Best Memory Card For The Fujifilm X-Pro 2

The X-Pro 2 is the first of Fujifilm cameras to feature dual SD memory card slots. With slot 1 capable of UHS-II and slot 2 using UHS-I, the performance and configuration options make this camera very impressive. I’ve tested all the most popular UHS-I and UHS-II memory cards to determine the best SD memory card for the X-Pro 2.

This camera continues to impress me and Fujifilm has really done an excellent job in making sure it’s packed with all the latest tech they could get their hands on.

Camera Specs

Sensor: APS-C 24.3 MP / Processor: X-Processor Pro

Sensor SD Memory Card Type: UHS-II / UHS-I

Continuous Burst: 8fps

Size of Buffer: 1GB

Uncompressed Shots Till Buffer Fills: 24-29 depending on card.

Est. Time Taken To Clear Buffer: 10 seconds with the Lexar 2000x

Fujifilm X-Pro 2 – Amazon / Adorama

Fujifilm X-Pro 2 Accessories

Fujifilm X-Pro 2 Review

Best Memory Card For The Fujifilm X-Pro 2

The X-Pro 2 has both UHS-II and UHS-I slots that can be setup as backup, overflow, or RAW+JPEG.

With UHS-II cards topping out at 108 MB/s, UHS-I 77 MB/s and a buffer of 1 GB, we are looking at some really good performance.

But not all cards are created equal and especially not all UHS-I cards, so use this speed test to figure out the best cards for you to use in your configuration.

All USB 3.0 tests done using CyrstalDisk – Windows 10, with the Lexar SR2.

Recommended SD Memory Cards For The X-Pro 2

Best UHS-II Memory Cards

The fastest UHS-II memory card for the X-Pro 2 is the Lexar 2000 UHS-II, In second place is the Toshiba UHS-II.

Transcend is also doing well and Delkin is keeping up.

As a note, I haven’t tested the UHS-II cards in the UHS-I slot, but typically my Sandisk UHS-II card does not perform well in UHS-I mode compared to other UHS-I cards. For this reason I would buy a UHS-II card for slot 1 and the fastest UHS-I card for slot 2.

Lexar x2000 UHS-II 64GB – Amazon / Adorama

Toshiba UHS-II 64GB – Amazon

Transcend UHS-II 64GB – Amazon

Best UHS-I Memory Cards

If you’re looking to save a little cash and don’t find yourself doing a lot of burst shooting, or just want a backup or overflow card for slot 2, UHS-I memory cards work great in both slots. A lot of brands makes great cards these days, but here are what I recommend.

Sandisk Extreme Pro U3 64GB – Amazon / Adorama

Kingston U3 64GB – Amazon / Adorama

Samsung Pro+ U3 64GB – Amazon

X-Pro 2 Dual Slot Memory Card Configurations

If you want to use dual memory card slots in the X-Pro 2 you have a few options of how this works.

Backup: This will mirror the card slot 1 with card slot 2. Keep in mind, when you have this set, you are slowing down your whole system to whatever the slowest card you have is. In other words, the camera can only perform as fast as what’s in slot 2, which is a UHS-I slot.

Overflow: This is great if you use smaller cards and are worried about running out of space. Once the memory card in slot 1 is full, the camera will start writing to slot 2.

Raw+JPEG: This setting will write RAW to slot 1 and JPEG to slot 2. I haven’t noticed this method slowing down performance of the UHS-II memory card.

Best SD Memory Card Fuji X-Pro 2 Conclusions

If you’re looking to save money, then a UHS-I card will work just fine for you. With the 1GB buffer you will not notice the difference in speed between UHS-I and UHS-II memory cards unless you do a lot of burst shooting or bracketing.

One of the main advantages of the faster UHS-II cards is they will allow you to burst in JPEG mode for an extremely long time before filling the buffer. A least a minute or two. A lot of the slower UHS-I cards could shoot JPEG bursts about 15 seconds before slowing down.

What’s most interesting is the X-Pro 2 is the fastest performing camera on the market that I’ve tested when it comes to writing to memory cards. Even outperforming the Canon 7DII that is capable of writing at 102MB/s with its CF cards. It looks like UHS-II is winning currently for in-camera speeds. See Fastest Memory Cards Canon 7d II to compare.