11 Best Memory Cards for DSLRs

Memory Cards come in all shapes and sizes, with different writing speeds, formats, and brands that offer complementary apps that help you manage the photographs and videos captured on your DSLR camera.

It’s essential to put some consideration in which memory card would be best for you. After all, skimping out on the quality of your memory card is generally not a good idea as you could run into some problems down the line. It could make you wish that you bought something faster, more reliable, and can handle enough of your photographs and videos.

However, it’s equally important to purchase a memory card that suits your needs as a photographer, whether you’re a beginner, amateur, or professional.

If you’re looking for the best memory card for your brand new DSLR camera or looking for something better to replace your old memory card, this list is just for you.

1. KINGSTON CANVAS SELECT 64GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $12

The Kingston Canvas is a great starter card for beginners in the photography world or those wanting an affordable option to handle their holiday moments with. It offers storage sizes from 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and up to a whopping 512GB. Its write speed is at a decent 10MB/s with an even faster read speed of 80MB/s, about 8x more quickly than traditional Class 10 SD cards.

These features make it well-suited for taking high-resolution photos and capturing videos in full HD. It is also built and tested to withstand harsh environments. This makes it a reliable option for those looking to capture their moments in the great outdoors, whether on vacation or for nature photography work. The product also comes in a microSD package for cameras smaller than your DSLR.

Overall, the Kingston Canvas is the best choice if you are on a budget or looking to begin your journey in the world of photography. It’s a decent all-rounder with great memory size options at good speeds sold at a friendly price. For those looking for a bit more, the next card on the list may just suit your needs.

2. KINGSTON CANVAS GO! 128GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $26

An action upgrade to the Kingston Canvas Select, the Kingston Canvas Go! is designed for capturing those perfect action shots for aspiring filmmakers and capturing those intense moments during your adventures in the great outdoors or during your dives beneath the waves.

It boasts a write speed of up to 45MB/s. It offers storage sizes from 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, up to a huge 512GB, making the Canvas Go! an excellent choice for those looking to take cinema-quality 4K videos at extended lengths. This card is also made for movement, built and tested to withstand harsh environments, and capture the moments worth capturing in crisp UHD 4K video quality.

This card is an excellent upgrade to the Canvas Select and the best choice for those looking to capture video on a budget.

3. PNY HIGH-PERFORMANCE 64GB FLASH MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $15

The PNY High-Performance SD Flash memory card offers an excellent solution for enthusiast photographers and videographers.These high-performance cards provide ample storage for your photographs and videos as it has up to 128GB of reliable memory at a fair price.

With UHS-I U1 technology, the speeds of this card make it well-suited for full HD photography and full HD videography. And your workflow would be a breeze as its read speeds can go as fast as 100MB/s when it comes to transferring your data into your computer.

This product is a great mid-tier alternative to the choices listed here and can be the best memory card just for you.

4. PNY ELITE-X 128GB FLASH MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $19

The PNY Elite-X SD Flash memory card is a professional upgrade to the high-performance variant. This card offers the perfect solution for enthusiast photographers and videographers wanting to step up their game, and an excellent choice for professionals wanting to make the most of their time.

These super high-performance cards provide ample storage for your photographs and videos as it has up to 128GB of reliable memory. With UHS-I U3 technology, the speeds of this card go even faster, reliably capturing for full HD photographs, 1080p HD and even 4K UHD videography. And your workflow would be a breeze as its read speeds can go as fast as 100MB/s when it comes to transferring your data into your computer or to your other devices.

This product is an even better choice offered by PNY and is undoubtedly a card worth considering. Its storage capacity, speeds, and price make the Elite-X a contender for the best memory card for your DSLR camera.

5. SANDISK EXTREME 256GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $79

A great memory card for amateur photographers and cinematographers alike, the SanDisk Extreme offers up to 256GB of memory storage for their DSLR camera. This card comes with write speeds of up to 70MB/s to match that large storage capacity. It can handle the quick storage of your images in both high resolution Raw and JPEG image files with read speeds that can go even faster of up to 150MB/s.

