Which SD Memory Card Do You Need for Your Digital Camera? (2024)

FAQs

Which SD Memory Card Do You Need for Your Digital Camera? ›

Both SDXC V60 and SDXC V90 cards are the fastest and best SD card options for photographers, as they are fast at storing your images and allow bursting photos without filling the camera's buffer. Plus, with faster memory cards, you can spend your time shooting and editing and not waiting for your images to copy.

SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity).

These cards are widely compatible with most devices supporting micro SD cards and are commonly used in digital cameras, gaming consoles and older smartphones. They may not be suitable for devices requiring larger storage capacities.

The important factors in choosing a memory card are speed, capacity and the type of device you're using it in. Having the most capacity at an affordable price is ideal but it's also important to have a memory card that has a fast enough write speed to capture all your footage without any errors.

SD cards are universal, which means they'll fit any camera brand, and are chosen primarily for their capacity, which is between 32GB and 1TB, and their read/write speeds. Compact flash memory cards, which are also known as CF cards, are typically for higher-end digital cameras, including some DSLRs and camcorders.

Compatibility. Memory cards come in various shapes and sizes, and different cameras use different memory cards. Hence, before all else, you have to know what type of memory cards are compatible with your camera. You can usually find this information in the user's manual or on the manufacturer's website.

For frequent photography with moderate resolution images, 32GB-64GB cards offer a good balance. For high-resolution photos and occasional burst shooting, consider 128GB-256GB cards. Professionals capturing high-resolution images and high-frame-rate videos might require 512GB or even 1TB cards.

128 GB Memory Card Capacity

Starting from 128 GB memory cards and upwards, there will rarely be any worry about storage space running out mid-work. A 128 GB memory card can handle as many as 13,104 pictures in JPEG format.

What memory cards are generally used in digital cameras? ›

SD cards, short for Secure Digital cards, are one of the most widely used types of memory cards. They come in different sizes, such as the standard SD, miniSD, and microSD. SD cards are commonly used in digital cameras, smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices to expand their storage capacity.

Some cameras apply higher compression ratios that others. Card capacities will be significantly higher when lower resolution/quality settings are used. Photographers who use DSLR cameras will find they need higher storage capacity – especially if they shoot raw files. For this reason, we recommend at least a 1GB card.

The primary storage of a digital camera, which is usually a memory card, has limited capacity and can quickly fill up with photos and videos. Secondary storage, such as an external hard drive or cloud storage, provides additional space for storing photos and videos.

If you're shooting HD-resolution video, your memory card should be at least a Class 10, U1, or V10—all of these have a minimum sustained speed of 10 MB/s. If you're shooting 4K-resolution video, your memory card should be at least U3 or V30.

The most optimal SD card capacity for the vast majority of photographers who shoot on multiple cards tends to be either 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB. That said, filmmakers who shoot high-bitrate 4K, 6K, or even 8K videos should consider cards with larger capacity.

exFAT is the newer format and doesn't have a size limit. This makes it the better choice for use with cameras. However, not all devices support exFAT. So, if you're using an SD card with a device that doesn't support exFAT, you'll need to format it as FAT32.

The most important difference between SDHC and SDXC cards is the storage capacity. SDHC cards are microSD cards with at most 32GB, while SDXC card have more than 32GB storage capacity. You can mainly use a SDHC card to store media in Full HD quality and a SDXC card for 4K images or large bulks.