Sony Alpha 9 III vs Canon EOS R8

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 9 III and the Canon EOS R8, 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 III was introduced in November 2023 and Canon EOS R8 was introduced in February 2023. 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 III over Canon EOS R8.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Canon EOS R8 over Sony Alpha 9 III.

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 III has a 3.2" screen with 2,360k dots resolution and Canon EOS R8 has a 3.0" screen with 1,620k dot resolution. Both have Fully Articulated screens. Fully articulated screen makes cameras selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Both models feature 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 III has a built-in 0.64" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 9,437k dots resolution and Canon EOS R8 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Sony Alpha 9 III features a 24.6 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 250 - 25,600 and expands to 125 - 51,200 in boosted mode. Canon EOS R8 features a 24.2 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.9 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 571.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 102,400 and expands to 50 - 204,800 in boosted mode.

Sony Alpha 9 III 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.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Sony Alpha 9 III is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3936 x 2632, 3008 x 2000 with 1:1, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Canon EOS R8 is equipped with DIGIC X processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution.

Lens Mount

Sony Alpha 9 III has Sony E lens mount and Canon EOS R8 has Canon RF lens mount. Due to their Full Frame sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha 9 III

Sony Alpha 9 III has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 8 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera 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 (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

Sony Alpha 9 III and Canon EOS R8 have built-in Bluetooth (version 5.0 on Sony Alpha 9 III, version 4.2 on Canon EOS R8) 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.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10 GBit/sec) Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Sony Alpha 9 III has a Full Size HDMI and Canon EOS R8 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 9 III comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 530 shots with LVD
400 shots with viewfinder and Canon EOS R8 comes with LP-E17 battery pack with battery life of 290 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 9 III has Dual CFexpress Type A / SD (UHS-II) card slots. Canon EOS R8 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 9 III has Electronic Global Shutter shutter. Canon EOS R8 has Electronic 1st curtain shutter and Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/80000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Sony Alpha 9 III, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with electronic 1st curtain shutter on Canon EOS R8. Sony Alpha 9 III can shoot continuously up to 120.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 30.0 fps with mechanical shutter. Canon EOS R8 can shoot continuously up to 40.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 6.0 fps with electronic 1st curtain shutter.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 9 III has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points and Canon EOS R8 has Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system with 1053 focusing points. Sony Alpha 9 III has detection range from -5 to +20 EV and Canon EOS R8 has detection range from -6.5 to +21 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 9 III and Canon EOS R8 range from -5 to +17 EV and -3 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Sony Alpha 9 III and ±3 EV range on Canon EOS R8. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 9 III and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Canon EOS R8.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Shoe Mount or PC Terminal to Sony Alpha 9 III and via Intelligent Hot Shoe to Canon EOS R8. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/80000 sec on Sony Alpha 9 III and 1/250 sec on Canon EOS R8.

Sony Alpha 9 III body has dimensions of 136 x 97 x 83 mm (5.35 x 3.82 x 3.27") and Canon EOS R8 body has dimensions of 133 x 86 x 70 mm (5.24 x 3.39 x 2.76"). Sony Alpha 9 III weighs 678 g (1.49 lb / 23.92 oz) and Canon EOS R8 weighs 461 g (1.02 lb / 16.26 oz).

Sony Alpha 9 III

Canon EOS R8

136 mm

97 mm

133 mm

86 mm

97 mm

86 mm

83 mm

70 mm