Best Memory Cards Fujifilm X-T4

A detailed guide to help you choose the best memory cards for the Fujifilm X-T4. 

Fujifilm X-T4 – Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

Best Memory Cards Fujifilm X-T4

Before buying a memory card for the Fujifilm X-T4 there are a few things you should know, some of them could save you some money.

The Fujifilm X-T4 has dual UHS-II memory card slots. Unlike the X-T3, you can now backup video to both slot 1 and 2 at the same time for redundancy.

Do you need the fastest memory cards? It depends

People think you need fast memory cards for 4k video, this is completely not true. The file size is all about bitrate, not resolution. The Fujifilm X-T4 has a bitrate of 400Mbps. This means the Sony M tough cards are more than fast enough but you do still need UHS-II cards for that max bitrate. If you shoot 200Mbps video, UHS-I cards are fine, but they still need to be U3 rated.

If you shoot a lot of continuous high bursting for sports or action photography, you may want to get the fastest UHS-II cards to clear that buffer as quick as possible. This means the Sandisk Extreme Pro 300 card or something like the Sony G cards.

If you’re just a casual shooter, you’ll likely see no difference between a Sony G card and a Sony M card so I would say, save yourself some money and go with the M cards.

I hope that’s helpful, now here are some recommendations based on in-camera performance.

Fujifilm X-T4 Memory Card Recommendations

Here are the top recommended cards for the Fujifilm X-T4. I’ll test the in-camera speeds in the X-T4 when it comes out but until then here are the speeds from the X-T3.

Again, if you’re just casually shooting, or not shooting fast-paced continuous bursts, I recommend the Sony M cards. But if you want the best, the Sony G Tough cards are currently it.

I think the Sony M Tough is the best memory card for most people. The price of the 128GB card is great.

Tough SD Cards – Here Are Your Options

If you like the idea of Tougher built memory cards but aren’t a fan of Sony, there are a few options. Delkin has a new Black card that’s tough and Hoodman Steel reinforces their cards as well. The Hoodman cards are actually a pretty good bang for the buck but the Delkin cards are tougher.

I’m going to grab some Delkin cards and add them to my tests. They’ll likely run at the exact same speed as their Power cards which is what I personally use in one of my cameras.

In-Camera Speed Test | The Chart

I test the camera by doing a continuous burst on high shooting uncompressed RAW. There are a few things you should know that you should take into consideration before buying the fastest cards.

If you’re shooting with a lot of JPG profile settings, like grain or clarity, it will slow down the write speed regardless of what card you use because the camera has to apply effects on the JPG preview files. Even if you shoot RAW the camera still makes JPG previews. So make sure you zero out all the settings to get the best performance even when shooting RAW.

Speeds will slow down a little from what I have listed here when shooting compressed. Again, because the camera processor has to do more work.

When shooting RAW+JPG write speeds usually slow down by about 20MB/s. I may start testing this again since people have been asking me lately.

Here is the speed chart from the Fujifilm X-T3. I’ll update this when I can get my hands on the T4. I’ll grab you guy the RAW+JPG data since so many are curious how it will impact performance. I’ll have to zero out the JPG settings though.

 Fujifilm X-T4 Memory Card Related Specs

These numbers are based on the X-T3, but they should be the same or better with the X-T4.

Fujifilm X-T4 Best Memory Cards 4k Video

As mentioned in the opening of this article, you don’t need fast memory cards for 4k video. The Fujifilm is capable of producing video at 400Mbps, however, a lot of people still bring it down to 200Mbps to get more manageable file sizes.

Even at 400Mbps you still only produce a data stream of 50MB/s. Theoretically, UHS-I cards can work for this, although I don’t recommend them since they are usually only rated at U3. You typically will want a v60 card or at least a UHS-II to make sure the card never drops it speed below 50MB/s.

So then what happens if you shoot 200Mbps? That translates to 25MB/s and in this case your totally ok to use UHS-I cards. So if you only plan on shooting 200Mbps, then feel free to buy a huge UHS-I card like the Sandisk Extreme Pro. They will work great! Just don’t buy cards bigger than 512GB since these cameras are not rated for that.

200Mbps at 10-bit 4:2:0 with H.265 is still really good and it’s a great setting for casual video or vlogging.

What Memory Card Size To Buy?

This again depends on how you shoot. If you shoot casually, most people will be totally fine with 64GB memory cards. If you shoot RAW+JPG this will fill up your cards a little faster unless you send your JPGs to Slot 2.

If you shoot RAW+JPG to both cards, you might need a 128GB card. Again, RAW+JPG slows down camera processing and write speed usually by about 20MB/s.

Occasionally I run into situation where I shoot more than 64GB cards, this is usually big events where I shoot thousands of photos.

If you shoot with Video mixed in, you’ll probably want a 128GB card depending on how much video you shoot. You could always shoot lower bitrates for your B-Roll to help you here.

I have been slowly moving over to 128GB cards with my cameras as the prices have been coming down. I’m doing this for two reasons. One, the 128B cards are a lot cheaper now, and two, I don’t always like to clear off my cards after transferring them to my computer until they are back up to my server. So I often leave files on my cards for a few extra days for redundancy reasons, and occasionally I’ll just forget to clear off my card. So having the 128GB cards allows me to keep going longer.

Best Memory Cards Fujifilm X-T4 Conclusions

Fujifilm’s camera firmware is now pretty good and is very supportive of all the different memory card brands now. It was an issue when the X-T3 first came out but I’m not seeing that in their cameras anymore.

To sum it up, you have a lot of choices

If you shoot fast action high burst a lot, get a Sony G card or one of the fast UHS-II cards.

If you shoot casually just grab the V60 or the Sony M cards. That’s what I use a lot, they’re great and I usually can’t tell the difference. Again if you’re shooting JPG with advanced settings it slows the processor down anyway.

If you shoot 200Mbps video and want huge cards for cheap, UHS-I cards are a nice option.

The coolest thing now with the X-T4 is you can write video to both cards at the same time for backup.