One of the best selling cameras by Sony is the A7 III which was first introduced in 2018. Like most professional cameras, the A7 III has two memory card slots for dual recording. In fact, reliable SD cards are very useful to backup your work if you are a professional photographer or videographer.
But, which SD card should you use for your A7 III?
S0 if you are wondering what is the best sd card for sony A7 III, make sure to read this article until the end to find it out. You’ll find a review (speed analysis, price, performance, compatibility) of 7 recommended SD cards that perform well on Sony A7 III camera.
But now without further ado, let’s get started!
What SD card do you need for Sony A7III?
The Sony A7 features two card slots that support up to UHS-II memory cards. To maximize the camera’s performance it is advisable that you get a UHS-II SD Card. Keep in mind that you should also find a card with well-rounded performance in terms of reading and write speeds. Now, you can use UHS-I cards on the camera but it will perform slower compared to using UHS-II cards. It will take some time for the camera buffer to clear and you might miss some important shots.
What’s Sony A7III SD Card size limit?
There’s no need to worry about A7III SD card size’s limit because this camera supports 1TB memory cards, which should be the highest SD card size currently available these days. So, if you are going to buy an SD Card for your Sony A7 III you should be more concerned with the read and write speeds as this can affect your camera’s performance.
Best SD Card for 4k video: Sony TOUGH-G series
Sony also offers memory cards that go well on most of their cameras. The Sony TOUGH-G series memory card is the best SD Card out in the market that you could get for your Sony A7III.
Write Speed
The Sony tough series card has a blazing fast 299 MB per second maximum write speed with minimum write speeds of 90 MB per second. So, what does fast write speed mean?
Well, higher write speeds mean faster card performance in terms of saving videos and photos. To give you a better understanding, the Sony TOUGH-G memory card can clear the Sony A7 III’s buffer in less than ten seconds on 60 shots of uncompressed raw photos. Now, for recording videos the camera performs at an average of 147 MB per second. This is more than enough for 4k 60 frames per second videos.
In terms of write speed, the card can definitely perform well and if you have the budget for the card then you should definitely get the Sony TOUGH-G.
Read Speed
Read speeds are also important when buying an SD card for your camera. Faster read speeds can be beneficial when you are transferring photos and videos from your camera’s memory card to your computer. If you are a professional photographer that does post-processing on your footage then you don’t want to wait for hours just for transferring the videos and miss important deadlines.
In this case, the Sony THOUG-G series memory card has a write speed of up to 300 MB per second. But, how does that translate in real-world performance?
On a test transfer of a 20GB folder with photos, the Sony TOUGH-G had an average transfer speed of 148 MB per second and the file transfer finished after 2 minutes and 32 seconds.
So, if you value your time and you don’t want to waste it on slow file transfers then you should definitely consider buying the Sony TOUGH-G series memory card.
Available SD Card Capacity
In terms of storage options, you can get the Sony TOUGH-G on the following storage variants:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
Although the card doesn’t offer a lot of storage options, you can use two 128 GB memory cards for bigger storage capacity since the Sony A7 III features two SD card slots.
Why is it the best SD card for Sony A7 III?
Well, the obvious answer to this is that the card is also produced by Sony. So they are fully compatible.
Another reason is that the Sony TOUGH-G series memory card simply offers a high performance and durability. If you are someone who is after performance and not worried about the card’s price then you should get the Sony TOUGH-G series. The card would work well on your Sony A7 III and you will have the peace of mind that this card will handle any shooting modes on your camera.
Now, for users who are looking for cheaper options that still offer decent performance and would be able to handle most of the camera’s shooting modes then you should check out our list below.
Recommended SD Cards for Sony A7 III
Since the Sony TOUGH-G can get a little expensive, we listed a few more memory cards that are cheaper and still perform well on your Sony A7 III.
#1: SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II
The SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II model packs a 300 MB per second transfer speed and write speeds of up to 260 MB per second. You can get the card on the following storage options:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
#2: Lexar Professional 2000X UHS-II (300/260)
This card offers support for 4k videos and transfer speeds of up to 300 MB per second. The Lexar Professional 2000X UHS-II is available on the following storage variants:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
#3: Sony SF-M UHS-II
Another card from sony is the SF-M UHS-II, the card has a maximum transfer speed of 277 MB per second and a decent 150 MB per second write speed. It is offered on the following storage capacity:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
#4: ProGrade V90 UHS-II
The ProGrade V90 memory card has a read speed of up to 300 MB per second. It is rated at V90 with write speeds able to reach up to 250 MB per second. It is available on the following storage options:
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
#5: Transcend SD 700S UHS-II
Transcend 700S features a 285 MB per second read speed and a 180 MB per second maximum write speed. You can get the Transcend 700S on the following storage variants:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
#6: Sony Expert Series UHS-I
The Sony Expert memory card can reach up to 94 MB per second read speed. It also features a 70 MB per second write speed. The card is available on the following storage capacity:
- 8 GB
- 16 GB
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
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