The original Canon EOS R5 has two memory card slots: one CFexpress Type B and one UHS-II SD. The camera, not the card, is the bottleneck: in my in-camera tests, 21 of 23 CFexpress cards wrote between 365 and 399 MB/s, so a midrange card like the Lexar Gold performs the same as a premium card. Buy any good CFexpress Type B card for slot 1 and a V90 SD card for slot 2.
Which R5 is this? This page covers the original Canon EOS R5, released in 2020. For the EOS R5 Mark II (2024), which has a stacked sensor and different buffer figures, see my Canon R5 Mark II memory card guide.
Table of Contents
How I Tested the Canon R5
I tested 23 CFexpress Type B cards and 27 UHS-II SD cards in the Canon R5 in 2022, shooting RAW bursts at 20 fps with the electronic shutter. For each card, I timed how long the camera took to clear the buffer and divided the data written by that time, then took the fastest of my runs. It’s a simple scene, so treat the numbers as a comparison between cards, not a guarantee. I didn’t test RAW+JPEG, since the JPEG processing would muddy the card comparison.
Quick Picks: Best Memory Cards for the Canon R5
Not sure what capacity to get? Check what size memory card you need before you buy. If you’re coming from an older or lower-resolution camera, the R5’s 45MP RAW files (about 45.4 MB each) and 8K video fill cards faster than you might expect, so you’ll likely want a bigger card than you’re used to.
 | Best overall: Lexar Professional DIAMOND CFexpress 4.0 Type B. VPG400, rated at 3,400 MB/s write with 3,200 MB/s sustained. The previous Diamond wrote 399 MB/s in my R5 tests, the top of the range; the CF4.0 version adds faster offloads on a CF4.0 reader. |
 | Highest sustained write: Nextorage B2 Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type B. VPG400 with a rated 3,400 MB/s sustained write, the highest on my recommended list. A good fit if you record long 8K RAW takes and want the most headroom. |
 | Pro pick I’ve reader-tested: Delkin Devices BLACK CFexpress 4.0 Type B. Wrote 1,736 MB/s and read 2,476 MB/s in my reader, with a 400 MB/s minimum sustained rating. Every older Delkin BLACK card I tested in the R5 wrote 397–399 MB/s. |
 | Best value CFexpress: Lexar Professional GOLD CFexpress Type B (128GB/256GB). 397 MB/s in my R5 tests, within 2 MB/s of the Diamond, plus 1,410 MB/s write and 1,525 MB/s read in my reader. Since the R5 is the bottleneck, this gives up nothing in-camera. |
 | Best SD card for slot 2: Delkin Devices POWER V90 UHS-II SD. 207 MB/s in my R5 tests, plus 248 MB/s write and 287 MB/s read in my reader. Use it for backup recording or 10-bit 8K IPB, which Canon rates for V90. |
 | Budget SD card: Lexar Professional ARMOR GOLD V60 UHS-II SD. 195 MB/s write and 253 MB/s read in my reader (128GB). Fine for JPEG/HEIF backup and Canon’s V60 modes, such as 4K 30p ALL-I and 8-bit 8K IPB. |
Canon R5 Card Slots: CFexpress Type B and SD UHS-II
The Canon R5 takes one CFexpress Type B card and one SD card (UHS-II compatible). Use the CFexpress card as your primary card; it’s the only slot that can record 8K RAW, 8K ALL-I, and 4K 120p. The SD slot handles backup, overflow, and the lighter video modes. XQD cards don’t fit the R5, and CFexpress Type A cards won’t work either.
The R5 has several settings for dual memory card configuration:
- Backup (Rec. to multiple): every file goes to both cards, so bursts run at SD card speed. Canon rates the RAW buffer at about 87 shots on a UHS-II SD card versus 180 on CFexpress. If you’re doing a lot of bursting, you still need a fast V90 card in slot 2.
- Relay (Auto switch card): the camera moves to the SD card when the CFexpress card fills. A V90 card keeps burst performance closer to normal; a V60 card is fine if it’s only overflow.
- Sort (Rec. separately): RAW to CFexpress and JPEG/HEIF to SD. This isn’t as demanding since JPEG files are smaller, so a V60 card is enough for most shooters.
