Sony Alpha 9 vs Pentax KP

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 9 and the Pentax KP, 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 was introduced in April 2017 and Pentax KP was introduced in January 2017. 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 over Pentax KP.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Pentax KP over Sony Alpha 9.

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 and Pentax KP have 3.0" Tilting screens with 1,440k dot and 921k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 9 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 has a built-in 0.5" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,686k dot resolution and Pentax KP has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. They both have 100% coverage.

Sony Alpha 9 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. Pentax KP features a 24.32 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 819,200.

Sony Alpha 9 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 is equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. Pentax KP is equipped with PRIME IV processor and can take pictures up to 6016 x 4000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4608 x 3072, 3072 x 2048, 1920 x 1280 with 3:2 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Sony Alpha 9 has Sony E lens mount and Pentax KP has Pentax K_AF2 lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Sony Alpha 9 its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length. Due to APS-C sensor in Pentax KP its crop factor is equal to 1.5x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (5 stops of compensation in Pentax KP). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are 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) 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

Sony Alpha 9 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.1) 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 Sony Alpha 9

Sony Alpha 9 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. connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 9 comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 650 shots and Pentax KP comes with D-LI109 battery pack with battery life of 390 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 9 has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots. Pentax KP has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 9 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, and up to 1/24000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/6000 sec with mechanical shutter on Pentax KP. Sony Alpha 9 can shoot continuously up to 20.0 fps. Pentax KP can shoot continuously up to 7.0 fps.

Focusing

Sony Alpha 9 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 693 focusing points and Pentax KP has 27 (25 cross-type) focusing points. Sony Alpha 9 has detection range from -3 to +20 EV and Pentax KP has detection range from -3 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Both cameras' exposure metering ranges from -3 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 9 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Pentax KP.

Flash

Pentax KP has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. Sony Alpha 9 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 and 1/180 sec on Pentax KP.

Sony Alpha 9 body has dimensions of 127 x 96 x 63 mm (5 x 3.78 x 2.48") and Pentax KP body has dimensions of 132 x 101 x 76 mm (5.2 x 3.98 x 2.99"). Sony Alpha 9 weighs 673 g (1.48 lb / 23.74 oz) and Pentax KP weighs 703 g (1.55 lb / 24.80 oz).

Sony Alpha 9

Pentax KP

127 mm

96 mm

132 mm

101 mm

96 mm

101 mm

63 mm

76 mm