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A speed comparison between all the most popular UHS-I and UHS-II SD memory cards in the Canon M5.
Use this guide to help you find the best memory cards for your style of shooting.
Best Memory Cards For The Canon M5
The memory card speed tests for the Canon M5 have turned out fairly impressive. Not as fast as cameras that support UHS-II like the Fujifilm X-T2 or X-Pro 2, however, it still destroys what Sony is doing in their APS-C cameras, but also shows some improvement over Canon’s cheaper APS-C cameras like the T6s and T6i.
Canon M5 Memory Card Speed Chart
| SD Memory Cards | USB 3.0 Read | USB 3.0 Write | Canon M5 Write |
| UHS-II | |||
| Transcend U3 64GB | 268.9 MB/s | 174.3 MB/s | 67.28 MB/s |
| Toshiba U3 64GB | 238.5 MB/s | 199.7 MB/s | 67.27 MB/s |
| Sony UHS-II U3 64GB | 253.2 MB/s | 91.62 MB/s | 66.99 MB/s |
| Delkin UHS-II U3 32GB | 245.1 MB/s | 164.6 MB/s | 66.63 MB/s |
| Lexar 2000x U3 64GB | 280.9 MB/s | 181.4 MB/s | 64.34 MB/s |
| Lexar 1000x U3 64GB | 145.0 MB/s | 60.7 MB/s | 60.19 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme Pro U3 64GB | 257.3 MB/s | 109.9 MB/s | 39.00 MB/s |
| UHS-I | |||
| Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB U3 | 98.6 MB/s | 90.8 MB/s | 69.16 MB/s |
| Samsung Pro 64GB U1 | 96.3 MB/s | 82.2 MB/s | 65.81 MB/s |
| Sony 64GB U3 (Old Model) | 96.5 MB/s | 84.5 MB/s | 64.91 MB/s |
| Kingston 64GB U3 | 98.1 MB/s | 90.4 MB/s | 64.65 MB/s |
| Samsung Pro+ 64GB U3 | 97.5 MB/s | 87.3 MB/s | 64.16 MB/s |
| Samsung Pro 64GB U3 | 97.7 MB/s | 78.6 MB/s | 61.64 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme Plus 64GB U3 | 99.0 MB/s | 64.4 MB/s | 57.30 MB/s |
| PNY 64GB U1 | 96.5 MB/s | 66.5 MB/s | 55.49 MB/s |
| Sony 64GB U3 (New Model) | 96.7 MB/s | 56.2 MB/s | 54.23 MB/s |
| PNY 64GB U3 | 96.5 MB/s | 66.1 MB/s | 52.76 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme 64GB U3 | 72.43 MB/s | 54.1 MB/s | 52.31 MB/s |
| Lexar 600x 64GB U1 | 95.4 MB/s | 64.8 MB/s | 52.17 MB/s |
| Transcend 64GB U3 | 96.7 MB/s | 68.4 MB/s | 52.09 MB/s |
| Lexar 633x 64GB U3 | 93.3 MB/s | 67.3 MB/s | 49.78 MB/s |
| Samsung 64GB SDXC EVO U1 | 47.7 MB/s | 27.3 MB/s | 25.84 MB/s |
As usual, the Sandisk Extreme Pro card outperforms all other brands. However, Sony and Samsung also performed very well. You also won’t see any speed increase from using UHS-II memory cards in this camera since it does not support that type of interface.
Camera Specs
Sensor: APS-C 24.2MP / Processor: Digic 6
Memory Card Type: SD UHS-I
Video: [1920 x 1080]: 59.94 fps / 29.97 fps / 23.976
Est. Size Of Buffer: 500MB
Continues Shooting Speed: 7-9fps
Shots To Fill Buffer: 18 RAW
Time To Clear Buffer: About 6 seconds with the Sandisk Extreme Pro
Fastest Memory Cards For the Canon M5 | The Results
Best UHS-II Memory Card
While the Canon M5 cannot take full advantage of the UHS-II memory cards, they still do work in-camera. They will just function as UHS-I cards.
The Transcend and Toshiba seemed to outperform Lexar this time around, although those Lexar 2000x cards are still really good cards.
Transcend U3 64GB – Amazon
Toshiba U3 64GB – Amazon
Best UHS-I Memory Cards
UHS-I cards are the best value and also perform very well. The fastest UHS-I memory card is the Sandisk, but Sony and Samsung also performed very well.
Sandisk Extreme Pro U3 64GB – Amazon / Adorama
Samsung Pro U1 64GB – Amazon / Adorama
Sony 64GB U3 (Old Model) – Amazon
Best Memory Card For Video In The Canon M5
Since the Canon M5 doesn’t offer anything special with video, any of the fast cards above will work without any problems.
Frequently Ask Questions
I’ve been doing these memory card speed tests for several years now and I get a lot of the same questions asked, so I’ll do my best to answer those here.
Do I need a UHS-II Memory Card? – You do not need a UHS-II memory card and they actually will give you no benefit over UHS-I memory card when used in camera. The only difference a UHS-II memory card will make in the Canon M5 is it will allow you to transfer your data to your computer quick, if you have a fast UHS-II memory card reader.
What’s the difference between U1 and U3 SD Memory cards? – The main difference has to do with minimum write speeds. U1 cards are guaranteed to write at a minimum speed of 10MB/s, and U3 SD memory card can write at a minimum speed of 30MB/s. Now of course there are many things that go on inside the camera that might not guarantee this, but it’s usually not the cards fault.
What’s the difference between SDHC and SDXC with SD memory cards? – This has to do with the formatting of the card. SDHC cards are Fat32, and SDXC cards are exFat. SDHC means any card 32GB and smaller, and SDXC means 64GB and bigger.
My memory card is creating corrupt shots what do I do? – Unfortunately in this situation you likely have a bad card. There isn’t a lot you can do about this other than to replace your card.
My memory card doesn’t work what do I do? – It’s likely you could have a bad memory card, but also make sure you always format your card in camera. This tends to reduce issues with cards not working or not performing correctly.
My buffer keeps getting fill when recording video? – This usually means you’re memory card is not fast enough and you’ll need get a faster card. If you already have a card on the list above, you should try a different brand. Not all cameras work the same with each card, different production cycles between cameras and cards can produce various results and there is no guarantee the cards I rated will work perfectly with your camera. Lexar, Toshiba, Samsung and Sandisk are usually pretty safe bets.
Best Memory Card For The Canon M5 | Conclusions
Whether you’re looking for the fastest memory card or just a memory card that will last you a long time, the difference between 5MB/s or even maybe 10MB/s write speeds won’t make a very noticeable difference when you’re dealing with already very fast memory cards. So if there is a card that performs well but has a better warranty and is at a better price, it might be a good idea to just grab that.
If you’re doing a lot of burst shooting for sports, nature or even a landscape photography, then it might be a good idea to go with the fastest card you can afford so you never find yourself waiting on that annoying buffer.
