Pentax 17vs A9 II
Pentax
Pentax 17 (2024)
Starting from £400 new
Best for Film photography enthusiasts & diptych storytelling
View Pentax 17
Sony
A9 II (2019)
Starting from £3299 new
Best for Professional sports, wildlife & photojournalism
View A9 II
GearScore™ Verdict — Which should you buy?
Film Photography Enthusiasts & Diptych Storytelling — Pentax 17 (2024): The best new film camera of the decade — manual controls, a sharp lens, and a half-frame format that doubles your roll and forces a new way of seeing.
Professional Sports, Wildlife & Photojournalism — A9 II (2019): The A9 II polished the A9's groundbreaking formula — 20fps blackout-free, improved subject tracking, and a LAN port made it the professional sports standard.
Who should buy what
A9 II (2019)
- Sports photographers who need 20fps with reliable eye and body tracking
- Photojournalists who need LAN transfer and instant wireless file delivery
- Wildlife photographers who want the fastest Sony AF in a proven body
- A9 owners who need the improved ergonomics, weather sealing, and Ethernet
Quick take: The pentax 17 is the most affordable; only the a9 ii is weather sealed. Scroll down for the full spec breakdown.
Full specifications
| Specification | Pentax 17 (2024) | A9 II (2019) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £400 | £3,299 |
| Sensor | 35mm half-frame (18 × 24mm) | 24.2MP Full-Frame Stacked BSI CMOS Exmor RS |
| Resolution | — | 24.2MP |
| Video | N/A — film camera | 4K/30p, 1080p/120p |
| Autofocus | Zone focus (0.35m / 1m / 3m / ∞) | 693 phase-detect + 425 contrast-detect, real-time eye/body tracking |
| Stabilisation | N/A — film camera | IBIS — 5-axis, up to 5.5 stops |
| Burst Rate | Manual wind-on | 20fps (blackout-free with full AF/AE) |
| Battery Life | 2× CR2 lithium batteries | ~500 shots (CIPA) |
| Weight | ~165g (without batteries) | 678g (with battery and card) |
| Dimensions | 113 × 66 × 44mm | 128.9 × 96.4 × 77.5mm |
| Weather Sealed | No | Yes |
| Viewfinder | Optical viewfinder with half-frame framelines | EVF, OLED 3.69M dots, 0.78× magnification |
| Screen | N/A | 3.0" tilting touchscreen |
| Mount | 35mm film (ISO 25–3200 via DX coding + manual dial) | Sony FE (full-frame E-mount) |
| Memory Cards | 35mm 135-format film cartridge | Dual SD UHS-II slots |
| Connectivity | N/A | USB-C, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Bluetooth, Ethernet (LAN), HDMI |
Suitability by genre
| Genre | Pentax 17 | A9 II |
|---|---|---|
| Street | — | |
| Travel | — | |
| Portrait | ||
| Everyday | — | |
| Landscape | ||
| Low Light | — | |
| Sports & Action | — | |
| Wildlife | — | |
| Wedding & Events | — | |
| Vlogging & Video | — |
GearScore™ suitability scores are based on aggregated purchaser reviews weighted by photography genre. See how scores are calculated →
More comparisons with Pentax 17
Camera family history