What is REALLY needed for memory cards and the A7iii

[MRTk]

Folks:

I'm generally a skeptic at heart. You don't believe me? No really, I am.

Now that my feeble attempt of humor is over, I'd like some factorial comments as they relate to memory card needs and the A7iii.

SDXC UHS-II Pro cards (specifically Sandisk) has the following specs:

• Max. Read Speed: 300 MB/s
• Max. Write Speed: 260 MB/s
• Min Write Speed: 30 MB/s

That sounds great but what is the real need of the camera? I know having a faster card will help when uploading photos--assuming my computer is fast enough to make good use of such a card. Well, my iMac isn't what it used to be. I've managed to keep a 2009 iMac alive and kicking. However, it likely won't even read at that speed. I digress.....

I would like to buy 64 or 128Gig cards for my new A7iii. While sure the SDX UHS-II cards are capable of writing 260MB/s, what is the camera, at its fastest, able to write to the card? I see no reason spending more cash on a card if the camera can't use that increased capability.

So let's assume I'm shooting 4K video. At what speed does the camera write to the card--max speed? I would assume matching a card's bandwidth (+10%) should be sufficient in terms of card capability to not hinder or slow down its write capabilities.

Interested in your thoughts.

 

[roger2013]

First, check WRITE speeds as what the sellers quote are typically the READ speeds which are generally faster. For some people read will matter, but if you are taking pictures and want to save, it is write speeds that are critical. I have a Lexar 150MB/s card UHS-II card and a Sandisk 95 MB/s UHS-I card, but reading the small print, not printed on the card itself, it turns out the Sandisk has a faster write speed -- 90MB/s compared with 75MB/s.

Can't comment on the A73, unfortunately, but I was wishing my A7R3 would write to the card a little faster, so I got a Sony 300/299 MB/s card. Maybe it is faster, but the difference is not obvious. So I suspect that to see the benefit, it's probably necessary to take long bursts or do high res video.

But this was just an impression, watching the screen change. No systematic test and no timer. But my guess is that for single shots, it may not be worth getting the very fastest cards until they fall in price. I wouldn't get a very slow card, but you can save a lot by getting one that is a bit slower.

 

[osv]

Folks:

I'm generally a skeptic at heart. You don't believe me? No really, I am.

Now that my feeble attempt of humor is over, I'd like some factorial comments as they relate to memory card needs and the A7iii.

SDXC UHS-II Pro cards (specifically Sandisk) has the following specs:

• Max. Read Speed: 300 MB/s
• Max. Write Speed: 260 MB/s
• Min Write Speed: 30 MB/s

That sounds great but what is the real need of the camera? I know having a faster card will help when uploading photos--assuming my computer is fast enough to make good use of such a card. Well, my iMac isn't what it used to be. I've managed to keep a 2009 iMac alive and kicking. However, it likely won't even read at that speed. I digress.....

it would read a card pretty fast if it had usb3 capability.

I would like to buy 64 or 128Gig cards for my new A7iii. While sure the SDX UHS-II cards are capable of writing 260MB/s, what is the camera, at its fastest, able to write to the card? I see no reason spending more cash on a card if the camera can't use that increased capability.

the general answer is that the 10fps of the a7iii will write and read from the faster card much quicker, which affects the overall functionality, like being able to chimp immediately after finishing a burst of shots.

So let's assume I'm shooting 4K video. At what speed does the camera write to the card--max speed? I would assume matching a card's bandwidth (+10%) should be sufficient in terms of card capability to not hinder or slow down its write capabilities.

sony tells you what card is needed to shoot 4k on their website.

--
dan

 

[Entropy512]

Folks:

I'm generally a skeptic at heart. You don't believe me? No really, I am.

Now that my feeble attempt of humor is over, I'd like some factorial comments as they relate to memory card needs and the A7iii.

SDXC UHS-II Pro cards (specifically Sandisk) has the following specs:

• Max. Read Speed: 300 MB/s
• Max. Write Speed: 260 MB/s
• Min Write Speed: 30 MB/s

That sounds great but what is the real need of the camera? I know having a faster card will help when uploading photos--assuming my computer is fast enough to make good use of such a card. Well, my iMac isn't what it used to be. I've managed to keep a 2009 iMac alive and kicking. However, it likely won't even read at that speed. I digress.....

