Pentax K-5 IIs has a
16.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Prime II processor. On the other hand, Canon G9 X II has a
20.0MP 1″ (13.2 x 8.8 mm ) sized BSI-CMOS sensor and features DIGIC 7 processor.
Another difference between these two cameras is that Pentax K-5 IIs's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. 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 K-5 IIs and G9 X II sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Pentax K-5 IIs has a 3.2x Larger sensor area than Canon G9 X II. 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
Both Pentax K-5 IIs and Canon G9 X II sensors have been tested by DxoMark. DxoMark 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. Of the two cameras that we are comparing, K-5 IIs has scored 82, 17 points higher than G9 X II.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Pentax K-5 IIs |
82 |
23.9 bits |
14.1 Evs |
1208 ISO |
Canon G9 X II |
65 |
21.9 bits |
12.5 Evs |
522 ISO |