CFexpress 4.0 vs 2.0 in the Canon R5
The Canon R5 tops out around 400 MB/s with any good CFexpress card, so CF4.0 cards provide no in-camera benefit. Since mid-2024 most Type B cards have moved to CF4.0, and many of the cards I tested are no longer available; the CF4.0 cards work fine in the R5 and the extra speed only pays off when you offload on a CF4.0 reader. If you find an older CF2.0 card from a trusted brand at a better price, it gives up nothing in this camera. For video, pick a card with a high sustained write, or a VPG400 card, which guarantees 400 MB/s sustained.
Current CFexpress Type B and SD Cards I Recommend
I update this list as new cards come out. The speeds are from my card reader tests where I have them, plus the manufacturer’s rated and sustained speeds.
| Memory Cards | USBW | USBR | Heat | Check Price | Canon R5 Speeds | Sustained | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFExpress Type-B | |||||||
| Lexar Diamond CF4.0 128GB-1TB | Amazon / B&H | 3200 | 400 | ||||
| Lexar Gold CF4.0 512GB-4TB | Amazon / B&H | 3000 | |||||
| Lexar Silver CF4.0 512GB/1TB | Amazon | 200 | |||||
| Lexar Gold 128/256GB | 1410 | 1525 | 1382 | Amazon / B&H | 397 | 1000 | |
| Prograde Iridium CF4.0 400GB | 2704 | 3212 | 808 | Amazon / B&H | 850 | ||
| ProGrade Gold CF4.0 512GB | 2545 | 3203 | 844 | Amazon / B&H | 850 | ||
| Delkin Black CF4.0 512GB/1/2TB | 1736 | 2476 | 1693 | Amazon / B&H | 2040 | 400 | |
| Delkin Power CF4.0 512GB | Amazon / B&H | 820 | |||||
| Nextorage B2 Pro CF4.0 660/1330GB | B&H | 3400 | 400 | ||||
| Nextorage B2 Pro CF4.0 165/330GB | Amazon / B&H | 3400 | 400 |
V90 vs V60 SD Cards for the Canon R5
For the Canon R5’s SD slot, V90 cards are the better choice if you shoot backup bursts or high-bitrate video: in my tests, most V90 cards wrote 195–225 MB/s in the R5, while V60 cards wrote 79–165 MB/s. V90 cards usually offer no real cost savings compared to CFexpress cards, but V60 cards do, and they’re great for casual shooters or videographers recording at lower bitrates. If you’re recording a lot of video under 480 Mbps, grab a V60 card.
Canon R5 Video Card Requirements
Canon lists a card requirement for every R5 recording mode. 8K RAW, 8K ALL-I, 4K 120p, and 4K 60p ALL-I can only be recorded to CFexpress. 8K RAW at 2600 Mbps works out to about 325 MB/s, well within what the R5 writes to a good CFexpress card. Bitrates below are Canon’s, with Canon Log and HDR PQ off unless noted (10-bit).
| Mode | Frame rate | Bitrate (Mbps) | SD card (8-bit) | SD card (10-bit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8K RAW | 29.97p and below | 2600 | Not supported | Not supported |
| 8K RAW (Light) | 29.97p / 25p | 1700 | Not supported | Not supported |
| 8K ALL-I | 29.97p and below | 1300 | Not supported | Not supported |
| 8K IPB | 29.97p and below | 470 (680 in 10-bit) | V60 | V90 |
| 8K IPB (Light) | 29.97p and below | 230 (340 in 10-bit) | U3 | V60 |
| 4K ALL-I | 119.88p / 100p | 1880 | Not supported | Not supported |
| 4K ALL-I | 59.94p / 50p | 940 (1000 in 10-bit) | Not supported | Not supported |
| 4K IPB | 59.94p / 50p | 230 (340 in 10-bit) | V30 | V60 |
| 4K ALL-I | 29.97p and below | 470 | V60 | V60 |
| 4K IPB | 29.97p and below | 120 (170 in 10-bit) | U3 | U3 |
| Full HD ALL-I | 119.88p / 100p | 360 (470 in 10-bit) | U3 | V60 |
To convert other bitrates to MB/s and record times, use my video data rate calculator. For more on heat and CFexpress cards, see Canon R5 overheating: are CFexpress cards to blame?
