Best Memory Card For Nikon Camera

If you don’t have the best memory carte du jour for your camera, then y’all’re non going to become the well-nigh out of your photoshoots. With then many options for speed, chapters, make, compatibility and price available, you might initially feel overwhelmed. Still, we’ve cleaved down the best memory cards bachelor to show y’all which ones are best for you.

When you call up of a memory carte, you’ll probable find that the pop SD card format comes to mind. Yet, if you’re using a newer camera, or 1 of the best professional cameras
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1 of the most obvious ways to differentiate betwixt retention cards is how much storage they accept. A 16GB card might exist fine for an afternoon wandering around your local wildlife reserve, but videographers looking to shoot all day could get frustrated with having to constantly swap over cards.

Yet, this isn’t the merely style to estimate what memory menu is best, equally you lot’ll besides need a card with fast read and write speeds. This volition not only affect how apace yous tin transfer images from the retentiveness card to your computer (or ane of the all-time portable hard drives
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Read more than:
How to understand everything written on your memory carte du jour

If you lot’re notwithstanding not quite au fait with all of this technical lingo, then don’t worry. We’ve put together a handy jargon explainer at the bottom of this article to help you find the best retentiveness carte for your needs.

The all-time memory card in 2022

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SD

Best SD cards

The stamp postage-sized SD card is the format used past most digital cameras. SD has largely succeeded CompactFlash, although the latter is nonetheless popular in some older
pro DSLRs. Most card manufacturers offering ranges that give you a choice of SDHC and SDXC, which both broadly practice the same thing, just at slightly differing speeds and capacities. Yous’ll
find a more detailed explanation
of this beneath. The best retention menu for your needs will depend largely on how you lot desire to residual capacity, speed and cost.

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If you’re a photo enthusiast passionate about your hobby, so you could exercise worse than picking up the Extreme PRO SDXC card from industry stalwart SanDisk. This unassuming card is one of the best SD memory cards you can choose, with capacities ranging from 32GB to a staggering 1TB and an impressive UHS Speed Class 3 rating.

Withal, the virtually impressive aspect of the Extreme PRO SDXC carte du jour is its write speeds of upwards to 90MB/s, which allows your photographic camera to handle rapid-fire sequential shooting in both JPEG and RAW with ease. Meanwhile, its rapid 170MB/south read speed is perfect for a refreshingly fast workflow. Aside from capturing Raw photographs, the data crunching on offer with this memory card also makes it suitable for 4K video capture. In short, this is a smashing, reliable all-rounder – and its price makes it difficult to crush.

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Kingston Technology offers a fairly limited drove of retentivity cards with just three SD card series and three microSD series. The Canvas React Plus series is the flagship line of SD cards with capacities of 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB.

After using the 128GB Kingston Canvas React Plus SD card extensively, I can say without reservation that it’s reliable. It has performed flawlessly when I’ve shot on high-resolution cameras like the 45.7MP Nikon Z7 Two at its fastest charge per unit (10fps) and when shooting 4K video. It’s likewise proved capable of recording 8K video, however, it doesn’t allow the nearly demanding formats like 8K raw.

Kingston Canvass React Plus SDXC UHS-Two total review

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Lexar has long been a go-to card brand for photograph enthusiasts, with this pro menu existence top of the tree for us, deploying UHS-II tech to enable read speeds up to 300MB/s and 260MB/s write speeds. So whether you’re shooting Full Hard disk, 4K video, or high-resolution Raw files, this carte du jour is eminently suitable, even if maximum capacity is 128GB, rather than the 512GB-1TB offered by some rivals. A close match for SanDisk’s Extreme PRO SD UHS-II (as well featured here), in terms of performance and spec, we similarly tin can’t really become wrong with one of the all-time memory card options out there right at present.