I would like to buy 64 or 128Gig cards for my new A7iii. While sure the SDX UHS-II cards are capable of writing 260MB/s, what is the camera, at its fastest, able to write to the card? I see no reason spending more cash on a card if the camera can't use that increased capability.

So let's assume I'm shooting 4K video. At what speed does the camera write to the card--max speed? I would assume matching a card's bandwidth (+10%) should be sufficient in terms of card capability to not hinder or slow down its write capabilities.

Interested in your thoughts.

Even a UHS-I card is enough for 4k.

UHS-II becomes beneficial when clearing the buffer after a long 10FPS burst of RAWs.

 

[twomonger]

Folks:

I'm generally a skeptic at heart. You don't believe me? No really, I am.

Now that my feeble attempt of humor is over, I'd like some factorial comments as they relate to memory card needs and the A7iii.

SDXC UHS-II Pro cards (specifically Sandisk) has the following specs:

• Max. Read Speed: 300 MB/s
• Max. Write Speed: 260 MB/s
• Min Write Speed: 30 MB/s

That sounds great but what is the real need of the camera? I know having a faster card will help when uploading photos--assuming my computer is fast enough to make good use of such a card.

Interested in your thoughts.

While the fast read speeds help getting pics off the card faster, the real advantage, as others have pointed out, is the fast write speed.

Having a fast write speed frees up the camera faster after taking pictures to both review (chimp) and also taking more pictures by clearing the buffer. This is particularly helpful after a continuous burst, but very slow write speeds can make single shot pics slow to clear. The A7RII is infamous for locking up after taking only a few images.

Also, the max write speed is often an idealized limit. In practicality the speed is lower due to technical details of the card (random write speeds can be lower, card cannot sustain high write speeds over time, etc), and also the speed of the camera's SD interface is also a limit. For instance, the A7RII was capped out at 40MB/sec due to its card interface, no matter what card you use.

So if you can afford it, and the camera has a fast enough interface, you want a really fast card that can max out your camera's write speeds for as long as possible. That's why the D5 uses XQD cards with an insanely fast interface - to keep shooting.

Sony A9 SD Card Comparison UHS-I vs UHS-II and Recommended Memory Cards for Alpha 9 Mirrorless Digital Camera - Camera Memory Speed Comparison & Performance tests for SD and CF cards

Sony A9 test with 132 SD Cards UHS-I vs UHS-II write speed comparison with recommended memory cards for fastest continuous shooting speed.

www.cameramemoryspeed.com

My guess is the A7RIII and A7III use the same interface as the A9 listed above.

 

[DaFireMedic]

Even a UHS-I card is enough for 4k.

UHS-II becomes beneficial when clearing the buffer after a long 10FPS burst of RAWs.

While it won't answer all of the questions, I did a burst test 2 days ago on Hi+ with both a new Sony UHS-II high speed card (300mbps) and a Sony 95 mbps UHS-1 card, and shooting compressed RAW.

UHS-II - 128 shots

UHS-1 - 67 shots.

The UHS-II card was able to empty the buffer fast enough to extend the burst to almost twice as long as the UHS-I card. Based on what I was used to previously, I was pretty impressed at being able to hold the shutter button down for over 12 seconds before it started to slow. But I've never had to do that while actually shooting pictures, and I don't see myself needing it in the near future.

Unless you need the extended burst capability, the UHS-I card will meet every need for both still photos and video.

 

[Entropy512]

Even a UHS-I card is enough for 4k.

UHS-II becomes beneficial when clearing the buffer after a long 10FPS burst of RAWs.

While it won't answer all of the questions, I did a burst test 2 days ago on Hi+ with both a new Sony UHS-II high speed card (300mbps) and a Sony 95 mbps UHS-1 card, and shooting compressed RAW.

UHS-II - 128 shots

UHS-1 - 67 shots.

The UHS-II card was able to empty the buffer fast enough to extend the burst to almost twice as long as the UHS-I card. Based on what I was used to previously, I was pretty impressed at being able to hold the shutter button down for over 12 seconds before it started to slow. But I've never had to do that while actually shooting pictures, and I don't see myself needing it in the near future.