What Size Memory Card Do You Need for the Canon R5?
Canon rates a 32GB card at about 670 RAW files, 1,440 C-RAW files, or 2,240 large JPEGs. For stills, I never use more than a 64GB card just shooting around town, but a 128GB card lets me shoot for a few days without worrying about offloading. Wedding and event photographers shooting on one card should start at 128GB so they don’t hit a storage limit mid-event; if you swap cards through the day, 64GB cards can work, depending on how much you burst. Video is different: 8K RAW uses about 18,668 MB per minute, which is roughly 13 minutes on a 256GB card and 51 minutes on 1TB.
| What you shoot | Card size | What it holds (Canon’s figures) |
|---|---|---|
| Stills, shooting around town | 64GB | About 1,300 RAW or 2,900 C-RAW files |
| Stills, a few days without offloading | 128GB | About 2,700 RAW or 5,800 C-RAW files |
| Weddings and big events, one card | 128GB minimum | About 2,700 RAW or 5,800 C-RAW files |
| Weddings and big events, swapping cards through the day | 64GB or 128GB per card | Depends on how much you burst; 64GB holds about 1,300 RAW or 2,900 C-RAW files |
| Backup to the SD slot | Match both cards | The smaller card sets the limit |
| 4K video (IPB, 30p) | 256GB | About 4 hours 40 minutes |
| 8K RAW video | 1TB or larger | About 51 minutes per 1TB |
What Size Card for Weddings and Big Events?
If you’re shooting the whole day on one card, start at 128GB so you aren’t hitting a storage limit partway through; based on Canon’s figures, that’s about 2,700 RAW or 5,800 C-RAW files. It’s generally considered good practice, though, to use several smaller cards and swap to a fresh one between the phases of a wedding, rather than putting the whole day on one card. If a card is lost or corrupted, you only lose part of the day. When you rotate cards like this, 64GB cards (about 1,300 RAW or 2,900 C-RAW files each) can be enough; it all depends on how much you burst.
Backup mode adds a second layer of protection. With Rec. to multiple, every file goes to both cards, so the smaller card sets your limit; pair matching capacities, such as a 128GB CFexpress card with a 128GB V90 SD card. C-RAW also helps the SD card keep up in backup mode: Canon rates the 12 fps burst at about 260 C-RAW files on either card, versus 87 RAW files on a UHS-II SD card.
Canon R5 In-Camera Test Results: CFexpress Type B Cards (Tested 2022)
Most of these cards have since been discontinued or replaced by CF4.0 versions, but the pattern holds: any good CFexpress card hits the R5’s limit of about 400 MB/s, and newer cards won’t change that. To see more benchmarks and specs for each card, check out the CFexpress Type B memory card guide.
| Card | Canon R5 write (MB/s) |
|---|---|
| Angelbird AV PRO XT MK2 330GB | 399 |
| Angelbird AV PRO SX 160GB | 399 |
| ProGrade Cobalt 325GB | 399 |
| Delkin POWER 128GB | 399 |
| Delkin BLACK 128GB | 399 |
| Lexar Professional Diamond (CF2.0) | 399 |
| Delkin BLACK 150GB | 399 |
| Angelbird AV PRO MK2 1TB | 399 |
| Wise PRO 160GB | 398 |
| Silicon Power Cinema 128GB | 398 |
| Delkin PRIME 128GB | 398 |
| Nikon 660GB | 398 |
| Angelbird AV PRO 256GB | 398 |
| Sony TOUGH G 128GB | 398 |
| Angelbird AV PRO SE 512GB | 398 |
| Delkin BLACK 75GB | 397 |
| Lexar Professional Gold 128GB | 397 |
| Lexar Professional Gold 512GB | 396 |
| Hoodman Steel 128GB | 396 |
| Wise 128GB | 377 |
| SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB | 365 |
| RitzGear 128GB | 220 |
| ProGrade 128GB (older generation) | 177 |
Canon R5 In-Camera Test Results: UHS-II SD Cards (Tested 2022)
SD cards vary much more than CFexpress cards in the R5, so the card you put in slot 2 matters more. ProGrade’s V90 card here is the older pre-Iridium version. To see more specs and tests for each card, check out the SD memory card guide.