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PNY has four SD menu series and the X-Pro 90 SDXC UHS-II cards are the flagship offerings. They are available in three capacities, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, each with claimed maximum read speeds of upward to 300MB/s and writes speeds up to 280MB/s. In addition, equally V90 cards, the minimum read and write speeds are 90MB/s, making them suitable for recording high-resolution stills at fast continuous shooting rates as well as 4K video and some 8K video.

The 10-Pro 90 SDXC UHS-II also produced some of the best figures I’ve seen with an SDXC card in software testing, enables very expert in-photographic camera outburst depths and is snappy at transferring images to a computer.

PNY X-Pro 90 SDXC UHS-II total review

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Offering read speeds of up to 300MB/s and write speeds of an equally impressive 260MB/south, this SanDisk UHS-II SD menu is very much top dog amidst retentiveness cards. This kind of spec makes information technology the all-time memory card for sports, wild animals and news photographers, shooting bursts of rapid fire stills, or videographers recording the moment in center-poppingly clear 4K resolution. As this is an SDXC (Extended Capacity) carte du jour too, available storage is impressive, ranging from 32GB upwardly to 128GB, but really it’due south all virtually speed hither – and reliability with it – in preference to anything else.

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If you lot’re shooting loftier-resolution video, y’all’re ever going to need as much storage space for digital data as you can get. The Lexar Professional 633x SDHC/SDXC UHS-I boasts a huge 1TB chapters option, although read and write rates are a piddling more modest these days. This means you take to decide which is more of import to you: having the infinite to store many hours of video, or having the fastest possible transfer speeds between devices.

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SanDisk’south Farthermost range of SD cards come up in both standard and Pro versions. Naturally, the Pro cards are slightly more expensive, but even this regular Extreme card features UHS Speed Class 3 compatibility to be able to cope with both Full Hd and 4K recording.

A 16GB SanDisk Extreme bill of fare tin offer information read speeds of up to 90MB/s and write speeds of upwardly to 40MB/s. While these aren’t heed-blowing numbers, they’re perfectly suitable for most photography needs. Outdoor photographers will exist pleased that these cards are also water, shock, temperature and X-ray proof.

If you have no need for blisteringly fast read/write speeds, the SanDisk Extreme range is a great selection at reasonable prices.

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If you’re shooting raw files you want a card that can handle sequential bursts of the highest quality imagery, every bit well as a capacity that allows for sufficient storage to avoid having to bandy cards every v minutes. The Transcend SDXC UHS-Two U3 is a belter that delivers whether y’all’re shooting raw files or loftier resolution video. While the 64GB maximum capacity (the culling being 32GB) may appear a lilliputian small-scale at get-go compared with other options hither, the performance is anything merely, with blisteringly swift read and write times of 285MB/s and 180 MB/due south respectively. Capable of working with a UHS-II compatible DSLR or camcorder, speeds are upwards to 3x faster than standard UHS-I SD retention cards This card is besides shock and X-ray proof, giving enthusiasts and pros added peace of mind.

microSD

Best microSD memory cards
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Smaller cameras like action cams utilize the microSD format, as well as drone, smartphones and tablets. Technically, it’south but the same as the SD format, with similar capacities and speed ratings, just in a much smaller form.

See besides

Best microSD cards

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Samsung PRO Endurance SD memory cards cost a shade more than than standard microSD cards, merely they’re designed to be the best microSD cards for harsh environments and are longer lasting – hence the ‘Endurance’ moniker – with an industry-best of 43,800 hours of continuous video recording is promised past the highest chapters bill of fare. They can continually record at loftier read/write speeds (100MB/due south and 30MB/southward respectively). Warranties on the cards vary between two years for the lower chapters cards, to five years for maximum capacity.

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Available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, these speedy Class 10 Samsung EVO Plus microSDHC and microSDXC cards come with an SD adapter that allows them to be used in standard SD card cameras just every bit easily as in a smartphone or tablet. The smallest-chapters 32GB types won’t pause the bank, despite managing read speeds of 100MB/s, although a write speed of 30MB/s is a little more modest. The bright red design also ensures Samsung’southward general use offering won’t be easily lost, despite information technology being the size of a fingernail. Complete with a 10-twelvemonth limited warranty for peace of mind, the cards are too waterproof, temperature proof, X-ray proof and magnetic proof. You lot really tin can’t get wrong with this card.

