Recommended Memory Cards Sony A7IV
The Sony A7IV has some really nice improvements over the previous cameras specifically when looking at memory cards. Not only does the second card slot now support UHS-II memory cards, but the first memory card slot supports CFexpress Type-A memory cards.
Do you need CFexpress Type A memory cards in the Sony A7IV?Â
No. But they allow for a nearly limitless buffer when shooting compressed RAW at 10fps or at 5fps with the lossless compressed mode.
Unlike the Sony A7sIII and Sony A1, you don’t need CFexpress Type A memory cards when shooting S&Q XAVC S-I slow-motion footage in the Sony A7IV, but you will need a v90 UHS-II memory card. Although now that some CFxA cards are very affordable when looking at the price to GB (like the 1TB Angelbird card), it doesn’t hurt to invest in the faster cards.
Here are some of the best-performing memory cards in each speed class
If you want a nearly bottomless buffer and support for all the video features, the CFexpress Type A cards are great and you can transfer data very quickly to an external SSD with a CFexpress Type A reader, they are expensive but finally coming down in price, so look for deals.
UHS-II V90 cards are going to be the best SD cards for most people with the Sony A7IV because these cards will allow you to take advantage of all the frame rates and all the video modes of the camera.
UHS-II V60 cards are going to be best for casual video shooters and photographers who want a lot more data at a lower cost, but you will be limited with some recording formats which I list further down in this article.
Recommended Memory Cards | In-Camera Speeds | USB Write | USB Read | Check Price |
CFx Type A | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Lexar 160GB | 326 MB/s | 825 MB/s | 886 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
Sony 80GB | 325 MB/s | 641 MB/s | 852 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
ProGrade 160GB | 326 MB/s | 691 MB/s | 845 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
Angelbird 1TB | untested | untested | untested | B&H |
UHS-II V90 | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Sony G Tough V90 | 222 MB/s | 229 MB/s | 270 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
Delkin Black V90 | 225 MB/s | 225 MB/s | 259 MB/s | B&H |
RitzGear Video Pro V90 | 229 MB/s | 248 MB/s | 266 MB/s | Amazon |
Wise V90 Pro | 229 MB/s | 256 MB/s | 275 MB/s | B&H |
UHS-I V60 | Â | Â | Â | Â |
Lexar 1800x | 174 MB/s | 176 MB/s | 242 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
Sony M Tough | 143 MB/s | 129 MB/s | 282 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
Sony E 120MB/s version* | 137 MB/s | 138 MB/s | 244 MB/s | Amazon / B&H |
Angel Bird V60 II | 134 MB/s | 104 MB/s | 166 MB/s | B&H |
Sony A7IV – Amazon / Adorama / B&H
7 Must-Have Accessories For The Sony A7IV
Memory Card Benchmarks
Each memory card was tested in the Sony A7IV. The buffer is filled then data is calculated against the time it takes to clear the buffer.
USB speeds are taken on an i9 13900k PC with a ProGrade reader using the AJA System Test. You won’t get these same USB speeds on some computers like an M1 Mac mini or M1 iMac since these computers share the USB bus with other components. New macs are now using USB4, so grab a USB4 reader if you can find one and want max transfer speeds.
