Sony A9II SD Memory Card Requirements

Nathaniel Stephan
May 31, 2025

Table of Contents

The Sony A9II uses SD memory cards. Both slots can use UHS-II cards with a maximum capacity of 2TB.

It was released in 2020. SD card have been improved since then.

Get a UHS-II card for 4k video or for continuous shooting at 20 fps.

Sony A9II Lens Recommendations

Sony A9II SD Card Compatibility

The Sony A9II is compatible with the SD, SDHC, and SDXC standards.

Each of those standards have different storage capacities and file systems.

Check to make sure the camera has the latest firmware.

The newest SDUC (Secure Digital Ultra Capacity) cards will not work with the A9II.

SD (Secure Digital) - 128MB to 2GB. (FAT12/16)
SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) - 4GB to 32GB. (FAT32)
SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) - 64GB to 2TB. (exFAT)
SDUC (Secure Digital Ultra Capacity) - 4TB to 128TB. (exFAT)

Ultra High Speed (UHS)

The Ultra High Speed bus (UHS) is available with SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC memory cards.

There are three different specifications that go up by maximum transfer speed.

Both card slots on the A9II are compatible with UHS-II. For 4k video or shooting at 20 fps, UHS-II cards will be needed.

UHS ratings are shown on a card label as a Roman number I, II, or III. Product listing will prominently display the rating.

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

Image Capacity

Here’s the approximate image capacity for high-quality JPEGs from the 24.2 megapixel sensor:

32GB - 4,240
64GB - 8,480
128GB - 16,960
256GB - 33,920
256GB - 67,840

Card Speed Class

Class rating is determined by sustained write speed. The rating will be shown as a number inside of a C on the label.

For example, as card that could write data at 5MB/s would get a Class 4 rating.

Class 10 card are likely much faster than 10MB/s. That’s why there are additional ratings for high resolution video.

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

Recommended SD Cards

Buy a UHS-II card because they are faster than UHS-I cards. That’s important for video and will save time when transferring images.

Any new card will be fast enough for photos and video. The video bit rate isn’t fast enough to require an expensive SD card.

Don’t pay for a super fast card. The A9II can’t write data that fast.

Don’t buy a UHS-II card. The A9II doesn’t have the hardware to take advantage of the extra speed. A V90 UHS-II card will just be a waste of money.

Don’t buy a used card. There is no way to find out how much life is left.

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