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A comparison in-camera between all the most popular SD memory cards and how they perform in the M6.
While many of the top brands of memory cards perform great in the Canon M6, there are a few clear winners.
If you’re wondering which memory cards to buy for the Canon M6, this guide should help you.
Best Memory Card For The Canon EOS M6
General Performance And Speed Chart
When doing the memory card speed tests with the Canon M6, there were no surprises. All cards performed as expected and the camera functioned flawlessly.
All USB 3.0 tests done using CrystalDisk – Windows 10, with the Lexar SR2.
| SD Memory Cards | USB 3.0 Read | USB 3.0 Write | Canon M6 Write |
| UHS-II | |||
| Lexar 64GB 2000x | 272.7 MB/s | 244.5 MB/s | 70.26 MB/s |
| Delkin 250 64GB | 245.1 MB/s | 164.6 MB/s | 68.79 MB/s |
| Toshiba 64GB | 258.8 MB/s | 226.5 MB/s | 67.25 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme Pro 300 64GB | 263.2 MB/s | 233.4 MB/s | 66.93 MB/s |
| Transcend 64GB | 290.2 MB/s | 182.1 MB/s | 65.13 MB/s |
| Sony M 64GB | 253.2 MB/s | 91.62 MB/s | 65.13 MB/s |
| Delkin 100 64GB | 273.3 MB/s | 97.3 MB/s | 59.83 MB/s |
| Lexar 64GB 1000x | 147.4 MB/s | 78.4 MB/s | 56.60 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme Pro 280 64GB | 260.5 MB/s | 214.8 MB/s | 38.80 MB/s |
| UHS-I | |||
| Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB U3 | 98.6 MB/s | 90.8 MB/s | 70.02 MB/s |
| Samsung Pro+ 64GB U3 | 97.5 MB/s | 87.3 MB/s | 69.01 MB/s |
| Kingston 64GB U3 | 98.1 MB/s | 90.4 MB/s | 67.61 MB/s |
| Sony 64GB U3 – Old Model | 96.5 MB/s | 84.5 MB/s | 66.36 MB/s |
| Samsung Pro 64GB U1 | 96.3 MB/s | 82.2 MB/s | 65.82 MB/s |
| Delkin 633x 64GB U3 | 98.3 MB/s | 88.7 MB/s | 64.34 MB/s |
| Samsung Pro 64GB U3 | 97.7 MB/s | 78.6 MB/s | 64.31 MB/s |
| PNY 64GB U1 | 96.5 MB/s | 66.5 MB/s | 57.29 MB/s |
| Transcend 64GB U3 | 96.7 MB/s | 68.4 MB/s | 56.52 MB/s |
| Lexar 633x 64GB U3 | 93.3 MB/s | 67.3 MB/s | 56.31 MB/s |
| PNY 64GB U3 | 96.5 MB/s | 66.1 MB/s | 56.00 MB/s |
| Lexar 600x 64GB U1 | 95.4 MB/s | 64.8 MB/s | 55.57 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme Plus 64GB U3 | 99.0 MB/s | 64.4 MB/s | 53.86 MB/s |
| Sony 64GB U3 – New Model | 96.7 MB/s | 56.2 MB/s | 51.57 MB/s |
| Sandisk Extreme 64GB U3 | 72.43 MB/s | 54.1 MB/s | 47.56 MB/s |
| Samsung 64GB U1 EVO | 47.7 MB/s | 27.3 MB/s | 20.30 MB/s |
Camera Specs
Sensor: APS-C 24.2MP CMOS / Processor: DIGIC 7
SD Memory Card Type: UHS-I
Video: 1080p 60fps
Continuous Burst: 9fps
Est. Size of Buffer: 500MB
Uncompressed Shots Till Buffer Fills: 19
Est. Time Taken To Clear Buffer: 8.5 seconds
Check out The Must Have Canon M6 Accessories.
Recommended SD Memory Cards For The M6
Since the Canon M6 does not take advantage of UHS-II cards, you’ll see no speed benefit using them in-camera. Because of this, I recommend the Sandisk Extreme Pro cards. They perform great and are very reliable. The next best option would be to use Samsung cards.
