Best Nikon D5300 SD Memory Card
The Nikon D5300 can use SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards. Continuous shooting and video need SD cards with fast write speeds.
You can mess up the functionality of your camera by using the wrong card.
Don’t care about the tech specs? Listed below is my suggestion on the SD card to use with your Nikon D5300:
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- UHS-I, U1, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 10MB/s write speeds.
- Excellent choice for photos.
- Capable of recording Full HD (1920x1080) Video.
- Inexpensive with more than good enough performance.
- Larger capacities are available for a reasonable price.
Best SD Cards
Memory cards have come way down in price the time since the introduction of the Nikon D5300.
With the price range being quite low, it doesn’t make sense to spend money on anything other than a professional-level SD card.
SanDisk Extreme Pro, Lexar Professional, and PNY Elite Performance cards have superb speed and build quality. I have under no circumstances endured unusable data or a card physically fail with any of those memory cards.
Every trouble I have had has been when using no-name unbranded memory cards. Trying to save around a dollar is not worthwhile if your D5300 is not going to operate in the right way.
If you want to reduce the cost, purchase a lower storage capacity SD card from a quality company. By doing this, you’ll not have to be concerned about the photographs stored on the card.
Recommended SD Cards
- UHS-I, U1, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 10MB/s write speeds.
- Excellent choice for photos.
- Capable of recording Full HD (1920x1080) Video.
- Inexpensive with more than good enough performance.
- Larger capacities are available for a reasonable price.
- UHS-I, U3, V30, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 30MB/s write speeds.
- Good for burst shooting photos and recording 4K video.
- Larger capacity cards are available.
- Reliable & Durable: Magnet Proof, Shock Proof, Temperature Proof, Waterproof.
- Comparatively expensive for faster read speeds.
- UHS-I, U3, V30, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 30MB/s write speeds.
- Only makes sense for professional use or if you need the largest storage capacity available.
- Temperature-proof, waterproof, shock-proof, and X-ray-proof.
Nikon D5300 SD Card Compatibility
You are limited to using SDXC, SDHC, and SD cards with the Nikon D5300. Make sure you have the most recently released firmware installed on your camera for the best functionality.
The newest SDUC (Secure Digital Ultra Capacity) cards, are unable to be used in the D5300.
You should understand the 4 different types of Secure Digital (SD) cards that can be bought. You can identify them according to their capacity.
- SD (Secure Digital) - 128MB to 2GB.
- SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) - 4GB to 32GB.
- SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) - 64GB to 2TB.
- SDUC (Secure Digital Ultra Capacity) - 4TB to 128TB.
Image Capacity
The following is a quick approximation of the number of max-quality JPEGs pictures you should expect to save on a SD memory card:
- 16GB - 4,640 images
- 32GB - 9,280 images
- 64GB - 18,560 images
- 128GB - 37,120 images
Speed, Class, & UHS Ratings
Card Speed
Speed ratings of an SD memory card is classified by the sequential write and read speeds of the card. SD card speed is important for video as well as continuous shooting.
A slow card can cause a reduction in the number of continuous photos the Nikon D5300 can capture. This is because the camera’s buffer will not be able to write data to the SD card quickly enough.
With video, a slow SD card can cause recording to end. The video file could also end up being corrupted. If you intend to capture video, it is critical the SD card you use meets the required minimum write speed for video.
Card read speed is nice to have for file transfers to a computer or laptop. If you have cards that are full, a memory card with a fast read speed will cut down on the amount of time it takes the transfer to complete.
Speed Class Rating
The sustained write speed of a card is the factor that determines the Class rating. SD cards that have a write speed of at least 10MB/s are labeled as Class 10.
- Class 2 - 2MB/s
- Class 4 - 4MB/s
- Class 6 - 6MB/s
- Class 8 - 8MB/s
- Class 10 - 10MB/s or faster
Every brand of SD memory card that you can find today will receive a Class 10 rating. To locate the class rating of a memory card, search for a number inside of a C on the sticker.
Ultra High Speed (UHS)
The Ultra High Speed bus (UHS) is built into SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC memory cards. UHS allows offers a way to increase data transfer rates.
Three separate specifications exist. They are UHS-I, UHS-II, and UHS-III.
To find the UHS rating of a card, look at the label. If the memory card has UHS, a Roman numeral I, II, or III can be seen on the front of the card.
- UHS-I - Maximum transfer rate of 104 MB/s
- UHS-II - Maximum transfer rate of 312 MB/s
- UHS-III - Maximum transfer rate of 624 MB/s
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