Memory Cards | USB Write | USB Read | A7IV | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CFx-B | X | |||||
Lexar 512 Diamond | 1623 | 1728 | X | X | ||
Lexar 128/256/512GB Diamond | 1617 | 1700 | X | |||
Lexar Gold 1TB/2TB | 1642 | 1695 | X | |||
Lexar Gold 64/128/256/512GB/1TB/2TB | 1410 | 1525 | X | |||
Lexar Silver 512GB | 1141 | 1624 | X | |||
Lexar Silver 128/258 | 749 | 1719 | X | |||
Sandisk Pro-Cinema 256GB | 755 | 1177 | X | |||
Sandisk Extreme 512GB | X | |||||
Sandisk Extreme 128/256GB | 429 | 1144 | X | |||
Sandisk Extreme 65GB | X | X | ||||
Sony Tough 128/256/512GB | 1334 | 1603 | X | |||
ProGrade Cobalt CF4.0 1.3TB | X | |||||
Prograde Cobalt 165/325/650GB | 1429 | 1029 | X | |||
Prograde 1TB/2TB gen3 | 1516 | 1108 | X | |||
Prograde 512GB gen3 | 1569 | 1707 | X | |||
Prograde 512/1TB gen2 | X | X | ||||
Prograde 256GB gen3 | 1334 | 835 | X | |||
Prograde 128GB gen2 | 679 | 778 | X | |||
Delkin Black 150/325/650GB | 1425 | 1545 | X | |||
Delkin Black 75GB | 1195 | 1573 | X | |||
Delkin Black 128GB | 1431 | 1035 | X | X | ||
Delkin Power G4 650/1TB/1.3TB/2TB | 1588 | 1710 | X | |||
Delkin Power G4 128/165/256/325/512GB | 920 | 1226 | X | |||
Delkin Power 128/256/512/1TB/2TB | 1429 | 1037 | X | X | ||
Delkin Prime 64GB | 974 | 1023 | X | X | ||
Nikon 660GB | 1397 | 1574 | X | |||
Hoodman Steel 1TB | 1528 | 1121 | X | |||
Hoodman Steel 512GB | X | |||||
Hoodman Steel 128GB | 580 | 969 | X | |||
Wise Pro 640GB | X | |||||
Wise Pro 160/320GB | 1257 | 1536 | X | |||
Wise 1TB Mk II | 1525 | 1121 | X | |||
Wise 512GB Mk II | 936 | 1236 | X | |||
Wise 128GB/256GB | 190 | 1023 | X | X | ||
Angelbird Pro 1TB/2TB/4TB MkII | 852 | 969 | X | |||
Angelbird Pro 2TB MkI | X | |||||
Angelbird Pro Mk I 256GB | 844 | 961 | X | X | ||
Angelbird Pro XT Mk II 330/660/1320GB | 1595 | 1597 | X | |||
AngelBird SE 1TB | X | |||||
Angelbird Pro SE 512GB | 789 | 958 | X | |||
Angelbird Pro SX 160GB/330GB | 1521 | 1688 | X | |||
OWC Atlas Ultra CF4.0 1TB/2TB | X | |||||
OWC Atlas Ultra 165/325/650GB | 1402 | 1579 | X | |||
OWC Atlas Pro CF4.0 256/512GB | X | |||||
OWC Atlas Pro 512GB/1TB/2TB | 514 | 1632 | X | |||
OWC Atlas Pro 256GB | 430 | 1212 | X | |||
OWC Atlas Pro 128GB | 232 | 1300 | X | |||
Sabrent Pro 512GB/1TB/2TB | 856 | 1183 | X | |||
Sabrent More 512GB/1TB | 438 | 1632 | X | X | ||
RitzGear 256/512/1TB | 481 | 1302 | X | |||
RitzGear 128GB | 236 | 1323 | X | |||
Pergear Ultra 1TB/2TB | X | |||||
Pergear Pro 512GB | 687 | 1085 | X | |||
Pergear Pro 256GB | 346 | 1131 | X | |||
Pergear Lite 128GB | 404 | 997 | X | |||
Pergear Lite 64GB | X | |||||
Silicon Power 1TB/2TB | X | |||||
Silicon Power Cinema 512GB/1TB | X | |||||
Silicon Power Cinema 256GB | 379 | 1221 | X | X | ||
Silicon Power Cinema 128GB | X | X | ||||
Transcend 820 512GB | 985 | 1660 | X | |||
Transcend 820 256GB | 1200 | 1644 | X | |||
SunEast 512GB/1TB | X | X | ||||
CFx-A | ||||||
Sony Tough 960/1920GB | ||||||
