Sony A7 III is one of the best-selling cameras by the brand. Launched in 2018, the A7 III is a professional camera with two memory card slots so that dual recording can be done. But, to get the best out of your A7 III, you’ll need a fast and reliable SD card with it.
Now if you’re wondering, which SD card should be used with the Sony A7 III, we have the answer to all your questions. In this post, you’ll find the list of my seven top picks when it comes to SD cards for Sony A7 III.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Sony A7 III SD Card Specifications
The Sony A7 III features two card slots. It supports up to UHS-II rated SD cards. Therefore, in order to maximize the camera’s performance, you should get a UHS-II SD Card. Also, bear in mind that the card you choose should offer a well-rounded performance in terms of read and write speeds.
You can also use UHS-I cards with this camera, but they will work slower when compared to the UHS-II ones. The camera buffer will also take significantly more time and you might miss some important shots.
Recommended SD Card Specs for Sony A7 III:
- Card Type: SD Card
- Speed Class Rating: UHS-II
- Size: Up to 1TB
Remember that for making 4k videos you’ll need a fast SD card. Find what are the speed recommendations in the following article: Sony a7III SD Card Speed Recommendation for 4k Videos.
And for more details on SD card specs consult: Sony a7III SD Card: Recommended Size, Specs, Price.
Best SD Card for 4K Video Overall: Sony TOUGH-G Series
Recommended by Sony for its A7 III camera, the Sony TOUGH-G Series memory card is, arguably, the best SD Card out there that you can get for your Sony A7III.
Write Speed
The Sony Tough-G Series SD card offers a blazing fast 299 MB per second maximum write speed. The minimum guaranteed write speed that you get with this card is 90 MB per second, which is pretty great. But, what does this speed mean?
Well, higher write speeds mean faster card performance in terms of saving videos and photos. For example, this memory card is capable of clearing the Sony A7 III’s buffer in less than ten seconds if you have 60 shots of uncompressed raw photos. And, when it comes to videos, it lets the camera perform at an average of 147 MB per second. Such speeds are more than enough for shooting 4k/60 fps videos.
Overall, the card definitely performs superbly well when it comes to write speeds. Therefore, if you have the budget for it, then you should definitely get it.
Read Speed
Read speed is also an important factor to consider when buying an SD card for your camera. A good read speed means that you’ll be able to transfer photos and videos from your camera’s memory card to your computer at a fast pace. It’s really important for professional photographers who do post-processing of videos and don’t want to wait for hours just for transferring the videos.
The Sony TOUGH-G series memory card offers a pretty good write speed of up to 300 MB per second. When tested in the Sony A7 III, it took 2 minutes and 32 seconds to transfer a 20GB folder with photos. It means, in the real-world scenario, you get a transfer speed of 148 MB per second with this SD card.
Therefore, if you value your time and don’t want to waste it on slow file transfers, then you should definitely consider buying the Sony TOUGH-G series memory card.
Available SD Card Capacity
The Sony TOUGH-G is available in the following storage variants:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
Now, you must have noticed that the card doesn’t offer a lot of storage options, which is a bit disappointing. But, you can use two 128 GB memory cards for a larger storage capacity since the Sony A7 III has two SD card slots.
Why is Tough-G the best SD card for Sony A7 III?
The biggest and the most obvious reason for recommending Sony Tough-G with Sony A7 III camera is that both the products are produced by Sony. This makes them fully compatible.
Other reasons include the high performance and durability offered by this SD card. So, if you want high performance and full compatibility with your camera, and are not concerned about the price, then you should definitely go for the Tough-G SD card for your A7 III.
But, if you’re looking for cheaper options that offer decent performance too, then you should check out the list below.
Recommended SD Cards for Sony A7 III
Apart from the Sony TOUGH-G, here are a few more memory cards that perform well on your Sony A7 III, and are cheaper too.
#1: SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II
The SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD card offers 300 MB/s transfer speed and write speeds of up to 260 MB/s. It is available on the following storage options:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
#2: Lexar Professional 2000X UHS-II (300/260)
Lexar Professional UHS-II SD Card supports 4k videos and offers transfer speeds of up to 300 MB/s. It is available on the following storage capacity variants:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
#3: Sony SF-M UHS-II
The Sony SF-M UHS-II is another good SD card from Sony. It has a maximum transfer speed of 277 MB/s and a 150 MB/s write speed. You can get this SD card on the following storage capacities:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
#4: ProGrade V90 UHS-II
The ProGrade V90 memory card offers a read speed of up to 300 MB/s. It is rated at V90 and its write speeds are able to reach up to 250 MB/s. Following storage options are available for the ProGrade V90 UHS-II SD Card:
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
#5: Transcend SD 700S UHS-II
Transcend 700S provides a 285 MB/s read speed and a 180 MB/s maximum write speed. It’s available on the market in the following storage variants:
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
#6: Sony Expert Series UHS-I
The Sony Expert memory card is capable of reaching up to 94 MB/s when it comes to read speed. It offers a pretty decent 70 MB/s write speed. This SD card is available on the following storage capacities:
- 8 GB
- 16 GB
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Which SD Card Should You Choose?
As I’ve clearly mentioned above, the Sony a7 III works best with the Sony TOUGH-G Series SD card. This SD card is recommended by Sony for its camera. So, if the price is not a concern for you, and you want high performance and fully compatible SD card with your A7 III camera, then the Tough-G SD card is for you.
However, if you want a reasonably priced, fast-speed SD card that generally works work with all the devices, including the Sont A7 III, then the SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD card is a great choice too.
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Thanks for reading!
I hope this guide helped you learn about some of the best SD card options for your Sony A7 III camera. 🙂
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