Fastest UHS-II Memory Cards
Although the Canon M6 doesn’t support the extra speed you can get out of UHS-II memory cards, many people still like to use UHS-II to gain performance when transferring from their cards to their computers. You will need a fast UHS-II memory card reader.
Lexar x2000 UHS-II 64GB – Amazon / Adorama
Delkin 250 64GB – Amazon / B&H
Sandisk Extreme Pro 300 64GB – Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto
Fastest UHS-I Memory Cards
UHS-I are all around the best cards for the M6, simply because they perform great and are very reasonably priced.
Sandisk Extreme Pro U3 64GB – Amazon / Adorama / B&H
Samsung Pro+ 64GB U3 – Amazon / Adorama
Kingston 64GB U3 – Amazon / Adorama / B&H
Cards Not To Use
I’ve been told there are issues with Sony cards not working correctly on this camera. For now, stay away from Sony cards when using the Canon M6.
Canon M6 Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Micro SD Memory Cards in the Canon M6?
Yes, you can. Some people love the versatility of using Micro SD memory cards, however, they are much smaller and easier to lose.
I have had some issues with the micro SD cards to SD card adapters losing connection causing memory card errors. Because of this, I don’t recommend buying micro SD cards for your M6, however, if you have a few lying around, go ahead and use them.
What Cards Work Best For Video?
Since the Canon M6 is still only capable of shooting 1080p video, any decent memory card will work just fine.
My Card Isn’t Fast, What’s Wrong?
If you’re having some issues with your memory cards, here is a list of a few things that could be your problem.
- Sometimes cards are just bad. Try to get it replaced, or contact the manufacturer for warranty information.
- There are a lot of counterfeit cards out there. If you bought of Ebay, chances are you got duped. Stick with BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon or other trusted stores..
- Make sure your cards are clean and undamaged. The same applies to the pins inside the camera.
Do I need a UHS-II memory card?
Since the Canon M6 doesn’t have UHS-II technology, you’ll get not the benefit of using UHS-II cards in-camera. Only buy UHS-II cards if you want fast speed when transferring to your computer from a UHS-II card reader.
What Size Memory Card Should I Get, 32GB or 64GB?
I use 32GB cards if I’m just shooting photos and I rarely fill the cards. If I’m shooting photos with some videos here and there I’ll need a 64GB card.
If I’m traveling and shooting on a card that I don’t clear for a few days I’ll usually fill up a 32GB card.
Best SD Memory Card Canon EOS M6 | Bottom Line
The Canon M6 performs very well in terms of memory card write speeds. It performs better than some cameras that support UHS-II (Like the Panasonic GH5) even though the M6 is only a UHS-I camera. Canon has always been known for building some of the best-performing and dependable cameras in the world and the M6 is no exception.
3 comments
You might be interested to know that Canon is claiming that Sony cards *won’t* work with the M6 — or some Transcend cards either. They are specifically suggesting Lexar or Sandisk cards. This was their response to a camera with what I consider to be pretty serious issues (i.e., it hangs up for 3 minutes at a time):
Customer reported after taking 16 shots (RAW), camera/card buffers for at least 30 seconds before she can take another picture and then only 1 shot
before it buffers again. Even when it appears to be done, if camera is switched off, it still says “BUSY” and takes another minute to finish writing and
power off. Customer’s cards (3 Sony and 1 SCT) were tested in another M6 and produced the same results. We saw similar results with some Trancend
SD cards but all SanDisk and Lexar cards performed much better. Camera does not require repair. Cleaning unit and confirming functions. **We are
including a SanDisk card the customer may keep and we recommend to use either SanDisk or Lexar cards based on our testing results or to contact Sony
to see if they have another solution.**
Thank you so much for this information, I wasn’t aware people were having issues with the Canon cameras on Sony cards.
It’s very common for certain brands of cards to not work with certain cameras. Like Lexar cards are not working with the Panasonic GH5 and Sony cameras hate Samsung cards.
Why don’t you recommend 128gb card? I found your article after ordering a Sandisk Ultra 128 SDXC UHS1 C10.