Sony Tough 80/160/320/640GB | 641 | 852 | 325 | |||
Lexar 80/160GB/320GB | 825 | 886 | 325 | |||
Delkin Black 160GB | ||||||
Delkin Black 80GB | 639 | 852 | 326 | |||
Delkin Power 160GB | ||||||
Delkin Power 80GB | 641 | 847 | 325 | |||
ProGrade 160GB | 691 | 845 | 326 | |||
AngelBird 1TB | ||||||
UHS-II V90 | ||||||
Sandisk Extreme Pro V90 32-512GB | 252 | 279 | 217 | |||
Lexar 2000x V90 32-256GB | 219 | 256 | 208 | |||
Toshiba Exceria Pro V90 | 213 | 244 | X | 213 | ||
Transcend v90 | 175 | 263 | 180 | |||
Sony G Tough v90 32-256GB | 239 | 275 | 222 | |||
Delkin Black v90 64/128/256GB | 253 | 278 | 225 | |||
Delkin Power v90 64/128/256GB | 240 | 275 | 215 | |||
Fujifilm Elite II V90 | 158 | 277 | X | 165 | ||
Adata v90 64/128/256GB | 229 | 268 | 203 | |||
Hoodman Steel 2000x V90 64/128GB | 155 | 249 | 156 | |||
ProGrade V90 64-512GB | 229 | 270 | 217 | |||
PNY EliteX-Pro90 V90 64/128/256GB | 276 | 293 | ||||
Amplim 2000x V90 32-128GB | 275 | 287 | ||||
Angel Bird V90 II 64-512GB | 257 | 271 | 218 | |||
OWC Atlas Ultra V90 64-512GB | 270 | 289 | ||||
OWC Atlas S Pro V90 | X | |||||
Kingston Canvas React V90 32-256GB | 256 | 274 | 216 | |||
Kodak V90 32/64/128GB | 260 | 272 | 218 | |||
Ritz Gear VideoPro V90 64-512GB | 258 | 273 | 229 | |||
Wise V90 Pro 128/256/512GB | 256 | 275 | 229 | |||
UHS-II V60 | ||||||
Sandisk Extreme Pro v60 256/512/1TB | 189 | 279 | ||||
Sandisk Extreme Pro v60 64/128GB | 102 | 283 | ||||
Lexar 1800x V60 64-512GB | 188 | 255 | 174 | |||
Lexar 1667x V60 64/128/256GB | 100 | 257 | 101 | |||
Lexar Silver Pro v60 | 162 | 255 | ||||
Sony M Tough V60 64-512GB | 155 | 268 | 143 | |||
Sony M v60 64-512GB | X | |||||
Sony E v60 256GB | 142 | 252 | 137 | |||
Sony E v30 64GB | 73 | 247 | ||||
Delkin Prime v60 64/128/256GB | 98 | 275 | 89 | |||
Hoodman Steel 1500x V60 64/128GB | 99 | 273 | 97 | |||
ProGrade V60 128/256/512GB | 98 | 155 | 78 | |||
PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 512GB | 180 | 278 | ||||
PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 256GB | 183 | 280 | ||||
PNY EliteX-Pro60 V60 128GB | ||||||
Amplim 2000x v60 | 136 | 253 | 131 | |||
Amplim 1900x V60 | 97 | 275 | X | 95 | ||
Angel Bird V60 II 64-1TB | 144 | 243 | 135 | |||
OWC Atlas Pro V60 64GB-1TB | 100 | 281 | ||||
FreeTail Evoke Pro V60 | 96 | 272 | X | 95 | ||
Ritz Gear Video Pro V60 A1 64-256GB | 103 | 280 | ||||
Wise V60 128GB | 102 | 269 | ||||
UHS-I U3 | X | |||||
Sandisk Extreme Pro 256/512/1TB | X | |||||
Sandisk Extreme Pro 200MB 32/64/128GB | 144 | 172 | X | |||
Sandisk Extreme 256GB | X | |||||
Sandisk Extreme 128GB | X | |||||
Sandisk Extreme 64GB | 51 | 93 | X | |||
Sandisk Ultra U1 Old | 27 | 93 | X | X | ||
Kingston CanvasGo! 128/256/512GB | 124 | 161 | X | |||
Kingston CanvasGo! 64GB | X | X | ||||
Kingston Canvas Select 128/256/512GB | 84 | 93 | X | |||
Lexar 1066x SILVER 128-1TB | X | |||||
Lexar 1066x SILVER 64GB | X | |||||
