Canon G9 X has a
20.0MP 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features DIGIC 6 processor. On the other hand, Pentax K-r has a
12.0MP APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Prime II processor.
Canon G9 X's sensor provides 8MP more than Pentax K-r'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.
Below you can see the G9 X and K-r sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Pentax K-r has a 3.2x Larger sensor area than Canon G9 X. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in 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. Canon G9 X and Pentax K-r sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that K-r has a better overall score of 72, 9 points higher compared to G9 X's score of 63.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon G9 X |
63 |
21.5 bits |
12.3 Evs |
495 ISO |
Pentax K-r |
72 |
22.9 bits |
12.4 Evs |
755 ISO |