The Best Sony A7 III SD Memory Cards

The Sony A7 III has two SD card slots. Both slots do not need to be used.

Slot 1 is lower and is compatible with UHS-II cards.

Slot 2 is higher, and can use UHS-I SD or Memory Stick PRO Duo memory cards.

A U3 or V30 card will be fast enough to record 4k, SAVC S 100Mbps. Faster UHS-II cards save time when transferring footage.

Sony has discontinued PRO Duo cards. The fastest are only capable of 60Mbps write speeds, which aren’t good enough for the highest quality video.

Sony A7 III Lens Recommendations

Sony A7 III SD Card Compatibility

Cards up to 2TB in capacity can be used in the Sony A7 III.

Larger, SDUC memory cards can’t be used in the Sony A7 III. They are too large. Trying to use one will cause an error.

• Secure Digital (SD) - 128MB to 2GB.
• Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) - 4GB to 32GB.
• Secure Digital eXtended Capacity (SDXC) - 64GB to 2TB.
• Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC) - 4TB to 128TB.

SD Card Speed Ratings

Peak transfer speeds is what is advertised on memory cards.

Continuous write speeds is what matters for recording video and burst shooting. If a card isn’t fast enough, video will stop recording.

Video Speed Rating

• V10 - 10MB/s
• V30 - 30MB/s
• V60 - 60MB/s
• V90 - 90MB/s

Detailed SD Card Association explanation.

Bits vs Bytes

The highest quality video the Sony A7 III can record requires 100Mbps.

Bits and bytes describe memory. There are 8 bits in a byte.

• MBps - Megabytes per second.
• Mbps - Megabits per second.

30 MBps = 240 Mbps

100 Mbps = 12.5 MBps

Speed Class Rating

A SD memory card is assigned a Class rating based on the continuous data write speed of the card. Class 10 is the highest rating, even though cards exist that are considerably faster.

Here are all of the Class ratings and the corresponding lowest read/write speeds:

• Class 2 - 2MB/s
• Class 4 - 4MB/s
• Class 6 - 6MB/s
• Class 8 - 8MB/s
• Class 10 - 10MB/s or faster

Practically every SD card worth choosing for the Sony A7 III will be a Class 10 memory card. In the time since the camera was released, SD cards have gotten a good deal faster.

Ultra High Speed (UHS)

The Ultra High Speed (UHS) bus comes in SDUC, SDXC, and SDHC cards. The UHS bus memory cards to have increased read and write speeds.

UHS Speed Class

• U1 - 10MB/s
• U3 - 30MB/s

Three separate specs exist. They are UHS-I, UHS-II, and UHS-III.

Look at the label to figure out the UHS rating of a SD memory card. If the card has UHS, a Roman numeral I, II, or III can be found on the front of the SD memory 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

Sony A7 III PRO Duo Card Compatibility

The Sony A7 III may use a single PRO Duo or PRO-HG Duo memory cards. PRO-HG signifies the memory card may have read speeds up to 50MB/s and a 15MB/s minimum write speed.

PRO Duo memory cards are often more expensive than an SD card. Considering the price difference, I will not recommend purchasing a PRO Duo card for use in a A7 III.

Image Capacity

Below is an approximate estimation of how many large JPEG images you can expect to store on each size of SD card.

• 16GB - 4,640 images
• 32GB - 9,280 images
• 64GB - 18,560 images
• 128GB - 37,120 images
• 256GB - 74,240 images

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Recommended SD Cards

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDXC V60 UHS-II 128GB

• Record 6K and 4K UHD
• Quickly clear image buffer
• 280MB/s Transfer Speed

Lexar Professional SDXC V60 UHS-II 128GB

• Record 4k Video
• 256GB Capacity Available
• 250MB/s Transfer Speed

PNY EliteX-PRO60 SDXC V60 UHS-II 256GB

• Record 4k UHD Video
• 512GB Capacity Available
• 280MB/s Transfer Speed

SanDisk Ultra 64GB SD Card

• 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.

PNY Elite-X 128GB SD Card

• 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.

SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SD Card

• 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.