SD card of choice for A7(ii)?

I have a couple of Class 10 30MB and 45MB/sec cards that perform fairly reliably in my RX1 but seem to be less dependable in the A7ii. What cards have you had the best results with?

Also, do you reformat the card every time you empty it? I've had some trouble with the database files getting corrupted and wonder if I should get into the habit of wiping it clean every time.

Appreciate your feedback!

I was gonna list all the cards I've used in my A7ii, but it was easier to just take a photo. I've never had any issues at all, and I regularly delete and format. I used to format all the time, then started just using the delete multiple files option since its much quicker.

I had the database error only one time, but that happened when I took the card out of my A7, and put it in the A7ii.

Boosted240 said:

I was gonna list all the cards I've used in my A7ii, but it was easier to just take a photo. I've never had any issues at all, and I regularly delete and format. I used to format all the time, then started just using the delete multiple files option since its much quicker.

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Gotcha. Thanks! Looks like it might just be time for a new card.

My wife and I use only sandisk extreme, lexar or on my a7s the sony high speed. With over 100k+ of pictures taken in various camera plus camcorders we've found the sandisk to be our favorite. They are reliable and take a beating (washing machine and drier)

I've used fuji and pny memory cards but not as reliable as the sandisk or lexar. The jury is still out on the sony's, just got those 3 months ago so haven't had enough time to really get a feel for them.

Tips for reducing the chances of errors. Buy three good cards and rotate them every time you offload. Format the card from inside the camera menu, don't do it from a computer. Lost 2 cards that way and lots of pictures. Use a usb 3.0 card reader, copy the files over (we use lightroom) then immediately eject the card once the copy is done. Once you confirm your images are where they need to be put the card back into the camera then do a menu format or sometimes it's called initialize.

Anytime you put a card to use in your camera that was in another camera format first before use. Keep the cards cool. Don't use micro SD cards with Sd card adapters in cameras that use SD this can/will cause the camera to not to be able to use the card.

Following those guidelines we haven't had any serious failures.

Also don't forget if you want to be able to use the new XAVCS codec, you'll *need* a 64GB card.

Hobronto said:

Also, do you reformat the card every time you empty it? I've had some trouble with the database files getting corrupted and wonder if I should get into the habit of wiping it clean every time.

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I'm using a Samsung 32GB Class 10 MicroSD and I reformat every time. I don't know why Sony thinks they need a database on the SD, but simply moving the pictures to the HD leaves the camera thinking there are empty files on the SD. The only way to get rid of that, is to reformat the SD. Maybe the Sony tools for Window or Mac do a cleanup, but I'm using mostly Linux...

Hobronto said:

I have a couple of Class 10 30MB and 45MB/sec cards that perform fairly reliably in my RX1 but seem to be less dependable in the A7ii. What cards have you had the best results with?

Also, do you reformat the card every time you empty it? I've had some trouble with the database files getting corrupted and wonder if I should get into the habit of wiping it clean every time.

Appreciate your feedback!

--
Chris

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I use a ScanDisk 64GB 45MB/s Extreme SD XC 1. I also have a 32 GB ScanDisk 80MB/s Extreme SDHC UHS 1. Both are class 10.

I use relatively high capacity cards so that I can leave the rather fiddly SD card permanently in the camera and transfer images to my PC wirelessly.

The A7II has, in addition to the two memory positions on the Main Dial, 4 extra memories that are stored on the SD card. These very useful camera setting memories are lost if you format the card.

So I delete my images from the SD card using the "by date" command from the menu. No problems so far.