Panasonic LUMIX S1II / Sony α9 III (ILCE-9M3)

Panasonic LUMIX S1II: DC-S1M2 · black, body only

Sony α9 III (ILCE-9M3): α9 III ILCE-9M3 body; the VG-C5 vertical grip is sold separately. The α9 (ILCE-9) and α9 II (ILCE-9M2) are earlier models with different sensors.

SpecificationPanasonic LUMIX S1IISony α9 III (ILCE-9M3)
Release year20252023
Release year2025 Panasonic—
Sensor35.6 × 23.8 mm full-frame CMOS; 24.1 MP effective, 26.8 MP total Panasonic35.6 × 23.8 mm full-frame stacked Exmor RS CMOS with global shutter; about 24.6MP effective for stills, 20.3MP for video

A global shutter reads every row at once, so the skew seen on row-by-row sensors with spinning propellers, golf clubs or fast pans does not occur.

Sony
Lens mountLeica L-Mount Panasonic—
Still image size3:2, up to 6000 × 4000 Panasonic—
High-resolution mode3:2, up to 12000 × 8000; multi-shot mode Panasonic—
FilesJPEG, HEIF, RAW; MP4 and MOV video options Panasonic—
Card slots1 × CFexpress Type B; 1 × UHS-II SD/SDHC/SDXC PanasonicTwo slots; each takes SD (UHS-I/II) or CFexpress Type A

CFexpress Type A cards are better suited to clearing the buffer quickly when shooting RAW at 120 fps.

Sony
Open Gate video5952 × 3968, 3:2, 29.97p; 4:2:0 10-bit HEVC option Panasonic—
6K high frame rate5952 × 2512, 2.4:1, 59.94p; 4:2:0 10-bit HEVC option Panasonic—
Stabilization5-axis sensor shift; Dual I.S.2 compatibility Panasonic—
AutofocusImage-plane phase detection + contrast detection PanasonicFast Hybrid AF; 759 phase-detection points for stills, 627 for video Sony
Viewfinder0.5-inch OLED, 5.76 million dots; approximately 0.78× Panasonic—
Monitor3-inch, 3:2 touchscreen; 1.84 million dots Panasonic—
USBUSB-C, 10 Gbit/s; USB PD 9 V / 3 A Panasonic—
HDMIFull-size Type A; RAW video output Panasonic—
AudioSeparate 3.5 mm microphone and headphone; 2.5 mm remote Panasonic—
External recordingExternal SSD recording support Panasonic—
Dimensions134.3 × 102.3 × 91.8 mm; excluding protrusions Panasonic—
Weight800 g with battery and one SD card; 718 g body only Panasonic—
WirelessWi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 5.0 LE Panasonic—
Operating range−10–40 °C; splash resistant, not for submersion Panasonic—
Processor and ISO—BIONZ XR; ISO 250–25600 for stills (expanded 125–51200)

A base ISO of 250 means the lowest-noise setting is higher than on cameras with an ISO 100 base.

Sony
Burst and shutter—About 120 fps (Hi+), blackout-free; electronic shutter only, 1/80,000–30 s

Sony says AF/AE tracking continues at 120 fps. Speed Boost switches to a preset higher rate with one button during shooting; Pre-Capture keeps up to 1 second recorded before the shutter is pressed.

Sony
Flash sync—Up to 1/80,000 s (electronic); 1/500 s

Thanks to the global shutter, flash can be used even at the fastest shutter speed without switching to high-speed sync.

Sony
In-body stabilisation—5-axis sensor shift; 8.0 stops (CIPA)

The figure is measured with the FE 50mm F1.2 GM on pitch/yaw only.

Sony
Viewfinder and screen—0.64-type OLED viewfinder, 9,437,184 dots, 0.90x; 3.2-type 2,095,104-dot touchscreen (multi-angle)

The viewfinder refreshes at 60/120/240 fps. The screen tilts up 98°, down 40°, swings 180° to the side and rotates 270°.

Sony
Video—Up to 4K 119.88p; XAVC S (8-bit 4:2:0 or 10-bit 4:2:2), XAVC HS (10-bit 4:2:2), XAVC S-I 4K 59.94p (600 Mbps)

XAVC HS is H.265-based, producing smaller files at the same quality but needing a stronger computer to edit. XAVC S-I records intra-frame only, easier to edit but with large files.

Sony
Battery—NP-FZ100; about 400 shots with the viewfinder and 530 with the screen (CIPA); charging and power over USB PD Sony
Connectivity—USB-C 10 Gb/s (USB 3.2); plus Multi/Micro USB; 1000BASE-T wired LAN; Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4/5 GHz); Bluetooth 5.0; Type-A HDMI

Wired LAN is used to send photos quickly to agencies at sports and news events. Full-size HDMI gives a sturdier connection in the field than micro HDMI.

Sony
Size and weight—About 136.1 × 96.9 × 82.9 mm; about 702 g with battery and card (body only 617 g) Sony