Best Memory Cards Canon R8 – 35 Cards Tested

The Canon EOS R8 uses a single SD UHS-II Memory Card slot. It’s a fairly capable hybrid camera, so you’ll need to make sure you buy the right memory card, or you could be locked out of some of its video features.

Here is what you need to know.

Best Speed Class For Photographers: Since the Canon R8 can shoot raw images at 40 fps with the electronic shutter or 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, photographers looking to take advantage of these fast burst speeds will want to buy the fastest V90 UHS-II SD memory cards.

Best Speed Class For Videographers: The Canon R8 shoots video at a data rate of up to 340Mbps or 42.5MB/s and can shoot for 120 minutes. To guarantee this performance, you only need a v60 UHS-II memory card. The V60 UHS-II SD cards offer a good balance of value to capacity, which works well for videography. They’re also great for photographers who shoot more casually and don’t regularly shoot at high burst rates.

Canon EOS R8 – Amazon / B&H

Recommended Memory Cards Canon R8

This list shows some of the best cards for the Canon EOS R8.

Some cards don’t perform well with Canon cameras; for some reason, I keep having issues with the Sandisk Extreme Pro V90 with Canon UHS-II cameras, so I don’t recommend that card. I know many people like Sandisk, but in this case, I recommend avoiding their V90 cards; the V60 cards are great, however.

You’ll also notice that a good V60 card is almost as fast as a good V90 card, so V60 is probably the best option for most people and will save you a lot of money.

Here is a quick table showing how some of the best cards in the v90 and v60 speed class performed when tested in the Canon R8 and how they compare with the video bitrates. The chart shows that even with a v60 card, you can use all the different video recording modes.

Canon R8 Memory Buffer Tests

Buffer performance is measured by shooting with a continuous burst and measuring the time it took to clear the buffer against how much data was written. A few UHS-II V90 cards had trouble initializing as UHS-II cards, so be careful purchasing those since they can potentially cause performance issues. If you do have a UHS-II card that is having trouble initializing, take the battery out, put the battery in, then the card, and power on the camera.

Canon EOS R8 Specs

Sensor: Full Frame 24.2MP CMOS Processor: Digic X Continuous Shoot: 12fps Mechanical, 40fps Electronic Est. Buffer Size: 1GB RAW Shots To Fill Buffer: 40 RAW | 120 JPEG 56 RAW Max Memory Card Capacity: Any size, no limit. Video Record Limit: 120 minutes 4k Datarate: 340 Mbps | 42.5 MB/s

Want to see USB-C Read and Write Speed Tests? Check out the UHS-I and UHS-II SD Card Benchmarks.

Recommended Cards For Video

The Canon EOS R8 can internally shoot 4k at 60 frames per second, with a maximum bitrate of 340Mbps, equivalent to 42.5MB/s.

Although writing 4K video doesn’t necessarily require the fastest cards, opting for a v60 speed class UHS-II card is recommended to ensure a minimum write speed of 60MB/s. U3 UHS-I cards can also work for lower bitrates under 30MB/s or 240Mbps.

For video shooters, I recommend using V60 UHS-II cards. The best performers are the Sandisk Extreme Pro V60, Lexar 1800x, or the PNY Elite-X v60 cards.

Canon EOS R8 Video Specs & Recording Modes

Record Limit: 120 minutes.
Audio File Format: AAC, Linear PCM

4k Recording Modes UHD 4k H.265: 4:2:2 10-bit 24p-60p | 60 to 340Mbps 1080p Recording Modes Full HD H.265: 4:2:2 10-bit 24p to 120p | 12 to 270Mbp

Canon EOS R8 Record Times – Memory Card Capacity

The following chart displays record times for various bitrates across different memory card sizes.

Canon R8 Record Times	64GB	128GB	256GB	512GB
4k
4k 340Mbps | 42.5MB/s	25min	50min	100min	201min
4k 230 Mbps | 28.75 MB/s	37min	74min	148min	297min
4k 170 Mbps | 21.25 MB/s	50min	100min	201min	402min
4k 120 Mbps | 15 MB/s	71min	142min	284min	569min
1080p
1080p 270Mbps | 33.75 MB/s	32min	63min	126min	253min
1080p 120Mbps | 15 MB/s	71min	142min	284min	569min
1080p 28Mbps | 3.8 MB/s	305min	610min	1219min	2438min
1080p 12Mpbs | 1.5 MB/s	711min	1422min	2844min	5689min

What Size Memory Card To Buy

If you casually shoot photography and occasionally shoot a little video, I recommend starting with a 128GB card. In my experience, 128GB cards work well for lower-megapixel cameras, such as a 24MP camera, since they do not tend to fill up in a single day.

For a 64GB card, I typically do not run out of space unless I am shooting continuously on the same card for several days. Additionally, Canon offers CRAW and HEIF image codecs, which produce smaller files than standard RAW, allowing for more shots per card if you shoot casually. Still, I currently use 128GB cards at a minimum, and I’ve found that to be the sweet spot for capacity.

Related Benchmarks & Guides

Canon R10 Memory Card Guide

Canon R6 II Memory Card Benchmarks