Sony Alpha 9 II vs Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 9 II and the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, 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.

Sony Alpha 9 II was introduced in October 2019 and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS was introduced in July 2010. 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 Sony Alpha 9 II over Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Canon PowerShot SX20 IS over Sony Alpha 9 II.

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

Sony Alpha 9 II has a 3.0" Tilting screen with 1,440k dot resolution and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS has a 2.50" Fully Articulated screen with 230k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Sony Alpha 9 II very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Fully articulated screen makes Canon PowerShot SX20 IS selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 9 II 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.

Viewfinder

Sony Alpha 9 II has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,686k dot resolution and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS has a built-in Electronic viewfinder. Sony Alpha 9 II has 100% coverage with 0.78x magnification and magnification.

Sony Alpha 9 II features a 24.2 megapixel Full Frame Stacked CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 847.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Canon PowerShot SX20 IS features a 12.1 megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor with dimensions of 6.17 x 4.55 mm and a total area of 20.7 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 1,600.

Sony Alpha 9 II has Stacked CMOS sensor. The key feature of such sensor is its three-dimensional structure, which consists of multiple layers of semiconductor material and circuitry stacked on top of each other. This allows the sensor to have dedicated layers for image capture and signal processing. This separation allows for faster data readout, reducing rolling shutter effects and enabling high-speed shooting and video recording. It is also more power-efficient.

Sony Alpha 9 II is equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. Canon PowerShot SX20 IS is equipped with DIGIC 4 processor and can take pictures up to 4000 x 3000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3840 x 2160, 3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 with 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in image stabilization (5.5 stops of compensation in Sony Alpha 9 II). On Sony Alpha 9 II 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 on Sony Alpha 9 II

Sony Alpha 9 II has a built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) 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 Sony Alpha 9 II

Sony Alpha 9 II has a built-in Bluetooth 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

Cameras have 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 inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 9 II has a Micro HDMI and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS has an HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 9 II comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 690 shots and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS comes with 4 x AA battery pack.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 9 II has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots. Canon PowerShot SX20 IS has a single SD /SDHC / MMC / MMC Plus / HC MMC Plus card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 9 II has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/32000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Sony Alpha 9 II, and up to 1/3200 sec on Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. Sony Alpha 9 II can shoot continuously up to 20.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 10.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Canon PowerShot SX20 IS can shoot continuously up to 0.7 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 9 II has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 693 focusing points and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS has 9 focusing points. Sony Alpha 9 II has detection range from -3 to +20 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 9 II ranges from -3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Sony Alpha 9 II and ±2 range on Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 9 II and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

Flash

Canon PowerShot SX20 IS has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.80 m and also accepts external flash which can be connected via [n]. Sony Alpha 9 II has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Intelligent Hot Shoe or PC Terminal. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Sony Alpha 9 II and 1/500 sec on Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

Sony Alpha 9 II body has dimensions of 129 x 96 x 76 mm (5.08 x 3.78 x 2.99") and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS body has dimensions of 128 x 88 x 87 mm (5.04 x 3.46 x 3.43"). Sony Alpha 9 II weighs 678 g (1.49 lb / 23.92 oz) and Canon PowerShot SX20 IS weighs 600 g (1.32 lb / 21.16 oz).

Sony Alpha 9 II

Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

129 mm

96 mm

128 mm

88 mm

96 mm

88 mm

76 mm

87 mm