The Best SD Card For Sony A7iii

Let's be honest here - any digital artist's worst nightmare is losing their work. I can't tell you how many people I have talked to both personally and in groups/forums that ask how to recover data off a memory card.

You can say that it happens to the best of us - and it'll eventually happen to everyone. While this may be true - taking as many preventative measures as possible, is very important.

Look, everyone has a budget. I get it. There are very few out there that can throw around money and get the best of the best.

With that being said, if you find yourself debating whether to get sd cards that are larger versus ones that have been known to be more reliable... please, do yourself a favor and go with the ones that are more reliable.  Shortly, we will discuss the most reliable brands on the market today.

But before we get into that - let's discuss data rates and why they're so important (when it comes to SD cards for the A7iii).

Refer to the chart above if you're wondering what the Sony A7iii bitrates are.  Please note that there is a 4k 60Mb/s option as well. Not many people use it since it's lower in quality - but it can save you space on your card (allowing you to record for longer periods of time).

The reason bitrates are so important is actually pretty simple to understand.

I'm sure you can see why this would be so important.  Every card on the market doesn't write at the same speed or execute this process reliably over a long period of time.  Cards that are too slow tend to corrupt - as the card is being overloaded with data requests it can't keep up with.

Keep this topic in mind as we move on to the difference between MB, Mb, and MB (equally as important).

This is a topic that many people either don't know about or overlook altogether.  Most people I've talked to over the years assume that everything means MB/s (or Megabytes per second).  This is not true at all.

It should be noted that there's a major difference between each of these acronyms.  These differences are:

• Mb (or mbit) is a : Millibit
• Mb is a: Megabit
• MB is a: Megabyte

The conversion of each is pretty simple - but the size difference is vast.

This is quite a difference, wouldn't you say?

Simply put, you may only need a slower (or faster) card than you may have expected.

If you reference the bit-rate chart from above again, you'll notice that all of the rates are in Mb/s.  Again, that's Megabits per second.  

Seeing as there are 8 Mb per MB (and all SD cards are advertised and rated for MB/s) - you wouldn't need a card that's rated for 100 MB/s if you're shooting in 4k on the Sony A7iii.

If you do the math and divide 100 by 8 (100 Mb/s by 8 Mb per MB) - your requirement is 12.5 MB/s

• 100/8 = 12.5

The Sony A7iii writes (in 4k) at 12.5 MB/s (which is 100 Mb/s)

Note that every card on this list far exceeds the 12.5 MB/s write speeds.

Even though we just went over this briefly - take note of the image above.  This is what the menu looks like when you're changing bitrates of different resolutions within the A7iii.

The M after the number represents Mb/s (Mbps). The number before the p represents frames per second (fps).  So, each option from the image above would equate to:

• 60fps/50Mbps
• 60fps/30Mbps
• 30fps/50Mbps
• 30fps/16Mbps
• 24fps/50mbps
• 120fps/100Mbps

The MB/s requirement for each of the bitrates would be (again, divide to Mbps by 8)

• 50Mbps = 6.25 MB/s
• 30Mbps = 3.75 MB/s
• 16Mbps =  2 MB/s
• 100Mbps = 12.5 MB/s

I'm sure you get the drift at this point.  Understanding the difference is very important.

If you didn't know already, there's a size limit on both memory card slots.

That limit is 256GB.

So, the max each slot can have is 256GB - for a total of 256GB (if mirroring) or 512GB (if running them separately).

Before we move into the cards themselves - I thought it would be fitting to let you know that either slot isn't identical.

• Card slot 1 is the fastest slot that supports UHS-II cards.
• Card slot 2 only supports UHS I sd cards.

I'm sure Sony had their reasoning behind only supporting UHS-II in slot 1 (probably cost) - but it would have been nice to have both slots UHS-II.

I'm sure Sony had their reasoning behind only supporting UHS-II in slot 1 (probably cost) - but it would have been nice to have both slots UHS-II.

Slot one is backward compatible with UHS I (both slots can use UHS I cards)

So, keep that in mind going forward. If you plan on getting the fastest card - consider getting the fastest UHS I card (I'll explain here in a minute when you should consider it).

The main difference between the two types of cards is not physical size, size of the card (memory), or even reliability...

It comes down to write speed.