Unless you need the extended burst capability, the UHS-I card will meet every need for both still photos and video.

There's a potential benefit if you're doing something like my stacking-for-improved-DR-plus-motion-blur tricks. You do need SOME ND filter to keep below your memory card's write rate - so if you have a much faster card, you can use a weaker ND that lets in even more light.

 

[UneBoleeDAir]

Hi MRTk :
I don't know the writing speed of the camera but here is what I do know :
> 4K or 1080p@120fps videos won't be possible if you don't have an UHS-II memory card plugged in (these video modes can't be selected in menu, appearing in grey instead of white).
> I have a combo similar to what you are willing to have : a Lexar 1000x 128Go UHS-II + a SanDisk Extreme Pro 64Go UHS-I. They tend to work fine as you can see here (at 14:52) in Hi+ burst mode (with RAW+video on UHS-II and JPEG on UHS-I) with something like 130 pictures before starting to fill the buffer :



> I only say "tend" to work fine as I already experienced 2 bugs with the UHS-II not readable anymore by the camera after very demanding bursts. Card was still detected without any problem by the computer, so no loss, but the card would only be detected again by the camera after formating it via computer (as A7 III just showed an error message with the card, not letting you anything to do like going in menu and reformat... If the card is "stucked", everything is stucked and you have to remove it before doing anything with the camera).
> So now I have changed my recording preferences to RAW+JPEG on the UHS-I and video on UHS-II and I don't have experienced the problem anymore. I of course loose some buffer : in Hi+ burst I can "only" shoot something like 80 pictures in a row before the camera slows down.


Hope it helped ! ;-)

 

[Entropy512]

Hi MRTk :
I don't know the writing speed of the camera but here is what I do know :
> 4K or 1080p@120fps videos won't be possible if you don't have an UHS-II memory card plugged in (these video modes can't be selected in menu, appearing in grey instead of white).

Not true. I have a 128GB UHS-I card (no UHS-II cards) and 100 Mbit 4k is available in the A7III just like it was in the A6500 I took the card out of (yes, I did reformat it in the A7III just to be sure). 100 Mbit 1080p@120 is also available.

 

[ABW]

I though this was very useful.

The cards have to have a minimum threshold to work with recording 4K and the 'slower' cards do that so unless you need to shoot a lot of fast stuff and you need to clear that buffer a cheaper card should suffice.

 

[MRTk]

Hi MRTk :
I don't know the writing speed of the camera but here is what I do know :
> 4K or 1080p@120fps videos won't be possible if you don't have an UHS-II memory card plugged in (these video modes can't be selected in menu, appearing in grey instead of white).

Not true. I have a 128GB UHS-I card (no UHS-II cards) and 100 Mbit 4k is available in the A7III just like it was in the A6500 I took the card out of (yes, I did reformat it in the A7III just to be sure). 100 Mbit 1080p@120 is also available.

 

[MRTk]

I though this was very useful.

The cards have to have a minimum threshold to work with recording 4K and the 'slower' cards do that so unless you need to shoot a lot of fast stuff and you need to clear that buffer a cheaper card should suffice.

VERY helpful. Thx.

 

[UneBoleeDAir]

Hi MRTk :
I don't know the writing speed of the camera but here is what I do know :
> 4K or 1080p@120fps videos won't be possible if you don't have an UHS-II memory card plugged in (these video modes can't be selected in menu, appearing in grey instead of white).

Not true. I have a 128GB UHS-I card (no UHS-II cards) and 100 Mbit 4k is available in the A7III just like it was in the A6500 I took the card out of (yes, I did reformat it in the A7III just to be sure). 100 Mbit 1080p@120 is also available.

 

[Entropy512]

Hi MRTk :
I don't know the writing speed of the camera but here is what I do know :
> 4K or 1080p@120fps videos won't be possible if you don't have an UHS-II memory card plugged in (these video modes can't be selected in menu, appearing in grey instead of white).

