SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB SDXC Memory Card up to 170MB/s, UHS-1, Class 10, U3, V30, Black

Product Information

Rated UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) 2, the SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-I card lets you capture sequential burst mode shots without missing a beat. UHS Speed Class 3 designates a performance option designed to support 4K UHD video recording with enabled UHS host devices. UHS Video Speed Class 30 (V30), sustained video capture rate of 30MB/s, designates a performance option designed to support real-time video recording with UHS enabled host devices. See www.sdcard.org/consumers/speed.

With shot speeds up to 140MB/s 6 the card is perfect for capturing the action as it happens, without missing a beat. Our stand-out best SD card is the Transcend SDXC UHS-II U3. With a Class 10, V90, U3 and UHS-II rating, we thought it would be fast enough to capture almost anything modern devices could throw at it, but we weren’t expecting the speed results we got.CompactFlash used to be the preferred format for higher-end DSLRs. However, with the improved performance of SDHC and SDXC cards (and the introduction of newer memory card formats as well), this memory card format is growing more rare. As an evolution of the XQD format, CFexpress is one of the best memory card formats around. However, it's currently only available with a limited number of high end cameras (mostly from Canon, Nikon and Panasonic). However, it's worth noting that the release of the Sony A7S III brought a somewhat confusing split into two different variants of CFexpress cards. Up until this point, all CFexpress-compatible cameras used CFexpress Type B cards (yes, 'B' does come before 'A' in this case!). Meanwhile, CFexpress Type A cards are smaller and slower. Crucially, Type B and Type A cards aren't interchangeable, so a camera such as the Nikon Z7 won't be able to accept a CFexpress Type A card.

Just keep in mind that the pricing for SD cards isn’t linear with capacity. For instance, the 512 GB version of the Extreme Pro is about 4.3 times more expensive than the 128 GB version while the 1 TB version is almost 9 times more expensive. All three SD cards use the UHS-I bus type, which indicates the type of interface between the card and the device. This also has implications on the maximum read and write speeds that can be supported through the interface. The read and write speeds of all three cards are well below the maximum value. Most devices still use the UHS-I bus type primarily because UHS-II SD cards are still prohibitively expensive. Robustness One of the most obvious ways to differentiate between memory cards is how much storage they have. A 16GB card might be fine for an afternoon wandering around your local wildlife reserve, but videographers looking to shoot all day could get frustrated with having to constantly swap over cards. The fact that Extreme Pro SD cards can go up to 1 TB capacity is a nice bonus as well, as it means that you wouldn’t have to buy as many spare SD cards. This might even turn out cheaper if you’re buying in bulk.

Samsung PRO Plus

The cards are different colors depending on the capacity - so red with a Nintendo Mushroom icon for 128GB, yellow with a Super Star for the 256GB, and teal green for the 512GB card. You don't need these customized cards, as any microSD card will work in your Switch – but you will earn kudos points for brand loyalty.

However, even the higher capacity offerings – such as this CompactFlash 800x series – are hardly expensive for what’s on offer. Capacities run from a standard 32GB up to 256GB. Specification is also impressive for a budget card, with read speeds of up to 120MB/s and write speeds of 60 MB/s, although actual performance, of course, is affected by camera hardware and software. Durable and reliable, there’s even a built-in error-correcting code to detect and correct any transfer errors. CFexpress Type B Full HD (1920x1080) and 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) video support may vary based upon host device, file attributes, and other factors. See: www.sandisk.com/HD There are three main types of SD card: SD, SDHC (high capacity) or SDXC (extended capacity). SD cards typically offer 128MB to 2GB in storage capacity, too small for today’s modern cameras with higher resolutions. SDHC bumps this up from 4GB to 32GB, useful for most photographers and videographers. SDXC cards, meanwhile, range from 64GB to 2TB and are aimed at professional-level users who require more memory. Just from this table alone, it’s easy to glean the difference between the three SD card types. Based on read and write speeds alone, the Extreme Pro is the most appropriate for highly demanding use. Photography and filmmaking are two of the most obvious examples of these, especially if you tend to capture 4K videos or use the burst photography feature of your camera. Taiwanese company Transcend is another long-term player in the memory card market – and still makes many low-capacity cards, meaning they’re accessible to those on a tight budget.

Are there alternative microSD cards worth considering?

If you're often working with high quality 4K video, ProRes video, or RAW photos from cameras such as the Canon EOS-1DX Mark II, then you'll know the value of a card that can keep up with what you're shooting. Sometimes speed is what you need. The SanDisk Extreme PRO SD UHS-I card delivers the performance to capture stunning, uninterrupted 4K UHD video 1. We’ve already highlighted the differences in the specs of the SD cards, but how are they similar? You may notice that all of them are classified as type SDXC cards, which is just a roundabout way of expressing their range of capacities. The SDXC class spans 32 GB to 2 TB, which includes all the three SD cards being compared here. Nikon was the first camera company to introduce XQD cards in digital cameras and a lot of people thought it would be short-lived, and since XQD has now evolved into CFexpress Type B, in some sense they were right. CFexpress cards are considerably faster than XQD cards (though that's not to say XQD is slow - far from it), and there are more manufacturers producing CFexpress cards than XQD, leading to more competitive pricing.