This is also why a UHS-II card will not work in card slot 2 on a Sony A7 iii. The slot itself isn't built to read/write to the second row of pins (that are seen on a UHS-II card).

This will allow you to transfer 3x+ faster than with a UHS-I.

Note: General consensus across all cameras and sd cards are that UHS I is perfect for those taking stills and UHS-II cards are geared for those taking video (and need to offload large files quickly). This makes sense but isn't something you have to follow. UHS I cards do just fine with video too, so don't worry.

It's pretty simple really (and for you to decide)... If you're running dual cards and mirroring them both - the speed at what the camera writes will be hindered by card slot 2.

Your slowest card will be your fastest card, in theory.

Now, there is nothing wrong with purchasing one of each type for the added benefit of high transfer speeds once you get home and off-load...but having identical cards across the board (especially when mirroring), just seems right to me.

Now, let's talk about the brands first before we move into the cards themselves. We believe building trust in a brand first, is just as important as receiving a wonderful product.

So, the way that we've come up with the most reliable/reputable sd card brands is:

• The companies reputation (as a whole)
• Reviews on a wide variety of memory cards that they offer
• Personal experience (4+ years in the camera industry - 10+ years in the memory card industry)

With that being said - these are the most reliable brands on the market today.

• Sandisk
• Prograde
• Lexar
• Sony

I thought it would only be fitting to include brands to completely stay away from. This is due to negative reviews, poor craftsmanship, terrible customer service, and very poor reliability.

The brands to completely avoid:

• Transcend
• PNY
• All 'off-brands' on amazon

Now that you understand a bit more about the card slots, different type of cards, and their benefits... let's move on to the cards themselves. Like mentioned earlier in the post - We're recommending 5 different memory cards for your Sony A7 iii - it's totally up to your needs about which one is best for you and your demands.

Let's get going!

First off, I personally own 10 (or more) of these.

I've never had a single one fail.

This is a UHS I card.

Transfer speeds, once I bring them back home, are pretty decent. Using an external card reader - I can transfer 1000 RAW files (about 50GB) in about 6 minutes. That comes out to 8.33GB per minute or 139 MB/s.

I know the card claims 170MB/s - but, not every card is the same, and a margin of +/-20% isn't too bad at a $35 price point.

The reason I don't have the 256GB versions is that I would never need that amount of space. It would be a waste for me - and having a bunch of the same card allows me to stay more organized (swap cards for different shoots).

There are 64GB and 256GB versions as well.

Lexar is a solid brand. It's a shame they don't have the reputation that Sandisk does... but I get it, Sandisk is king and will probably remain that way for many many years to come.

The reason this card didn't make the top of the list is that I haven't had as much time to test and strain the card.

I've owned 4 of these for the last year and wrote about 7500 raw files to them (in total, not each).

But, I can say that you'll be more than covered for both photo and 4K video with this card (and it's cheaper than a Sandisk).

First off, this is a UHS-II card.

I recommend it because it's the most affordable UHS-II card on the market (that's actually reliable).

The reason for this recommendation is the transfer speed.

Also, it's highly recommended that you pickup a UHS-II card reader (if you don't have one already). You won't benefit from UHS-II speeds if you don't.

Here is a great affordable Sony card reader that will take advantage of the faster cards.

This is the fastest and most affordable card on this list (when comparing speed to price).

Yet, the smallest in size.

This is the trade-off.

Last but certainly not least is Prograde.

I have used prograde in Non-Sony cameras for 3+ years.

Never had a single one fail.

Read/Write speeds compared to the price is very reasonable.

Anti-counterfeit protection - they etch a unique serial number onto each of the cards. You can check this number through their website to make sure the card is authentic (you'd be surprised how many people sell fake SD cards of major brands).

Normally I would say that I would continue to update this article as time goes on to keep it fresh and to 'stay up with the times'... but seeing as the A7III's times about running out (not that it won't continue to be a great camera) - and UHS-I technology is going to be obsolete (one of the biggest drawbacks of the A7III)... this will probably be the last time I update this article.

But, you should have a much better idea now of what Sony's data rates are, what the difference between UHS-I and UHS-II are, and ultimately which card is going to work the best for you!

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us a line through our contact page or shoot us a message on Facebook or Instagram. We LOVE hearing from our readers!

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It's been fun! Until next time, be safe and keep learning and creating!