Best Memory Cards Sony A6600

A complete list of memory card speeds and their in-camera performance as well as some great recommendations as well as a video record time chart.

Use this guide to find the best memory cards for video or stills with the Sony A6600.

Camera Specs

Sensor: 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS Sensor
Processor: BIONZ X Image Processor
Memory Cards: Single Slot UHS-I
Continuous Burst: 11fps
Video: 4k 100Mbps
Buffer Size: 1GB
Shots To Fill Buffer: 46 RAW
Time To Clear Buffer: 24.5 seconds

Sony A6600 – Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

Best Memory Cards Sony A6600

A lot has changed with the Sony A6600 and a lot has stayed the same. 

When it comes to memory cards everything is about the same as it was with the A6400 which I just recently tested here.

I’ll have A6600 numbers soon but until then here are the best memory cards and my recommended memory cards for the Sony A6600.

Memory Card Speed Test

This is the speed chart for the Sony A6400. I’ll have the results for the A6600 as soon as I can get access to the camera. But they’ll be pretty much the same since they’re still using the same UHS-I hardware.

Top 5 Recommended Cards

I recommend only buying UHS-I memory cards since the Sony A6600 does not support UHS-II. There is one exception, some of the lower end UHS-II cards like the Lexar 1000x still perform very well and often can be found at better prices than the UHS-I cards. One of the big advantages of the Lexar 1000x cards is they still have a fast read speed. This means if you have a UHS-II memory card reader, you can transfer video from your card to your computer much quicker. So keep an eye out for those lower-end v60 UHS-II cards if you shoot video. Right now the only one worth it is the Lexar 1000x.

Sandisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s

Available At: Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

Sandisk makes one of the most popular selling cards and their reputation is the best. The Extreme Pro 170MB/s is their latest and greatest UHS-I SD card and comes with a lifetime warranty.

Sony Professional U3

Available At: Amazon / Adorama

Sony is well known for its UHS-II G cards but their UHS-I cards are actually very good as well. This Sony Professional U3 card was actually the fastest UHS-I card in the Canon SL3 and always makes the top of the charts. Sometimes can be hard to find in the 64GB size, but if you see it at a good price don’t be afraid to try it out.

Lexar 1000x

Available At: Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

While being a UHS-II card, the price and performance are very good and competitive. I usually tell people to not buy UHS-II cards for UHS-I cameras, but since the A6600 is great for video you might want those faster external UHS-II transfer speeds for offloading footage.

Delkin Advantage

Available At: Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

Delkin is one of the brands I regularly use in my cameras and I’ve never had a problem with their cards so it always makes my recommendation list. I currently use Delkin XQD cards in my Nikon Z6, and I use dual Delkin cards in my Sony A7rIII.

Kingston Canvas React

Available At: Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

Kingston is a great brand of memory card and they have a few options now at different prices with different levels of performance. Their Canvas React card has been performing very well in various tests and it’s a card and brand I always recommend.

The Canvas Go! performs also very well and can be found at a cheaper price.

Best Memory Cards For 4k Video

Record Limit Time: Unlimited
Minimum Requirements: U3

Sony has their cameras tuned to work with most memory cards pretty well these days. The only cards that use to not work for Sony where Samsung SD cards, but those are hard to find now.

All the modern U3 memory cards that I have been testing have been working great for 4k video so all you really need to look for is that rating or better. So any U3, v30, v60, v90 card will work great.

The other rating you need to look at is SDXC or SDHC.

SDXC – This allows the cards to be formatted with a 64-bit file system so that you can have large video clips.

SDHC – With SDHC memory cards the camera will format them to 32-bit, this means video files will be broken up into 4GB chunks.

What Size Memory Card Do You Need?

I put together a nice guide based on specs and my experience to help you decide which size memory card to buy.

For Stills

I still recommend 64GB.

For photographers shooting only still I recommend buying a 64GB card. While I never use more than 64GB in a day of shooting, occasionally I’ll forget to clear off my camera before going out to shoot again and having the extra memory is nice.

Also, if you decide to record video, the 64GB cards will allow you to record without breaking the video files up into 4GB chunks since 32GB cards can only be formatted with a 32-bit filesystem.

For Video

The memory card size for the A6600 when recording video depends on what format you are recording and how you plan on using the camera.

There are a few details you should note. Take a look at the max bitrates.

4k 24p / 30p Max Bitrate: 100Mbps

1080 24p / 25p / 30p / 50p / 60p Max Bitrate: 50Mbps

To get the maximum quality or 100Mbps at 24fps or 30fps with the Sony A6600 you will need to record in 4k unless you want  100fps or 120fps then you can record 1080p with 100Mbps.

If you only want 1080p 24fps or 1080p 30fps, you will only get half the bitrate of 50Mbps. So even if you need 1080p, it’s better to record 4k then scale down, which if done correctly in a 16-bit sequence will results in a 4:2:2 data compression. That’s the theory anyway.

Sony A6600 Record Times

Here is a handy chart you can use to find the best size memory card you’ll need for your recording format. Or how many minutes you can get with the different formats on with different size cards.

For video shooters, filmmakers, I recommend 128GB cards and I highly recommend you clear off your cards regularly for backup throughout the shoot.

How To Avoid Counterfeit Cards

Unfortunately, counterfeit cards are still a problem and they pop up from time to time at different retailers. 

The best way to avoid counterfeit cards is to avoid buying cards off auction sites. Instead, always buy cards from trusted sources.

If a memory card is counterfeit, usually it has a hacked controller which will tell you the card is bigger than it really. For example, you buy a 128GB card, you then put the card in your camera and it tells you it’s 128GB, but there is only actually 32GB of flash memory. You might shoot for months or weeks before breaking past 32GB, and when you do, the card will fail.

This is why so many people have memory card failures these days, they’re actually just using counterfeit cards without knowing it.

How to check if your card is counterfeit?

Easy, whenever you buy a new card, always max its capacity. It should get very close to the rated capacity without any issues.

You can do this by copying files from your computer, or by recording video. Not a problem since the Sony A6600 no longer has a record limit. Teather it to USB set it to 4k 24 and let it record for an hour or three (depending on the card size).

Best Memory Cards Sony A6600 Conclusions

The Sony A6600 is an incredible camera and I have a feeling it will be one of those cameras that will be around for a long time. It’s kind of the perfect little do anything camera.

Buying memory cards for this camera is pretty easy, just stick with U3 cards and you’ll be good to go and remember you don’t need UHS-II cards unless you’re looking for quick transfer speeds from your card to your computer with an external UHS-II reader.

One last tip, if you shoot a lot, I do recommend buying new cards every two to three years. Shouldn’t be a problem since they continue to come down in price.