Fastest Memory Cards Nikon D7500 | Buffer Test

A speed test between all the most popular memory cards. We tested both UHS-II and UHS-I cards in-camera to find the best memory cards for the Nikon D7500.

Nikon D7500 Memory Card Speed Chart

I’ve tested all the cards inside the camera and calculated the speeds in the chart below. You’ll see a column indicating the camera write speeds.

Since the Nikon D7500 does not take advantage of UHS-II memory cards, you’ll gain no speed benefit from using UHS-II cards, except when it comes to transferring the data from your card to your computer, which if you’re putting 53 RAW shots on your card in just 7-second bursting, that might not be a bad idea.

I tested only 64GB cards, but the 128 and 256 variants should see very similar performance.

Recommended Memory Cards For The Nikon D7500

The list above shows the speed of how each card runs in the camera and is pretty self-explanatory. Most of the cards I test here are pretty reliable.

Best Memory Cards Nikon D7500

Kingston and Sandisk are usually the top performers for UHS-I memory cards. Sandisk is usually the best all-around card but in the D7500 the Kingston performed slightly faster, which won’t be noticeable in real-world shooting.

I would just go with Sandisk or Kingston considering the great performance of their cards.

Camera Specs

Sensor: 20.9MP DX-Format / Processor: EXPEED 5 Image Processor
SD Memory Card Type: UHS-I
Video: 4k – 30 fps
Continuous Burst: 8fps
Est. Size of Buffer: 800MB
Time Taken To Fill Buffer: 7 sec Shooting RAW (Sandisk Extreme Pro)
Uncompressed RAW Shots Till Buffer Fills: 53 (Sandisk Extreme Pro)
Est. Time Taken To Clear Buffer: 9.80 seconds (Sandisk Extreme Pro)

Can I use Micro SD cards in my Nikon D7500?

The D7500 uses a full-size SD card slot. MicroSD cards work with an adapter, but from experience they can lose connection inside the adapter — I wouldn’t use one for anything critical. See the microSD memory card guide if you need to use one.

Do I need any special type of card for video?

If you’re looking for the best card for shooting video with the Nikon D7500, then you can be assured that all the cards here work great.

I didn’t have any problems with any of these cards while shooting 4k video. Sometimes with high bitrate video, you’ll see some buffer issues but I didn’t see any buffer issues even in the slow cards I tested here.

What size memory card is the best, 32GB 64GB, or 128GB?

A 64GB card will give you everything you need for a day of shooting. If you want to shoot several days without dumping your card or shoot with mixed video, then you might want to try something bigger.

U3 vs U1 Memory Cards | USH-II vs UHS-I

With all the little numbers written memory cards today buying cards can be a little bit confusing. The main thing you need to look for today is UHS-I, UHS-II, U3, and U1.

UHS-II cards have a second set of pins that can allow the card to run much quicker in UHS-II-compatible cameras. However, the Nikon D7500 is not compatible with UHS-II cards so they will run at UHS-I speeds.

U3 and U1 have to do with guaranteed minimum performance. U3 will run at a minimum speed of 30MB/s and U1 will run at a minimum speed of 10MB/s. This is important when shooting a video where you require a steady uninterrupted flow of data. 

Best SD Memory Card Nikon D7500 | Bottom Line

The Nikon D7500 has some great performance with memory card write speeds, buffer, and continuous shoot speeds. The camera also shoots 4k video at 30 frames per second without any observed issues. All around the performance of this camera was rock solid. 

I would stick with Sandisk or Kingston UHS-I memory cards if you’re looking to save some money since the UHS-II cards don’t really offer any advantage here.

What the Buffer Numbers Mean for Real Shooting

The D7500 buffer holds approximately 53 RAW frames, which at 8fps fills in about 7 seconds — that’s a solid burst window for most action scenarios. The key figure is the 9.80-second clear time (tested with a SanDisk Extreme Pro). That means after a full burst, you’re waiting roughly 10 seconds before the camera is fully free again. In practice the camera isn’t locked — it’s writing in the background and you can still shoot single frames — but rapid sequential bursts will stack up and extend your wait.

A slower card extends that 9.80s figure considerably. The speed chart above shows the performance gap between top and bottom UHS-I performers — the fastest cards in this camera write around 50 MB/s, while the slowest might do 25–30 MB/s, roughly doubling your recovery time. For sports, birds, or any burst-intensive shooting, the fastest UHS-I card you can get is worth the small price difference.

Single Card Slot — No Backup Option

Unlike the D7200 before it, the D7500 has a single SD card slot. This was controversial when the camera launched — dual slots were a D7200 feature that many users expected to carry forward. There’s no overflow, backup, or RAW+JPEG-to-separate-cards option. If you’re shooting anything where losing a card would be a serious problem, that’s worth knowing going in. Carry a spare formatted card and develop a discipline of offloading regularly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the D7500 have two card slots?

No — single SD slot only. This is a step back from the D7200, which had dual SD slots. Nikon dropped the second slot when designing the D7500’s smaller, lighter body.

Will UHS-II cards hurt performance in the D7500?

No. UHS-II cards inserted into the D7500 run at UHS-I speeds — the camera simply can’t use the UHS-II interface. They won’t cause any problems, they just won’t be faster than a good UHS-I card. As the speed chart shows, some UHS-II cards actually perform slightly lower in this camera than the best UHS-I options due to how their UHS-I compatibility mode is implemented.

What’s the minimum card speed for 4K video on the D7500?

U3 (30 MB/s minimum guaranteed write speed). The D7500’s 4K bitrate is well within what any U3 UHS-I card can handle continuously. As noted in the video section above, none of the tested cards had trouble with 4K recording — the demand isn’t high enough to cause issues with any card that meets the U3 standard.

Are older SDHC cards (32GB and under) compatible with the D7500?

Yes, the D7500 supports SDHC cards. However, 32GB SDHC cards use the FAT32 file system, which splits video files at 4GB chunks. For video shooting, SDXC cards (64GB and above) use the exFAT file system and avoid this limitation. For stills-only shooting, 32GB SDHC cards work without restriction.