Sony Alpha A7 III vs. Canon EOS R6

Comparison

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Alpha A7 III image
vs
EOS R6 image
Sony Alpha A7 III Canon EOS R6
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Megapixels
24.20
20.10
Max. image resolution
6000 x 4000
5472 x 3648

Sensor

Sensor type
CMOS
CMOS
Sensor size
35.6 x 23.8 mm
35.9 x 23.9 mm
Sensor resolution
6026 x 4017
5492 x 3661
Diagonal
42.82 mm
43.13 mm
Sensor size comparison
Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »
vs
1 : 1.01
(ratio)
Sony Alpha A7 III Canon EOS R6
Surface area:
847.28 mm² vs 858.01 mm²
Difference: 10.73 mm² (1%)
R6 sensor is slightly bigger than Alpha A7 III sensor (only 1% difference).
Note: You are comparing cameras of different generations. There is a 2 year gap between Sony Alpha A7 III (2018) and Canon R6 (2020). All things being equal, newer sensor generations generally outperform the older.
Pixel pitch
5.91 µm
6.54 µm
Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.
Difference: 0.63 µm (11%)
Pixel pitch of R6 is approx. 11% higher than pixel pitch of Alpha A7 III.
Pixel area
34.93 µm²
42.77 µm²
Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.
Relative pixel sizes:
vs
Pixel area difference: 7.84 µm² (22%)
A pixel on Canon R6 sensor is approx. 22% bigger than a pixel on Sony Alpha A7 III.
Pixel density
2.87 MP/cm²
2.34 MP/cm²
Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.
Difference: 0.53 µm (23%)
Sony Alpha A7 III has approx. 23% higher pixel density than Canon R6.
To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.



Specs

Sony Alpha A7 III
Canon R6
Crop factor
1.01
1
Total megapixels
25.30
21.40
Effective megapixels
24.20
20.10
Optical zoom
Digital zoom
Yes
ISO sensitivity
100-25600 (expandable to 50 - 204800)
Auto, 100-102400 (extends to 50-204800)
RAW
Manual focus
Normal focus range
Macro focus range
Focal length (35mm equiv.)
Aperture priority
Yes
Yes
Max. aperture
Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)
n/a
n/a
Metering
Multi, Center-weighted, Highlight-weighted, Spot
Multi, Center-weighted, Spot, Partial
Exposure compensation
±5 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
±3 EV (in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV steps)
Shutter priority
Yes
Yes
Min. shutter speed
30 sec
30 sec
Max. shutter speed
1/8000 sec
1/8000 sec
Built-in flash
External flash
Viewfinder
Electronic
Electronic
White balance presets
10
8
Screen size
3"
3"
Screen resolution
921,600 dots
1,620,000 dots
Video capture
Max. video resolution
3840x2160 (30p/25p/24p)
3840x2160 (60p/​30p/​23.98p)
Storage types
SD/SDHC/SDXC, MS Duo/Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo
SD/SDHC/SDXC/UHS-II
USB
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec)
HDMI
Wireless
GPS
Battery
NP-FZ100 lithium-ion battery
LP-E6NH lithium-ion battery
Weight
650 g
680 g
Dimensions
126.9 x 95.6 x 73.7 mm
138.4 x 97.5 x 88.4 mm
Year
2018
2020




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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:
Diagonal =  w² + h²
where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Sony Alpha A7 III diagonal

w = 35.60 mm
h = 23.80 mm
Diagonal =  35.60² + 23.80²   = 42.82 mm

Canon R6 diagonal

w = 35.90 mm
h = 23.90 mm
Diagonal =  35.90² + 23.90²   = 43.13 mm


Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

Alpha A7 III sensor area

Width = 35.60 mm
Height = 23.80 mm

Surface area = 35.60 × 23.80 = 847.28 mm²

R6 sensor area

Width = 35.90 mm
Height = 23.90 mm

Surface area = 35.90 × 23.90 = 858.01 mm²


Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel pitch =   sensor width in mm  × 1000
sensor resolution width in pixels

Alpha A7 III pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.60 mm
Sensor resolution width = 6026 pixels
Pixel pitch =   35.60  × 1000  = 5.91 µm
6026

R6 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 35.90 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5492 pixels
Pixel pitch =   35.90  × 1000  = 6.54 µm
5492


Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:
Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:
Pixel area =   sensor surface area in mm²
effective megapixels

Alpha A7 III pixel area

Pixel pitch = 5.91 µm

Pixel area = 5.91² = 34.93 µm²

R6 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 6.54 µm

Pixel area = 6.54² = 42.77 µm²


Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:
Pixel density =  ( sensor resolution width in pixels )² / 1000000
sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:
Pixel density =   effective megapixels × 1000000  / 10000
sensor surface area in mm²

Alpha A7 III pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 6026 pixels
Sensor width = 3.56 cm

Pixel density = (6026 / 3.56)² / 1000000 = 2.87 MP/cm²

R6 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5492 pixels
Sensor width = 3.59 cm

Pixel density = (5492 / 3.59)² / 1000000 = 2.34 MP/cm²


Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:
(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000    →   
X =  effective megapixels × 1000000
r
3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

Alpha A7 III sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.60 mm
Sensor height = 23.80 mm
Effective megapixels = 24.20
r = 35.60/23.80 = 1.5
X =  24.20 × 1000000  = 4017
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 4017 × 1.5 = 6026
Resolution vertical: X = 4017

Sensor resolution = 6026 x 4017

R6 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 35.90 mm
Sensor height = 23.90 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.10
r = 35.90/23.90 = 1.5
X =  20.10 × 1000000  = 3661
1.5
Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3661 × 1.5 = 5492
Resolution vertical: X = 3661

Sensor resolution = 5492 x 3661


Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.
Crop factor =   43.27 mm
sensor diagonal in mm


Alpha A7 III crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 42.82 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1.01
42.82

R6 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 43.13 mm
Crop factor =   43.27  = 1
43.13

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

Alpha A7 III equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Sony Alpha A7 III, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Crop factor for Sony Alpha A7 III is 1.01

R6 equivalent aperture

Aperture is a lens characteristic, so it's calculated only for fixed lens cameras. If you want to know the equivalent aperture for Canon R6, take the aperture of the lens you're using and multiply it with crop factor.

Since crop factor for Canon R6 is 1, the equivalent aperture is aperture.

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