These features also make this memory card an all-around star for high-resolution photography and capturing videos in both full 1080p HD and 4K UHD. This card also comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB variants. It is recommended to use this card along with a card reader from SanDisk in order to ensure optimum transfer speeds of your images, but also to prevent any compatibility issues. Purchasing this product also offers the RescuePRO Deluxe 2, SanDisk’s proprietary data recovery software for restoring accidentally deleted images.

Overall, this memory card is an excellent choice, especially those with bigger budgets and bigger aspirations, along with software to make sure you get the most out of this memory card.

6. SANDISK EXTREME PRO 1TB HIGH CAPACITY MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $395

As its name suggests, the Extreme PRO is for the professionals wanting a bit more from their SanDisk Extreme memory cards. It is also for enthusiast photographers who want a great all-around choice to last them a long time while taking up their photography to the next level.

Its compact package boasts an impressive 1TB of memory storage space that can reach faster shooting speeds of up to 90MB/s. This makes it perfect for sequential burst mode photography as it can handle the quick storage of your images in both JPEG and Raw files at high resolutions. Its transfer speeds can go even faster of up to 170MB/s, speeding up the workflows of both enthusiasts and professionals alike.

These features also make this memory card more than suited for capturing videos in full HD and cinema-like 4K UHD. This card also comes in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB variants. Overall, this memory card is a great upgrade to the SanDisk Extreme. It’s an excellent and reliable choice for both amateurs and pros and a top contender for the best memory card for your DSLR camera.

7. LEXAR PROFESSIONAL 633X 512GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $79

Lexar is a favorite for photography enthusiasts and professionals alike and still has memory cards on offer to keep its competition on its toes. The Professional 633X features read and write speeds as fast as 95MB/s. You will be able to put it to good use with up to 1TB of memory storage for an expansive collection of high-resolution images, and lengthy videos shot at Full HD 1080p and 4K UHD.

This makes it the cream of the crop for SD memory cards, a designer choice for those looking to make good use of their DSLR cameras. The Professional 633X also comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB sizes. It also comes with an SD UHS-II reader for high-speed file transfer from card to computer. This greatly accelerates your workflow with no risk of the data within the card getting lost.

8. LEXAR PROFESSIONAL 2000X 128GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $179

For those looking for something a lot faster, Lexar offers the Professional 2000X UHS-II, which features read and write speeds at a blistering 300MB/s. This memory card reliably outperforms its competition when it comes to boosting workflows.

Its speed can be put to good use with up to 128GB of memory storage. These features make it more than suited for capturing Raw high-resolution images, full HD (1920 x 1080), 4K UHD (3840 x 2160), and even 3D video. The Lexar Professional 2000X also comes in 32GB and 64GB sizes and comes with an SD UHS-II reader, just like the Professional 633X. This card also features backward compatibility, making it more than okay to use with UHS-I devices.

Though this card may not boast the most massive memory storage, it may just be the fastest among its competition, and its speed may make it the best memory card for you.

9. PROGRADE 128GB SD CARD V90 MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $179

The ProGrade v90 is a specialist choice for professional vloggers, filmmakers, photographers, and content creators. After all, this memory card is designed to help you work on your business at a professional level. With the growing market for online streaming content, anyone with a DSLR camera can start their channel and be like a pro, especially with the help of this memory card.

It’s super-fast 300MB/s read speed, and 250MB/s write speed makes it suited for the turbo-boosting your workflows. It will surely come in handy during post-production with Full HD 1080p or even 4K UHD stutter-free resolutions that you can save on the ProGrade v90. This card offers 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB sizes so you can store tens of thousands of high-res photographs and hours upon hours of high-res videos for your and your audience’s viewing pleasure.

Though this company may not be as big as the industry giants, their card certainly packs a serious punch. It wouldn’t be wise not to consider this professional-grade storage card for your camera.

