In-Camera Memory Card Comparison | Sony A7III

The Sony A7 III, like the A9 and A7r III, has some very impressive new internal hardware that allows for faster memory card performance, a larger buffer, as well as UHS-II memory card compatibility.

We finally have the full test for the A7 III up and the memory card speeds are very similar to the Sony A7rIII and the Sony A9, slightly faster actually, although the Sony A7 III does have a much smaller buffer.

Sony A7 III Specs

Sensor: 24MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor
Processor: BIONZ X Image Processor & Front-End LSI
Buffer: 1.5GB estimated
Memory Card Compatibility: UHS-I / UHS-II
Time To Clear Buffer: 9:36
Shots To Fill Buffer Uncompressed: 46

Sony A7 III – Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

Best Accessories For The Sony A7 III

Every Lens For The Sony A7III

Best Memory Cards Sony A7III

A lot has changed with the Sony A7III compared to the previous model. The biggest change is the addition of a UHS-II memory card slot for incredibly fast memory card speeds.

Sony A7 III | In-Camera Speed Test

Like the Sony A7r III and the Sony A9, the Sony A7 III features a new and improved buffer that delivers very competitive memory card write speeds when using UHS-II memory cards. Keep in mind that only Slot 1 (the bottom slot) can take advantage of UHS-II memory cards.

For the tests, we use uncompressed RAW at ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/100.

We also test each card to check for 4k recording compatibility. Sony cameras don’t like some cards. For example, many Samsung cards even though they are U3 and SDXC, get rejected by the camera with an error that they are not U3 cards.

Top 5 Recommended Memory Cards Sony A7III

The Sony A7 III has two memory card slots and can use both UHS-II and UHS-I in either slot, however, only slot one (the bottom slot) will take advantage of the extra pins on the UHS-II cards. So to get the best performance out of your camera, you will need a UHS-II card.

If you shoot RAW with backup to slot 2 then you won’t see the advantage of UHS-II cards since slot 2 is only UHS-I. Shooting JPG to slot 2 does slow down performance a little but you will still see UHS-II speeds with RAW going to slot 1.

Sony G Tough UHS-II

Available At: Amazon / BHphoto

If you can afford it the Sony Tough cards are totally worth it. The build quality is great, very sturdy so you won’t have to worry about the card falling apart after a few years. Something that has happened to me quite a lot. This is always what I use when shooting with single card slot cameras.

Sony 64GB UHS-II G

Available At: Amazon

This is Sony’s latest UHS-II card and it’s fast. Definitely as good as the Sandisk Extreme Pro UHS-II or even the Lexar 2000x. This card is looking to be discontinued at a few stores. Sony could be replacing it with the Tough cards.

Sandisk 64GB UHS-II 300MB/s

Available At: Amazon / BHphoto

Sandisk is the next runner-up. They’ve always made the best cards and you can never go wrong with going Sandisk. The UHS-II Sandisk Extreme Pro is usually the fastest card when tested but the Sony G and the Lexar 2000x are always close, sometimes slightly faster.

Lexar 64GB UHS-II 2000x

Available At: Amazon / BHphoto

Lexar was the original best UHS-II memory card but the company may be going away eventually. Some of their cards have already been discontinued and they’ll likely get more and more difficult to find. So although the 20000x is an amazing card, for future and warranty purposes, we just don’t know what’s going to happen. We list them anyway just because the card reader they come with is nice.

Delkin Power UHS-II

Available At: Amazon / BHphoto

The Delkin cards are currently what I run in my Sony A7rIII. I run a UHS-II card in slot I and a UHS-I card in slot 2. I don’t shoot with backup but I have video going to slot 2. I also use Delkin in my Nikon Z6. They make great cards and I’ve used them for a long time.

Toshiba Exceria Pro UHS-II

Available At: Amazon

The Toshiba Exceria Pro is always a top performer. It’s a little hard to find at a good price in the USA but I keep it listed as a recommended card for other regions such as Japan, where camera company run a racket with memory cards, often marking up the price 300%.

UHS-II vs. UHS-I Memory Cards In The Sony A7rIII

While the Sony A7 III takes advantage of UHS-II memory cards, speeds will be bottlenecked to the slowest memory card in the camera depending on how you’re using slot 1 and slot 2 with the recording modes.

Recording Mode Standard | Slot 1 | Auto Switch On

If you’re using Slot 2 as an overflow, then you will get UHS-II memory card speeds in Slot 1 until the card fills up. Then once the camera switches to Slot 2, speeds will slow down to the speed of the card in Slot 2 and that slot will only be able to produce UHS-I speeds.

On my Sony A7rIII Auto Switch was turned off by default, so you will need to enable this yourself to gain this benefit.

Record Mode Simult. RAW+RAW

If you’re shooting Slot 1 and Slot 2 as a backup, then memory card write speeds will be throttled to the slowest card. If you shoot like this often, you may not see any benefit to using UHS-II cards.

Record Mode Simult. RAW+JPEG

We no longer test RAW+JPEG, but since JPEG files are smaller, you don’t see the same bottleneck as when you’re backing up with RAW to slot 2.

However, shooting RAW+JPEG does slow down the performance of the buffer significantly as it requires more processing as the cards are written to and this task is usually is not multithreaded.

Shooting Uncompressed RAW will make massive files and you will fill your buffer a lot quicker, but they won’t slow down your memory card write speeds.

Best Memory Cards 4k Video Sony A7 III

Shooting 4k video with Sony cameras does require some minimum specs for it to work.

Aside from some cards just not working (like Samsung), you will need a U3 memory card to shoot 4k video with the Sony A7 III.

Best Memory Card 4k Video Sony A7rIII

Sony upgraded its firmware in 2016 so that you can now use SDHC memory cards for 4k video, however, you still need to use U3 memory cards. Here is a break down of some memory card stats and what all the numbers mean.

Class 10 / U1 – NO 4k!

Class 10 and U1 are one and the same. It has to do with minimum write speeds a card is capable of. A Class 10 or U1 card should be able to sustain 10MB/s write speeds in any situation, sequential or random.

However, 4k will not work here.

U3 – 4k compatible

U3 is the minimum requirement for 4k video. It has a minimum performance speed of 30MB/s. So under any circumstance, it will be able to keep up with the 4k video bitrate demands regardless of whether the card is fragmented or not.

V30 – 4k compatible

V is the newest rating system. It also has to do with minimum write speeds. V30 is the same as U3, 30MB/s. It will also work for 4k video. Typically if a card is V30 it’s also U3 and meets Sony’s requirements.

V60 – 4k compatible

Even faster than V30 is V60. 60MB/s guaranteed minimum write speeds. The thing is with the V60 and V90, although the cards can perform with the guaranteed write speed of 60MB/s it doesn’t mean the camera can. Usually, a memory card’s performance is limited by the camera’s capabilities.

V90 – 4k compatible

Like V60 this means minimum speeds of 90MB/s. You mostly only see this on UHS-II cards.

Sony A7III Video Record Times

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 Sony A7III 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 A7III 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 A7III 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 when on a paid production.

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. This will be a little difficult with a 30-minute record limit, so I recommend just copying files if you can.

You could also run a continuous burst, but if you decide to do that make sure to put your camera into electronic shutter mode so you don’t wear out your shutter.

Best Memory Cards Sony A7 III | Bottom Line

Going with the Sony G or Sony G Tough cards is your bet, but other cards have been working well for us, such as Delkin, Transcend and Toshiba.

When using UHS-I cards, stick with U3 so that you can still record video and avoid Samsung and you’ll likely be free of any problems.