Not true. I have a 128GB UHS-I card (no UHS-II cards) and 100 Mbit 4k is available in the A7III just like it was in the A6500 I took the card out of (yes, I did reformat it in the A7III just to be sure). 100 Mbit 1080p@120 is also available.

--
Context is key. If I have quoted someone else's post when replying, please do not reply to something I say without reading text that I have quoted, and understanding the reason the quote function exists.

Ho good to know, my UHS-I doesn't allow this. One question : do you put your UHS-I card in UHS-II slot (slot n°1) ? Maybe it is the trick !

Yes. I currently am not using the second card slot.

--
Context is key. If I have quoted someone else's post when replying, please do not reply to something I say without reading text that I have quoted, and understanding the reason the quote function exists.

 

[Jeffrey J Davis]

Even a UHS-I card is enough for 4k.

UHS-II becomes beneficial when clearing the buffer after a long 10FPS burst of RAWs.

While it won't answer all of the questions, I did a burst test 2 days ago on Hi+ with both a new Sony UHS-II high speed card (300mbps) and a Sony 95 mbps UHS-1 card, and shooting compressed RAW.

UHS-II - 128 shots

UHS-1 - 67 shots.

I've already bought and installed a 128GB UHS-II and 256GB UHS-I in my new A7, but thank you very much for this very practical real world test. The body does blaze out some quick sequences in H or H+.

 

[ironiconorironic]

I know it's old, but there's a lot of misinformation in this thread. Maybe this was changed in a firmware update but this is a fact at this time: You cannot recorded 4k 100mb/s video with a UHS-1 card. You will receive a warning telling you that you need a UHS-II. You can keep the setting, and record video, but it will not be as high quality as the setting it is on. Same for burst.

It has nothing to do with speed or the buffer, it's simply not allowed. Mine came with a UHS-I card that technically should be fast enough, and I read this thread thinking it would work. It doesn't.

 

[RobL]

I know it's old, but there's a lot of misinformation in this thread. Maybe this was changed in a firmware update but this is a fact at this time: You cannot recorded 4k 100mb/s video with a UHS-1 card. You will receive a warning telling you that you need a UHS-II. You can keep the setting, and record video, but it will not be as high quality as the setting it is on. Same for burst.

It has nothing to do with speed or the buffer, it's simply not allowed. Mine came with a UHS-I card that technically should be fast enough, and I read this thread thinking it would work. It doesn't.

I didn't read the rest of the thread but this is not true...at least not on the A7RIII. I am shooting with a Sandisk Extreme Plus MicroSDXC (with an adapter) in the UHS-I slot, with video setting at XAVCS 4K 24P 100. I'm getting no warning and the video looks fine. I've always shot with this card since owning this camera. I do want to get a UHS-II to clear buffer faster when shooting bursts, but not for 4k.

Here are the specs on this card:

• Up to 160MB/s read and 90MB/s write speeds for fast shooting and transfers*
• 4K UHD-ready with UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30)2

 

[DaFireMedic]

I know it's old, but there's a lot of misinformation in this thread. Maybe this was changed in a firmware update but this is a fact at this time: You cannot recorded 4k 100mb/s video with a UHS-1 card. You will receive a warning telling you that you need a UHS-II. You can keep the setting, and record video, but it will not be as high quality as the setting it is on. Same for burst.

It has nothing to do with speed or the buffer, it's simply not allowed. Mine came with a UHS-I card that technically should be fast enough, and I read this thread thinking it would work. It doesn't.

I didn't read the rest of the thread but this is not true...at least not on the A7RIII. I am shooting with a Sandisk Extreme Plus MicroSDXC (with an adapter) in the UHS-I slot, with video setting at XAVCS 4K 24P 100. I'm getting no warning and the video looks fine. I've always shot with this card since owning this camera.

I just tested it on my a7iii with UHS-I Sony card. I shot a test video at 30p 100 mbps 4K video to the UHS-I card and got no warning. It seemed to shoot fine.

I also pulled out the UHS-II card, leaving only the UHS-I card in Slot 2, set the a7iii to Continuous Hi+ and fired a burst till the buffer filled. The burst overran the buffer sooner than with the UHS-II card but I got no warning and it shot at 10 fps.

I wonder what’s causing ironic’s warning.