Memory Cards For Sony A7rV – 38 Tested

The A7R V is Sony’s 61MP resolution flagship — and at that resolution, capacity planning matters more than it does on lower-res bodies. At 10fps burst, Sony specs the buffer at 583 shots with CFxA before you hit the ceiling; that sounds like a lot until you realize it’s under a minute of continuous shooting. A full day of serious stills work will burn through 256GB faster than you’d expect. The dual slots accept CFexpress Type A and UHS-II SD in the same housing — the same setup as the A7S III and FX3. CFxA is the right call at current pricing: faster buffer clearing, comparable cost to V90 SD, and better sustained write performance under load.

Sony A7rV – Amazon / B&H

Recommended Memory Cards Sony A7rV

This chart shows the performance of various CFexpress Type-A memory cards and some top-performing SD UHS-II cards, all tested in the Sony A7rV.

The green bar represents the tested USB sustain speeds; however, for the V90 UHS-II cards, I only have the rated sustain speed, which is 90MB/s.

I recommend going with CFexpress Type-A today since they are priced close to the SD V90 cards. From his chart, you can see they are significantly faster.

Do you need CFexpress Type A memory cards in the Sony A7rV?

CFexpress Type-A cards are now priced very close to SD UHS-II V90 cards, so if you’re looking for the fastest memory card for the Sony A7rV, it makes more sense to grab CFexpress Type-A cards.

However, V60 SD cards are great for casual or landscape photography and perform well with HEVC video codecs. But if you want to use the H.264 All-I codec, you will need V90 SD cards or CFxA cards to shoot the 600Mbps H.264 bitrate and some S&Q modes.

The best CFExpress Type-A memory cards for the Sony A7rV

Without question, the Lexar Gold cards are the best CFexpress Type-A memory cards right now. While there is a bottleneck in the Sony A7rV, the USB-C sustain speeds show the card not slowing down much under a sustained stress test.

Although I haven’t tested the Lexar Silver series in the Sony A7rV yet, it has a great tested sustain speed and fantastic read and write speeds and is priced very competitively against the SD UHS-II v90 memory cards.

This is the card I see a lot of Sony shooters buying right now.

While Sony CFexpress cards overall haven’t been top performers, these are great if you want a Tough, dependable card that will run flawlessly in the Sony A7rV.

The Best SD UHS-II memory cards for the Sony A7rV

The Sony Tough G SD V90 UHS-II cards are among the best UHS-II Memory cards available and are my top recommendation for high-performance cameras like the Sony A7rV.

However, be sure to check the price, today CFexpress cards are a lot faster and are often priced very similarly. For example, Lexar Silver CFeA cards are priced very competitively compared to SD UHS-II cards.

The Sandisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II is a very good SD memory card for the Sony A7rV.

If you found this helpful also check out my List Sony A7rV accessories.

Memory Card Benchmarks

Testing for each memory card was conducted in-camera, which involved filling the buffer and evaluating the time it takes to clear it.

See more stats with the SD Memory Card Speed Tests and the CFexpress Type A Speed Tests.

CFexpress Type-A Buffer & Speed Test

SD UHS-II Buffer & Speed Test

Sensor: 61MP Full-Frame, Exmor R BSI CMOS Processor: BIONZ XR & AI Image Processor Memory Card Slots: 2 UHS-II / 2 CFx A Continuous Shoot: 10fps RAW Est. Buffer Size: untested RAW Shots To Fill Buffer: 583 shots CFxA Max Memory Card Capacity: Unlimited Size 4k Datarate: H.265 400Mbps XAVC HS (50MB/s) / H.264 600Mbps XAVC S-I (75MB/s)

Which Memory Cards Can Be Used For Which Settings

The camera will reject memory cards that are out of spec and reject that old Sony M card that they recalled years ago.

Here are the memory cards that are required for general video recording.

Most cameras list their recordings in bitrate. You can get the megabytes per second by dividing by 8.

400Mbps ÷ 8 = 50MB/s. So, to shoot 400Mbps, you’ll want a card that guarantees a 50MB/s data rate, a V60 card. The v60 means it guarantees a minimum of 60MB/s.

S&Q Memory Card Shooting

Here are the memory cards required for the different S&Q modes.

Note that when the S&Q Record Frame Rate is set to 30p / 25p / 24p and the Frame Rate is set to 60fps / 50fps for slow-motion recording, a CFexpress Type A card is required. This will play back at 30 / 25 / 25 fps at 600Mbps, but the camera is recording at double the frame rate, which is technically double the bitrate; it just reduces the speed down to the Record Frame Rate, cutting the bitrate in half during playback as it stretches 60 frames shot into 30fps played back.

This is why S&Q record modes are so important; they offer much better quality than standard slow-motion recording modes. If you need S&Q recording, you only need a CFexpress A card or V90 UHS-II card for the Sony A7rV.

These charts are taken from the Sony User Manual.

Sony A7R V Memory Cards — FAQ

Do I need CFexpress Type A cards for the Sony A7R V?

Not strictly required, but CFxA is now the better buy. V60 SD handles casual shooting and most H.265 HEVC recording without issue. V90 SD or CFxA is required for H.264 All-I 600Mbps and certain S&Q slow-motion modes. Since CFxA cards — particularly the Lexar Silver — are now priced comparably to V90 SD, there’s no practical reason to choose V90 over CFxA for a new purchase.

How does 61MP affect card capacity planning?

Significantly. At 10fps with 61MP RAW files, you’ll fill 256GB much faster than you would on a 24MP body. For a full-day wildlife or sports session, 256GB per slot is a reasonable starting point. The buffer spec of 583 shots sounds large, but at 10fps continuous that’s under a minute of shooting before you hit the ceiling — factor that in if you’re planning anything action-oriented.

What cards are required for S&Q recording on the A7R V?

Certain S&Q modes require CFexpress Type A or V90 UHS-II. When the S&Q Record Frame Rate is set to 30p/25p/24p with a 60fps/50fps capture frame rate for slow-motion output, the camera requires either CFxA or V90 — V60 cards will be greyed out in the menu for those modes. Check the mode you plan to use before buying cards.

Can I use V60 cards in the A7R V?

Yes, for most use cases. V60 UHS-II handles all H.265 HEVC recording and general stills without issue. It falls short at H.264 All-I 600Mbps and the specific S&Q slow-motion modes that require sustained 75MB/s writes. If you’re primarily shooting stills or H.265 video, V60 is a legitimate, cost-effective option — just know where the ceiling is before you hit it in the field.