Sony NEX-F3 vs Olympus PEN E-PL9

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony NEX-F3 and the Olympus PEN E-PL9, 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 NEX-F3 was introduced in August 2012 and Olympus PEN E-PL9 was introduced in February 2018. 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 NEX-F3 over Olympus PEN E-PL9.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus PEN E-PL9 over Sony NEX-F3.

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 NEX-F3 and Olympus PEN E-PL9 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 920k dot and 1,040k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. 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 (available only on Olympus PEN E-PL9) 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.

Camera does not have a built-in viewfinder but an optional electronic viewfinder can be attached on Sony NEX-F3.

Sony NEX-F3 features a 16.1 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.4 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 365 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 16,000. 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 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 6,400 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode.

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 NEX-F3 is equipped with BIONZ processor and can take pictures up to 4912 x 3264 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4912 x 2760, 3568 x 2368, 3568 x 2000, 2448 x 1624, 2448 x 1376 with 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Olympus PEN E-PL9 is equipped with TruePic VIII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution.

Lens Mount

Sony NEX-F3 has Sony E lens mount and Olympus PEN E-PL9 has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to APS-C sensor in Sony NEX-F3 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. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus PEN E-PL9 its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Olympus PEN E-PL9

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 3.5 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 on Olympus PEN E-PL9

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a 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 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.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Sony NEX-F3 has a Mini Type C HDMI and Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony NEX-F3 comes with NPFW50 battery pack with battery life of 470 shots and Olympus PEN E-PL9 comes with BLS-50 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony NEX-F3 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo card slot. Olympus PEN E-PL9 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Olympus PEN E-PL9 has Focal-plane (mechanical and electronic) shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Sony NEX-F3, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/4000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus PEN E-PL9. Sony NEX-F3 can shoot continuously up to 5.5 fps. Olympus PEN E-PL9 can shoot continuously up to 8.6 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus PEN E-PL9 ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±2 EV range on Sony NEX-F3 and ±5 EV range on Olympus PEN E-PL9. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony NEX-F3 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus PEN E-PL9.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 7.60 m at ISO 200 on Olympus PEN E-PL9. They also accept external flash which can be connected via Proprietary to Sony NEX-F3 and via Hot Shoe to Olympus PEN E-PL9. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on Sony NEX-F3 and 1/250 sec on Olympus PEN E-PL9.

Sony NEX-F3 body has dimensions of 117 x 67 x 42 mm (4.61 x 2.64 x 1.65") and Olympus PEN E-PL9 body has dimensions of 117 x 68 x 39 mm (4.61 x 2.68 x 1.54"). Sony NEX-F3 weighs 314 g (0.69 lb / 11.08 oz) and Olympus PEN E-PL9 weighs 380 g (0.84 lb / 13.40 oz).

Sony NEX-F3

Olympus PEN E-PL9

117 mm

67 mm

117 mm

68 mm

67 mm

68 mm

42 mm

39 mm