dot and 922k dot resolutions respectively. Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Canon PowerShot SX700 HS has a Fixed screen Olympus PEN E-PL9 also features touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 features a 16.1 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Canon PowerShot SX700 HS features a 16.1 megapixel 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 3,200.

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 is equipped with TruePic VIII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. Canon PowerShot SX700 HS is equipped with DIGIC 6 processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4608 x 3072, 4608 x 2592, 3456 x 3456, 3264 x 2448, 3264 x 2176, 3264 x 1832, 2448 x 2448, 640 x 480, 640 x 424, 640 x 360, 480 x 480 with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization (3.5 stops of compensation in Olympus PEN E-PL9). On Olympus PEN E-PL9 it means that you are still getting vibration reduction when it is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Olympus PEN E-PL9) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Olympus PEN E-PL9

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.0 LE) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

NFC on Canon PowerShot SX700 HS

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a Micro HDMI and Canon PowerShot SX700 HS has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus PEN E-PL9 comes with BLS-50 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots and Canon PowerShot SX700 HS comes with NB-6LH battery pack with battery life of 250 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Canon PowerShot SX700 HS has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has Focal-plane (mechanical and electronic) shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus PEN E-PL9, and up to 1/3200 sec on Canon PowerShot SX700 HS. Olympus PEN E-PL9 can shoot continuously up to 8.6 fps. Canon PowerShot SX700 HS can shoot continuously up to 8.5 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus PEN E-PL9 ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PL9 and ±2 range on Canon PowerShot SX700 HS. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PL9 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Canon PowerShot SX700 HS.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 7.60 m at ISO 200 on Olympus PEN E-PL9 and 3.50 m on Canon PowerShot SX700 HS. Olympus PEN E-PL9 also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL9.

Olympus PEN E-PL9 body has dimensions of 117 x 68 x 39 mm (4.61 x 2.68 x 1.54") and Canon PowerShot SX700 HS body has dimensions of 113 x 66 x 35 mm (4.45 x 2.6 x 1.38"). Olympus PEN E-PL9 weighs 380 g (0.84 lb / 13.40 oz) and Canon PowerShot SX700 HS weighs 269 g (0.59 lb / 9.49 oz).

Olympus PEN E-PL9

Canon PowerShot SX700 HS

117 mm

68 mm

113 mm

66 mm

68 mm

66 mm