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This decent piffling microSD card is available for a really competitive cost, and it boasts respectable 160MB/s read and 120MB/s write speeds, despite information technology non having the faster UHS-II transfer standard. This card comes in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB variations (the latter beingness platonic if you shoot 4K footage), and then you should exist able to choose whichever size fits your needs and your budget.

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It is not just cameras that utilise microSD cards, of course. And one of the nigh popular devices to utilise this memory type at the moment is undoubtedly the Nintendo Switch handheld console, and its baby blood brother the Nintendo Switch Lite. The slot in memory is not but great for expanding the number of games you carry, but too for taking screenshots and videos of your victories and adventures. The cards are different colors depending on the capacity – and then scarlet with a Nintendo Mushroom icon for 128GB, yellow with a Super Star for the 256GB, and teal light-green for the 512GB card. Yous don’t need these customized cards, every bit any microSD card will work in your Switch – but you will earn kudos points for make loyalty.

• Run across also

All-time microSD cards

CompactFlash

Best CompactFlash cards

There are still lots of cameras around that employ the Compact Wink format, and it gets plenty of support from memory carte makers. The new and upcoming formats for pro cameras are XQD, CFexpress and CFast (all listed farther downward), only the Meaty Flash retentivity card format looks like it will exist around for a while still.

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CompactFlash may be old schoolhouse, just at that place’due south zippo nostalgic about the SanDisk Extreme PRO CompactFlash’south 160MB/due south read speed. It’s also physically large by current memory card standards, but that doesn’t hateful CompactFlash can’t pack enough capacity and speed to satisfy today’due south DSLR users. The SanDisk range offers capacities from a useful 16GB, up to 256GB, and so you lot don’t take to keep swapping cards in the estrus of the activity. A write speed of up to 140MB/s at maximum 256GB capacity also impresses (and information technology’due south an fifty-fifty faster  150MB/s for the 128GB and lower capacities), making it eminently suitable for Total HD video capture. Its minimum sustained write speed of 65MB/s is fifty-fifty class-leading.

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Taiwanese company Transcend is another long-term actor in the memory card market – and still makes many depression-chapters cards, meaning they’re accessible to those on a tight upkeep. Notwithstanding, even the college capacity offerings – such as this CompactFlash 800x serial – are inappreciably expensive for what’s on offer. Capacities run from a standard 32GB upwards to 256GB. Specification is also impressive for a budget card, with read speeds of upward to 120MB/s and write speeds of 60 MB/s, although bodily performance, of grade, is affected past camera hardware and software. Durable and reliable, at that place’due south even a built-in error-correcting lawmaking to notice and right whatever transfer errors.

CFexpress

Best CFexpress cards

CFexpress is rapidly condign the retentiveness bill of fare format of choice for high-terminate stills and video cameras. Evolving from the XQD bill of fare format, CFexpress Blazon B cards
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share the same outer design as XQD cards, but pack faster retentiveness inside, making them some of the fastest retentiveness cards available today. Almost all cameras that originally supported XQD cards have now been firmware-updated to also piece of work with CFexpress Type B cards, so cameras like the Nikon Z6 and Z7 are no longer restricted to XQD cards alone.