10. SONY M SERIES 128GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $65

Sony’s answer to the fast UHS-II cards in the market, the M series offers a respectable 277MB/s read speed, and 150MB/s write speed for professionals and advanced hobbyists alike.

This small card can store up to 256GB of memory for all your full HD photographs, 1080p HD videos, and 4K UHD videos that you can be sure would be reliably stored. Its write speed makes it ideal for high-quality video capture and sequential burst photo capture. This feature is also a big plus, especially for those who want to capture their exciting adventures on camera.

This card also comes in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB variants. Coupled with Sony’s proprietary File Rescue software, it ensures that your data is more than secure ever. You will also have the capability to rescue it if ever something happens with the memory card. Considering its limited warranty, however, you can still rely on the Sony M for all your memory card needs.

11. SONY TOUGH-G SERIES 128GB MEMORY CARD

Retail Price: $209

Not to be outdone by the competition, Sony offers a special kind of SD card that’s useful for those needing more reliable SD cards. The TOUGH-G is a memory card that’s 18 times stronger than the SD standard. It’s specialized to be the toughest and most robust option in the market, being the world’s first one-piece molded memory card.

It has the highest level of bend strength, able to withstand 180 Newtons of force. Its monolithic structure makes it completely dustproof and waterproof, as well as many times more physically reliable than its competition. All the while offering you 32GB, 64Gb, and 128GB in memory storage, with read speeds reaching up to 300MB/s and write speeds of up to 299MB/s; turbo-charging professional workflows for post-production as your photos and videos takes little time to transfer with even less fuss.

This card is a specialized product for photographers venturing to the great outdoors. It is also able to withstand nature’s fury and safely and reliably store your images captured at high-speed and your 4K videos at extended lengths. Though its storage options and sizes may be lacking, its speed and robust physical package may just be what you need and could be the best memory card for you.

Knowing your Memory Card

The Secure Digital (SD) card is the ubiquitous memory card format that’s introduced in 1999. It has since been the main staple for all external memory needs of most portable devices, including your DSLR camera.

Storage

SD cards can be differentiated through its storage capacity and the read and write speeds that determine its quality as a product. Cards that can handle 2GB to 32GB of data are classified as Secure Digital High Capacity or SDHC for short. In contrast, cards that can store 32GB to 2TB of data are classified as Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC). Some cards can even save as much as 128TB, which are Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC), but cards of this size have yet to be offered for use in DSLR cameras.

Let us say, for example, that your DSLR camera captures 24-megapixel photographs that, on average, takes up 30 MB of storage space. In a 32GB SDHC memory card, you can take 533 photos with your camera until the card becomes full, while you can save up to 4264 pictures with a 128GB SDXC card instead. More massive storage is better for your memory card, but speed is an equally vital factor to consider as well.

Speed

When it comes to speed, SD cards originally come with read and write speeds of up to 12.5MB/s. This simply means that you can get and put data from the card at a rate of 12.5 Megabytes per second. SDHC and SDXC cards now come in faster versions that feature Ultra High Speed (UHS) technology. UHS-I allows the read and writes speeds of the card to get as fast as 104MB/s. This is almost 100x quicker than the original rate. UHS-I comes in various speed classes too. Meanwhile, the UHS-II can go as fast as 312MB/s, blistering fast compared to the default.

Speed is essential when it comes to videography. Videos are a sequence of frames stitched together and played at a certain speed that gives off the illusion of seamless motion for our eyes. And each frame of a video is essentially a photograph that needs storing into your SD card. If your card can’t support the speed required to save a frame of your video in time before the next frame needs to be written on the card, you will encounter stutters and other issues with your video.

Wrap Up

The best memory card for your DSLR camera depends mostly on how you want to balance capacity and speed. All the while determining if the price suits your budget and offers the most bang for your buck. The following is a curated list of memory cards for your DSLRs, where you’ll definitely find the memory card that’s the best for you.

Hopefully, this curated list of memory cards has helped you pick the best one for your DSLR camera as well as informed you well on how to make the best choice for your photography and videography needs.