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Best Sony A7R SD Memory Cards

     1156 words  6 minutes 
Avoid problems or reduced performance in your Sony A7R by choosing the best memory card. You can choose between SD and PRO Duo, but one is more expensive.

Two types of memory cards are compatible with the Sony A7R. Sony PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, and XC-HG Duo can be used in in addition to SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards.

The A7R only has a single card slot. You’ll have to choose between a PRO Duo or SD card.

Sony is the owner of the PRO Duo format. SD cards have had a wider adoption that PRO Duo cards because SD memory cards are appreciably faster as well as more affordable.

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SanDisk Ultra 64GB SD Card
SanDisk Ultra 64GB SD Card
Check prices on: Amazon
  • 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.

SanDisk, Lexar, and PNY are brands that produce high-quality SD cards. The best SD cards I have used have been the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD cards.

You do not need to buy a card from SanDisk for your Sony ILCE-A7R. Look for cards with cool-sounding names. That will ensure you get fast read/write speeds, shock resistance, and other professional features.

I have not had errors with Lexar Professional or PNY Elite Performance cards.

The issues I have had with cards has been when inexpensive generic brands were used. Being cheap increases the possibility of corrupted data or card failure.

If you are looking to spend less, don’t buy a generic card. You will avoid problems by purchasing a professional-quality SD card with a smaller storage capacity.

Affiliate Advertising Disclosure

Outside the Shot is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase. I also participate in affiliate advertising programs with KEH and Adorama. More can be found on the Affiliate Discolsure page.

SanDisk Ultra 64GB SD Card
SanDisk Ultra 64GB SD Card
Check prices on: Amazon
  • 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
PNY Elite-X 128GB SD Card
Check prices on: Amazon
  • 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
SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SD Card
Check prices on: Amazon
  • 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.

SDXC, SDHC, and SD memory cards can be used with the Sony A7R. If you want to get the optimal performance, use a card.

The latest SDUC cards can’t be used in the A7R.

There are four different specs of Secure Digital (SD) cards. Newer memory specifications add more features that allows for greater storage space and increased read/write rates.

  • 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.

The speed rating of an SD card is determined by the sequential write and read speeds. The speed of a card is important for continuous shooting as well as video.

Slows cards can decrease the number of continuous frames the Sony A7R can capture. This is because the camera’s buffer is not able to write data to the card fast enough.

When recording video, a slow memory card can cause a sudden end to the recording. The video file might also be corrupted. If you intend to shoot video, it is critical the memory card you use meets the requirements of the camera.

Read speed is nice to have for file transfers to a computer or laptop. If you have cards that are full, a card with a fast read speed will cut down on the transfer time.

SD Card Speed Class
SD Card Speed Class

A SD card gets a Class rating based on the continuous data write speed of the memory card. Class 10 is the maximum rating, even though memory cards can be purchased that have a improved read/write speed.

Here you can see a list of the Class ratings and applicable lowest transfer rates:

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

Any card worth choosing for the Sony A7R will be a Class 10 SD card. In the time since the launch of the camera, Memory cards have gotten so much faster.

UHS-I Rating
UHS Rating

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

There are three different versions. They are UHS-I, UHS-II, and UHS-III.

Look at the front of the card to find the rating of a SD memory card. The presence of aRoman numeral I, II, or III on the front of the memory card, that will be the UHS rating of your 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

The Sony A7R is able to use a PRO-HG Duo or PRO Duo cards. PRO-HG signifies the memory card may have read speeds up to 50MB/s and a 15MB/s minimum write speed.

You will need to pay double the amount to buy a PRO Duo memory card than an equivalent SD memory card. Considering the price difference, I will not recommend purchasing a Sony PRO Duo memory card for use in a A7R.

SD Card Contacts
SD Card Contacts

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

That covers all of the key specifications you need to research about SD and PRO Duo cards.

Updated on 2022-10-12
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