More recently, Sony dirty the CFexpress waters by bring to market CFexpress Type A cards. This CFexpress card variant is physically smaller than the Type B standard, and therefore yous tin can’t use a Type A card in a photographic camera designed for XQD/CFexpress Blazon B cards. You wouldn’t really want to though, as the drawback of CFexpress Type A’s compactness is a reduction in read/write speed, compared to Type B cards. At present, but a handful of Sony cameras utilize CFexpress Type A cards, most notably the Sony A7 4
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and a7S III
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• Encounter also

All-time CFexpress cards

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SanDisk was ane of the starting time menu manufacturers to market CFexpress Type B cards, and its Extreme Pro range is still a strength to be reckoned with today. Capable of upwards to 1700MB/s read and upward to 1400 MB/s write, just a select few rival cards can go faster. Yet, y’all’ll need to role with big bucks to get these speed ratings, every bit they only use to the acme-of-the-range 512GB version. The 128GB and 256GB cards in the range can ‘simply’ hit 1200MB/s write speed (the 1700MB/southward read speed yet applies), merely the poor sometime 64GB carte du jour is only rated for 1500MB/s read and 800MB/s write.

SanDisk Farthermost PRO CFexpress Card full review

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Lexar’s CFexpress card is a star performer when it comes to read speed, with its 1750MB/s maximum rating slightly chirapsia the 1700MB/s advertised by many rival cards. Notwithstanding, the 1000MB/s write rate is less impressive and it trails most of the competition. Even so, you’ll need to exist shooting very high flake-rate 4K or 8K video to have whatever chance of running into problem. Capacities range from 64GB to 512GB, and all take the peace of mind of being backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Card total review

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CFexpress cards can at present be bought in two variants: Type A, and Type B. The latter is far more common and supported past loads more cameras. Both types are based around the same applied science, simply differ in the corporeality of PCIe data transfer lanes bachelor. the event is Blazon A cards have a theoretical maximum 1000MB/s information bandwidth, whereas Type B cards tin can accomplish upwardly to 2000MB/s. And then why is Sony backing the slowest 1000MB/s Type A CFexpress standard when faster Blazon B cards are already bachelor? Information technology all comes down to compactness. Where a CFexpress Type B card measures 38.5 10 29.8 x 3.8mm, a Type A carte du jour is considerably smaller at 28 x 20 ten 2.8mm. To put this in perspective, that’s even smaller in length and width than a standard SD card.

With read/write rates of 800MB/s and 700MB/due south respectively, Sony’southward Tough CFexpress Blazon A cards may exist a lot slower than near Type B cards, merely information technology’s yet very fast.

ProGrade Digital as well has a 160GB Blazon A card you can buy, only it’south non as readily available as this Sony equivalent, and is merely marginally cheaper. Delkin has Type A cards coming before long though, so hopefully prices will start to fall further.

XQD

All-time XQD card

Nikon was the first camera company to introduce XQD cards in digital cameras and a lot of people idea information technology would be short-lived, and since XQD has now evolved into CFexpress Type B, in some sense they were right. CFexpress cards are considerably faster than XQD cards (though that’s not to say XQD is dull – far from information technology), and there are more manufacturers producing CFexpress cards than XQD, leading to more competitive pricing.

Now that most XQD cameras have been updated to support CFexpress Type B cards, it makes little sense to buy a new XQD card, especially since they’re still priced in line with comparable CFexpress Type B cards of equivalent capacities.

XQD is well suited to the high-speed data rates required from 4K video recording, and also for serving the maximum burst rates offered past stills cameras. XQD is supported by cameras like the Nikon Z7
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(opens in new tab), D810
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and D850
(opens in new tab). It is likewise used by some professional Sony camcorders, and the Panasonic S1
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and Panasonic S1R
(opens in new tab). Sony has pioneered the format, with its latest G-series cards offer a write speed of 400MB per second, and an equally impressive read charge per unit of 440MB/south. Yous’ll get even faster speeds from a CFexpress Type B carte du jour though, so if your XQD photographic camera at present supports CFexpress, it may well be time to spring ship from XQD and selection upward 1 of our top CFexpress Blazon B cards (above).

