Leica M9 has a
18.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CCD sensor . On the other hand, Pentax K-1 has a
36.0MP Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor .
Pentax K-1's sensor provides 18MP more than Leica M9's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Another similarity between these two cameras is that both Pentax K-1 and Leica M9 sensors lack anti-alias (Low-Pass) filters. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the M9 and K-1 sensor size comparison.
Leica M9 and Pentax K-1 have almost the same sensor size, so neither of them has any significant advantage over the other in terms of providing control over depth of field when used with the same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Leica M9 and Pentax K-1 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that K-1 has a better overall score of 96, 27 points higher compared to M9's score of 69.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Leica M9 |
69 |
22.5 bits |
11.7 Evs |
884 ISO |
Pentax K-1 |
96 |
25.4 bits |
14.6 Evs |
3280 ISO |