Best Sony A7S SD Memory Cards
The Sony A7S is able to use 2 different kinds of memory cards. Sony PRO Duo, PRO-HG Duo, and XC-HG Duo are compatible with as well as SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards.
Only just one card can be in the camera at a time. You will need to make a decision between an SD or PRO Duo memory card.
PRO Duo memory cards are a proprietary card format held by Sony. SD cards have had a wider adoption that PRO Duo cards because SD cards are often faster and more affordable.
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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
SanDisk, Lexar, and PNY are brands that produce the best SD cards. The best SD cards I have used have been SanDisk Extreme Pro cards.
You do not need to buy a card from SanDisk for your Sony ILCE-A7S. Look for cards with cool-sounding names. That will mean you get fast transfer speeds, water resistance, and other professional features.
I have not had errors with Lexar Professional or PNY Elite Performance cards.
When I have encountered problems with cards has been when I have used inexpensive no name brands. Being cheap increases the chance of card failure or data corruption.
If you want to save money, don’t buy a cheap card. You will avoid problems by purchasing a high-quality card with a smaller storage capacity.
Recommended SD Cards
SanDisk Ultra 64GB SD Card
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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.
- 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.
Sony A7S SD Card Compatibility
SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards are usable with the Sony A7S. Use a SD memory card to get the optimal performance from the A7S.
The brand new SDUC cards can’t be used in the A7S.
There are four different types of Secure Digital (SD) cards. New memory specifications add tech that provides for more storage capacity as well as greatly improve data transfer 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.
SD Card Speed
Speed ratings of an SD card is based on the sequential read and write speeds. SD memory card file write speed is very important for clearing the camera buffer for continuous shooting and recording video.
A slow SD card can cause a decrease in the number of continuous photos the Sony A7S can capture. This is because the buffer in the camera is not able to write to the SD card fast enough.
With video, a slow SD card can cause recording to end. The video file might also be corrupted. If you are going to capture video, it is critical the SD card you use meets the required minimum continuous write speed for video.
Card read speed is important for transferring files to a computer. If you are filling up cards with images or video, a card with a fast read speed will decrease the transfer time.
Speed Class Rating
A memory card is given a Class rating based on the sustained data write speed of the card. Class 10 is the best rating, even though SD memory cards are available that have a higher transfer rate.
Here you can see a list of the Class ratings and their 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
Any SD memory card worth picking out for the Sony A7S will be a Class 10 card. In the short time since the camera was released, Memory cards have gotten so much faster.
Ultra High Speed (UHS)
The Ultra High Speed (UHS) bus comes in SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC cards. UHS cards to have increased read and write speeds.
Three different specifications exist. They are UHS-I, UHS-II, and UHS-III.
To figure out the rating of a card, look at the front of the card. If the memory card has UHS, a Roman numeral I, II, or III can be seen 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 A7S PRO Duo Card Compatibility
One PRO-HG Duo or PRO Duo memory cards can be used in the Sony A7S. 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 get a hold of a Sony PRO Duo card than an equal SD card. I would not recommend purchasing a PRO Duo memory card to use with a A7S due to the total price difference.
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
Related Cameras
Finally you understand everything about PRO Duo and SD cards.