CFast

Best CFast card
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CFast is a high-speed memory card that looks very similar to CompactFlash. The CFast format is used mostly by high-cease video equipment, such equally professional cinema video cameras from Catechism, Arri and BlackMagic. In terms of stills cameras, this blazon of card is currently only used in the Canon EOS ane-D X Marking II and Hasselblad H6D-100C. Here are the all-time CFast cards
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on the market right now:

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Lightning fast transfer speeds make CFast perfectly suited to 4K video shooting. SanDisk are the ones to watch in this format, and this virtually-contempo version of its CFast card offers a staggering write speed of 525Mb/s, along with an beauteous 400 Mb/s read speed.

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If yous’re ofttimes working with loftier quality 4K video, ProRes video, or RAW photos from cameras such as the Canon EOS-1DX Mark II, then you’ll know the value of a carte that can keep upwardly with what you’re shooting. Luckily, the Lexar 64GB 3500x CFast two.0 menu is with you every pace of the style. With a write speed of upward to 445MB/s, this Lexar CFast menu can help you lot capture cinema-form video with ease – while a 525MB/s read speed will dramatically advance your mail-production workflow.

Jargon explained

The best retention cards demystified

It’s worth remembering that, despite the wide diverseness of memory card formats, you don’t actually need to worry near what type you should use. This is because this determination will have already been fabricated for y’all by the photographic camera manufacturers. This means that you’re not going to exist able to utilize a CFexpress bill of fare in a camera with a microSD card slot! However, it’s still worth knowing what the benefits and drawbacks of each memory card format are.

SD

While SD cards might immediately come to mind when you think of memory cards, standard SD (Secure Digital) cards are actually no longer manufactured. This is because the technology has moved onto SDHC and SDXC cards, which are readily available. If you have some old SD cards knocking around, you can still use them in newer cameras that have the SD carte du jour format, simply don’t expect the same functioning or capabilities offered by newer memory carte generations.

SDHC

As an upgrade to the standard SD card, SDHC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity) cards offering memory capacities between 4GB and 32GB. This makes them great for everyday use and entry-level users who don’t have large storage chapters needs.

SDXC

You’ll discover SDXC
(Secure Digital Extended Chapters) cards with capacities of 64GB and over. Designed for cameras with large sensors, lots of megapixels, 4K video and other information-intensive applications, serious photographers and videographers volition desire to choose an SDXC card over SDHC. However, don’t forget to check the read and write speeds to ensure you lot get the performance you need. To get a better agreement of these, read our commodity on understanding everything written on your memory card
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microSDHC and microSDXC

microSDHC and microSDXC cards will offer a similar operation to their larger SDHC and SDXC siblings. However, they’re around a tertiary of the size and can be used in the best camera phones
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and best action cameras
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CompactFlash

While CFast cards await similar in size and shape to CompactFlash cards, they’re not uniform (so don’t try to jam one in your old DSLR!). This new-generation loftier-speed retention card format will be found in professional person stills and video cameras.

XQD cards

We wouldn’t be surprised if yous hadn’t heard of XQ cards, as they’re a piffling more niche than the memory bill of fare formats listed to a higher place. At the moment, they’re only uniform with selected Sony camcorders and some Nikon DSLR cameras. It doesn’t look likely that more cameras will join this format in the future, as information technology’s at present been pretty much superseded by CFexpress. Even so, XQD cards offering not bad performance for high-speed shooting and video recording.

CFexpress
cards

Equally an evolution of the XQD format, CFexpress is ane of the all-time memory menu formats effectually. All the same, information technology’s currently only available with a limited number of high terminate cameras (mostly from Canon
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and Panasonic
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brought a somewhat confusing split into two unlike variants of CFexpress cards. Upward until this point, all CFexpress-compatible cameras used
CFexpress Type B
cards (yes, ‘B’ does come before ‘A’ in this case!). Meanwhile,
CFexpress Type A
cards are smaller and slower. Crucially, Blazon B and Type A cards
aren’t
interchangeable, then a camera such as the Nikon Z7 won’t be able to accept a CFexpress Type A card.

Read more:
How to sympathize everything written on your memory bill of fare
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