| Card | Class | Canon R5 write (MB/s) |
|---|---|---|
| Kodak Ultra Pro V90 | V90 | 225 |
| Wise V90 | V90 | 221 |
| Kingston Canvas React Plus V90 | V90 | 220 |
| Angelbird V90 II (previous version) | V90 | 220 |
| Delkin BLACK V90 | V90 | 218 |
| Sony TOUGH G V90 | V90 | 218 |
| ProGrade V90 (pre-Iridium) | V90 | 215 |
| RitzGear V90 | V90 | 214 |
| ADATA Premier ONE V90 | V90 | 210 |
| Delkin POWER V90 | V90 | 207 |
| Lexar Professional 2000x V90 | V90 | 204 |
| SanDisk Extreme PRO V90 (previous version) | V90 | 199 |
| Toshiba Exceria Pro V90 | V90 | 195 |
| Transcend V90 | V90 | 168 |
| Fujifilm Elite II V90 | V90 | 153 |
| Hoodman Steel 2000x V90 | V90 | 148 |
| Lexar Professional 1800x V60 | V60 | 165 |
| Sony TOUGH M V60 | V60 | 135 |
| Angelbird V60 II | V60 | 129 |
| Sony E V60 | V60 | 128 |
| Amplim 2000x V60 | V60 | 124 |
| Lexar Professional 1667x V60 | V60 | 102 |
| Delkin PRIME V60 | V60 | 92 |
| Hoodman Steel 1500x V60 | V60 | 92 |
| Amplim 1900x V60 | V60 | 90 |
| FreeTail Evoke Pro V60 | V60 | 89 |
| ProGrade V60 | V60 | 79 |
SanDisk and Angelbird have both updated these V90 cards since I tested them in the R5. The current SanDisk Extreme PRO V90 wrote 260 MB/s and read 278 MB/s in my reader, and the current Angelbird V90 II wrote 271 MB/s and read 288 MB/s, so the new versions will likely perform differently in the R5 than the older cards in this table.
Canon R5 Memory Card Specs
| Card slot 1 | CFexpress Type B |
| Card slot 2 | SD / SDHC / SDXC, UHS-II |
| Continuous shooting | 12 fps mechanical, 20 fps electronic |
| Buffer size | About 2.5GB by my testing |
| RAW file size | About 45.4 MB (C-RAW about 21.9 MB) |
| Max burst, 12 fps, RAW | About 180 (CFexpress) / 87 (UHS-II SD) / 66 (UHS-I SD) |
| Max burst, 12 fps, C-RAW | About 260 (CFexpress and UHS-II SD) |
| Max burst, 12 fps, JPEG L | About 350 (CFexpress and UHS-II SD) |
| Highest video bitrate | 2600 Mbps (8K RAW), about 325 MB/s |
Canon R5 Memory Card Quick Answers
What is the fastest memory card for the Canon R5?
Honestly, pretty much any decent CFexpress Type B card will max out the camera. When I tested 23 CFexpress cards in the R5, 21 of them wrote between 365 and 399 MB/s, with Angelbird, ProGrade Cobalt, Delkin, and Lexar Diamond all hitting that 399 MB/s ceiling. The camera itself is the bottleneck, which is why a cheaper Lexar Gold hits 397 MB/s and performs the same as the Lexar Diamond.
Can I use UHS-I SD cards in the Canon R5?
They’ll work, but you’ll feel it in bursts. Canon rates the RAW buffer at just 66 shots with a UHS-I card, compared to 87 on a UHS-II card and 180 on a CFexpress Type B card.
Can you shoot 8K RAW video to an SD card in the Canon R5?
You can’t, because the camera won’t let you. 8K RAW, 8K ALL-I, and 4K 120p all require a CFexpress Type B card. The SD slot can handle 8K IPB, which Canon rates for a V60 card if you’re shooting 8-bit, or a V90 card for 10-bit.
How big is the Canon R5 buffer?
My testing puts the buffer at around 2.5GB. Canon rates that at about 180 RAW files at 12 fps when you’re shooting to a CFexpress card, dropping to about 87 if you’re writing to a UHS-II SD card.
More guides: Canon R5 Mark II memory card guide, must-have accessories for the Canon R5, the Canon RF lens list, best CFexpress Type B cards, and best SD cards.
Leave a Reply