Best Memory Cards Sony RX100 VI

The RX100 VI is a 2018-model camera with a single SD card slot that supports UHS-I cards. If you want to revive this old gem and use it again, you might wonder which memory cards are best for it. This guide will teach you some fundamentals and point you to the best memory cards for the Sony RX100 VI.

Recommended Memory Cards for the Sony RX100 VI

The RX100 VI is a camera with a single SD card slot that supports UHS-I cards. The Sony RX100 VI also has a 4 K bitrate of 100 Mbps, which means you need at least 12.5 MB/s for recording video. You should look for a card with a U3 or V30 speed class or higher; this will also get you set for taking photos.

The Sony RX100 VI supports up to 128GB cards. To be safe, I’d suggest only a 64-128GB size memory card to avoid any compatibility issues.

The camera has a limit on how fast it can write data to the memory card. This limit is around 38 MB/s, which means it cannot reach the full speed of some of the fastest memory cards. Therefore, you do not need to buy the most expensive memory cards, as they will not significantly improve the camera’s performance.

Here are some great recommendations for some of the best cards for the Sony RX100 VI.

Camera Specs

Sensor: 20.1MP 1″ Exmor RS BSI CMOS Sensor
Processor: BIONZ X Image Processor & Front-End LSI
Lens: 24-200mm ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* f/2.8-4.5 Lens
Video: 4K30p Video / HLG & S-Log3
Continuous Burst: 10fps RAW
Buffer Size Est: 2GB
Memory Card Capacity: 128GB
Max Write Speed: 37.31MB/s
Shots to fill buffer: 109 ( Sandisk Extreme Pro 170 )
Time to clear buffer: 50-52 seconds average

SD Memory Card Numbers And Specs

When buying memory cards for Sony cameras, you should understand some of the numbers, ratings, and specs. There are a few things you need to know, and they are a bit complex but improving over time.

SDXC vs SDHC – This refers to how the file system is formatted. 64-bit vs 32-bit. Sony cameras can use 64-bit, which lets files be written larger than 4GB. This is very useful and handy when recording video so I suggest going with SDXC cards if you’re using Sony.

Class 10, U1, U3 – This was an older rating system that still exists, and it relates to minimum write speeds. Class 10 and U1 cards can maintain a minimum write speed of 10 MB/s. U3 cards can maintain a minimum write speed of 30 MB/s.

V30, V60, V90 – This is the new standard you’re seeing that shows minimum write speeds. V30 is 30MB/s V60 is 60Mb/s and 90 is 90MB/s.

A1, A2 – You’ll start noticing the A1 and A2 rating more often as new cards come out. It’s not very relevant to photography and cameras, since they are designed to run apps on computers or tablets. The A1 and A2 ratings mean the card uses a different type of caching system that allows for significant improvements in random read and write cycles. Since cameras only write in order, A1 and A2 offer no performance advantage.

Different Speed Ratings With Size

If you decide to buy a bigger card than 64GB. Be sure to keep an eye out for the speed class. Sometimes they get faster as the cards get bigger, and sometimes they get slower. For example, Lexar only offers its 633X card as a U1 speed class until the card reaches 256 GB. This is an attempt to push you into buying a bigger, more expensive card if video shooting is your focus, since you’ll need a U3 card.

Best Memory Cards Sony RX100 VI Conclusions

The Sony RX100 VI is not a beast at writing data to SD cards like some larger cameras, but it is a small powerhouse with a lot of features, so having a good card can make a difference.

There is a performance limit of about 38 MB/s, which has both pros and cons. The downside is that it will take a bit longer to empty the huge buffer, but the upside is that it offers a lot of memory card options. You don’t have to buy the fastest memory cards because the camera can’t use the speed. So you get the same effective results from something like a Sandisk Extreme or Sandisk Extreme Plus.