The Sony A7c uses a single UHS-II memory card of any size. Here is a quick list of the best SD cards for the Sony A7c, with a few great options, and you most likely don’t need the fastest SD cards.
Sony A7c Recommended Memory Cards
There are three categories of cards you should consider. Fast v90 UHS-II cards, v60 UHS-II cards, and U3 UHS-I cards. There is also a UHS-II card by Sony that reads at UHS-II speeds but it is optimized for UHS-I write speeds.
V90 UHS-II cards are the fastest memory cards for the Sony a7c. They are great for photographers that do a lot of continuous bursting but they are overkill for everything else.
V60 UHS-II cards are perfect for photographers that burst sometimes but mostly shoot in single-shot mode. They’re also great for video shooters since they allow you to transfer large files quickly to your computer.
v30 UHS-I cards are fine for casual photographers and even good for video shooters. These are great for photographers that want large cards at a reasonable price.
Here are the top cards for each speed class.
Card Name | USB Read | USB Write | Camera Write | Check Price |
UHS-II V90 | ||||
Sony G Tough | 270.6 | 229.1 | 184.5 MB/s | Amazon |
Delkin Black V90 | 259.9 | 225.4 | 183.4 MB/s | B&H |
Sandisk Extreme Pro | 293.7 | 242.2 | 181.0 MB/s | Amazon |
Prograde V90 | 290.5 | 218.4 | 116.9 MB/s | Amazon |
UHS-II v60 | ||||
Sony M | 282.4 | 129.5 | 88.0 MB/s | Amazon |
ProGrade V60 | 167.6 | 92.14 | 88.4 MB/s | Amazon |
Sony E 128GB | — | — | 120 MB/s *rated | Amazon |
UHS-II U3 | ||||
Sony E | 282.3 | 103.8 | 75 MB/s *rated | Amazon |
Do You Need UHS-II Memory Cards?
UHS-II cards come in three different speed classes. U3, V60 and V90. What these numbers represent is the minimum write speed of the card. V90 can maintain a minimum of 90MB/s, v60 cards 60MB/s U3 30MB/s.
You should choose one of these cards depending on the price, how much money you’re willing to spend, and the performance you need. Casually shooters might just like V60 cards. They can buy a bigger card for the same price and probably would never even notice the speed difference. Sports shooters that do a lot of continuous bursting would definitely benefit from a v90 card.
Videographers and vloggers only need U3 cards, so this allows you to buy much larger cards to store all that video.
What Size Memory Card Is Best For The Sony A7c?
The best-size memory card is going to be different for everyone.
64GB – If you’re just shooting JPG and not a lot of video, a 64GB card will be fine.
128GB – If you shoot RAW and video here and there I’d start with a 128GB card.
256GB – You most likely won’t need bigger than a 128GB card unless you shoot a lot of video and are not able to clear off the card regularly, or you’re traveling and are not bringing a computer.
Sony A7C Memory Card Related Specs
Sensor: 24.2MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI Sensor Processor: BIONZ X Image Processor Continuous Shoot: 10fps Record Limit: unlimited Est. Buffer Size: 1.5GB (estimate based on A7III buffer) Memory Card Compatibility: Single Card Slots -UHS-II Maximum Memory Card Size: no limit. Shots To Fill Buffer RAW: 115 Video: 4k30p 8-bit 4:2:0 100Mbps. |
Also, check out my Sony A7c Accessories List
Best Memory Cards For 4k Video
Although 4k video seems like a lot of data, the video bitrate is only 100Mbps. This translates to a 12.5MB/s data stream.
A U3 rated card can maintain a minimum stream of 30MB/s, so all you’ll need for 4k video is a U3 UHS-I card.
You do not need a UHS-II card for 4k video, but they are great when for transferring data from the card to a computer with a UHS-II memory card reader since this transfer speed can be significantly faster.
Maximum Video Record Times by Memory Card Size
This chart shows the various bitrates and the amount of record time you can get from various sizes of memory cards.
Resolution | Format | Bitrate | 32GB | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB |
4k30p, 24p | XAVC S 4K | 100Mbps | 43min | 85min | 171min | 341min |
4k30p, 24p | XAVC S 4K | 60Mbps | 71min | 142min | 284min | 569min |
1080 120p, 100p | XAVC S HD | 100Mbps | 43min | 85min | 171min | 341min |
1080 120p, 100p | XAVC S HD | 60Mbps | 71min | 142min | 284min | 569min |
1080 24p, 25p, 30p, 50p, 60p | XAVC S HD | 50Mbps | 85min | 171min | 341min | 683min |
1080 25p, 30p | XAVC S HD | 16Mbps | 267min | 533min | 1067min | 2133min |
1080 60i | AVCHD | 24Mbps | 178min | 356min | 711min | 1422min |
1080 60i | AVCHD | 17Mbps | 251min | 502min | 1004min | 2008min |
Best Memory Cards Sony A7C Conclusions
Buying memory cards for Sony cameras today is pretty straightforward, they have good compatibility with most brands now so you don’t need to worry about that as you did in the past. Sticking with big brands like Sony or Sandisk is still probably the best, but there are plenty of other great options out there with great performance. For example, I use Delkin UHS-II cards in my A7rIII and they’ve worked great for years.
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