Lexar 800x BLUE 128/256GB | X | |||||
Lexar 633x BLUE 128/256GB | 35 | 93 | X | |||
Sony Professional | 84 | 91 | X | X | ||
Sony 94 | 60 | 91 | X | X | ||
Sony 95 | 81 | 90 | X | X | ||
Transcend Ultra 340s A2 128/256/512GB | X | |||||
Transcend Ultra 340s A2 64GB | X | |||||
Transcend High 330s A2 64/128GB | X | |||||
Transcend 300s 512GB | X | |||||
Transcend 300s 256GB | X | |||||
Transcend 300s 128GB | 79 | 91 | X | |||
PNY Pro Elite 256/512/1TB | 87 | 93 | X | |||
PNY Elite-X 64-512GB | 56 | 92 | X | |||
PNY Elite Performance | 63 | 91 | X | X | ||
Delkin Black 32-256GB | 86 | 93 | X | |||
Delkin Advantage 32-1TB | 77 | 93 | X | |||
Toshiba Exceria Pro | 74 | 91 | X | |||
Toshiba Exceria | 29 | 91 | X | |||
Verbatim Pro+ | 77 | 91 | X | |||
Verbatim Pro | 46 | 90 | X | |||
Amplim 667x A1 V30 | 50 | 93 | X | X | ||
RitzGear Extreme A1 V30 | 62 | 93 | X |
Sensor: 33MP Full-Frame, Exmor R BSI CMOS Processor: BIONZ XR Image Processor Memory Card Slots: 2 UHS-II / 1 CFe A Continuous Shoot: 10fps Compressed RAW Continuous Shoot: 5fps Lossless Compressed RAW Est. Buffer Size:Â 1GB RAW Shots To Fill Buffer: 65 shots Sony G Tough UHS-II, pretty much unlimited CFxA – Compressed RAW Max Memory Card Capacity: Unlimited Size 4k Datarate: H.265 200Mbps XAVC HS (25MB/s) / H.264 600Mbps XAVC S-I (75MB/s) |
Which Memory Cards Can Be Used For Which Settings
Sony documented this in their user manual. The camera will reject memory cards out of spec, it also rejects that old Sony M card that they recalled.
Here are the memory cards that are required for general video recording.
Â
S&Q Memory Card Shooting
Here are the memory cards required for the different S&Q modes.
These charts are taken from the Sony Help Guide.
Best Memory Card Sony A7IV – Some Thoughts
When buying memory cards for the Sony A7IV I would just grab either a v90 or v60 UHS-II card. You’ll likely be shooting lossless compressed which does not give you 10fps, it actually gives you 5fps. I didn’t test the memory cards at 5fps, but I’m pretty sure you will get close to a bottomless buffer at 5fps with lossless compressed RAW on a v90 UHS-II card.
Sony M or Sony G cards would be my recommendation, but there are a few other great V90 cards that would be worth it if there was a nice sale. I would probably lean more toward getting v90 cards since some video features will require that. But I can’t justify CFexpress memory cards for this camera unless you really need to shoot 1,000 frames uninterrupted with a compressed RAW format.
If you’re not doing a lot with video, V60 cards are the way to go.
When buying a new card always be sure to fill the card to check that it doesn’t have a hacked memory card controller and that the card is authentic. You should get close to the rated amount of memory listed on the card if it is genuine, or buy from trusted stores like B&H or Adorama.
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