Fujifilm X-T4 SD Card Recommendations

Like most cameras, the Fujifilm X-T4 doesn’t come with memory cards included as standard. So unless you’ve picked up a bundle that a retailer has put together that includes accessories like memory cards, chances are you’ll have to pick them up separately.

But just putting any old SD card in an X-T4 might lead to disappointment if you find you can’t take full advantage of the camera’s powerful features.

Fujifilm X-T4 Memory Card Top Picks

If you’d just like to cut to the chase with some quick recommendations, here are some good options:

I have a lot more detail below, but the upshot is that any of these are fast enough, are readily available, and are generally good value for money.

And don’t forget that the X-T4 has two SD card slots. You don’t have to fill them both—the camera will still work with only one SD card in it—but if you want to take advantage of the full power of the X-T4’s file storage options, use two cards.

Fujifilm X-T4 SD Card Requirements

The X-T4 has very high bitrate video capabilities—up to 400 Mbps—as well as high-speed burst photo modes of up to 30 frames per second. If you don’t use SD cards that are fast enough, you run the risk of not being able to use those features or even losing footage or photos.

While it’s not hard to find memory cards that are fast enough, there are so many cards on the market and so much marketing material that it’s not always clear which cards will work.

This is why I’ve put together this page: to provide some practical recommendations on which SD cards to buy for the X-T4 so that you can get out shooting sooner and use all the capture features the camera has to offer.

Fujifilm’s Official Recommendations on Memory Cards for the X-T4

I have to commend Fujifilm for providing guidance in the instruction manual that is actually more specific and practical than some other camera manufacturers provide. It says:

– The camera can be used with SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards. Both the UHS-I and UHS-II bus interfaces are supported.

– UHS-II cards are recommended for high-speed burst photography.

– Use cards with a video speed class of V60 or better to record movies at a bit rate of 400 Mbps. To record movies with lower bit rates, use cards with a UHS speed class of 3 or better or a video speed class of V30 or better.

And Fujifilm has gone the extra step of providing a webpage that lists a handful of specific memory card models that are officially supported. But that list is quite outdated now for the simple reason that memory card manufacturers tend to release new models fairly often and some have come out since that page was last updated. And it also doesn’t factor in things like availability and value for money—some of the cards on their list, like the Toshiba Exceria Pro cards, are very good cards, but they can be surprisingly hard to find, especially at reasonable prices.

And a final issue is that there are very fast cards where the manufacturers haven’t yet gone through the processes of certifying and updating the packaging and marketing materials to add the new V60 or V90 ratings. Cards like the Sony and Lexar cards, for example, are fast enough to meet the demands of the X-T4, but at least at the time I’m writing this they still only carry the U3 speed rating on their packaging rather than V60 or V90.

So what I’m trying to do is take the information provided by Fujifilm and combine it with both my own tests actually shooting with an X-T4 with these cards and also the findings from my own SD card speed tests. The objective is to provide some practical recommendations for which memory cards to get to be confident that they’ll work well with all of the X-T4’s advanced features.

My emphasis here is on memory cards that offer a good combination of meeting the camera’s technical requirements, are from well-known and reputable manufacturers, are readily available at major retailers, and provide good value for money. This is not designed as a definitive listing of every SD card that will work well in the X-T4—there are others that can also work well—but I’ll do my best to keep it updated as new memory card models are released and I have a chance to use them.

Detailed Recommendations

Here’s more detailed information on these SD card recommendations for the Fujifilm X-T4.

Why Use a Fast Memory Card in the Fujifilm X-T4?

You can use slower SD cards in the X-T4. Many of the basic camera functions like standard single-shot stills photography or low-bitrate video recording will work with slower cards for the simple reason that in those modes it’s not as crucial for the card to be able to keep up with a large stream of data being thrown at it in a short period of time.

The modes where you’ll run into trouble are the high-bitrate recording (eg. 4K at 400 Mbps) or the high-speed photo burst modes that take sequences of still images in rapid succession. If the card is too slow to keep up with those, you can get unwanted side effects like the recording stopping unexpectedly, dropped frames, or the burst sequence being interrupted.

That’s why I’m focusing here on cards that allow you to use all of the X-T4’s capture modes: because I’m assuming that most people who shoot with an X-T4 probably want to have the option available of using the camera to its full potential. But if you never plan to use the high-bitrate video modes or the very high-speed burst photo modes, then you can get away with slower cards and cards that are UHS-I.

Using Two SD Card Slots on the Fujifilm X-T4

If you want to throw in a single memory card and head out shooting, you can. You don’t have to fill both SD card slots. But there are advantages to doing so.

My rule of thumb is that if a camera has two memory card slots, then I want to fill both of them. It’s not because the camera won’t work with only one slot filled—it will—but there are advantages to using two slots. They include having more raw storage space, being able to create backups on separate cards, and being able to separate different types of files (e.g. RAW and JPG or photos and video) onto separate cards as a way to streamline the rest of the workflow.

With SD cards in both of the X-T4’s memory card slots, there are different ways to configure how they’re used. You can find these under the Card Slot Setting section of the menu.

Sequential. This is the default setting. When the card in slot 1 fills up, it automatically rolls over to slot 2 (or the other way around, if you’ve set it that way in the options).

Backup. This creates two copies of each photo. One copy is recorded on each card. So it’s a good option for redundancy while shooting. This could be very useful for something like wedding photography, for example.

RAW/JPG. This is a special mode that’s available only if you’ve selected one of the RAW+JPG options that saves images both a RAW file and a JPG version of the same image. It splits up each file type, recording the RAW version on one card and the JPG on the other.

You find these options under:

Settings (wrench icon) > Save Data Setting > Card Slot Setting

Do Both Cards Have to Be the Same?

You don’t need to use exactly the same kind of memory card in each slot. They can be different brands, storage capacities, and speed ratings. To avoid complications, it makes sense to have them both fast enough, though.

In short: You can use the same kind of card in both slots, but it’s not a requirement.

How to Format the Memory Cards in the Fujifilm X-T4

The formatting process in the X-T4 is pretty straightforward. There’s no need to decode the differences between “deleting” and “formatting” as there is in some other cameras. On the X-T4 there’s just one process, and it does exactly what you’d expect: format the card to start fresh.

If you haven’t used a camera with two memory card slots before, the only difference in doing it here is that you have to do each card individually.

You find the option under:

SET UP (Wrench Icon) > USER SETTING (Another Wrench Icon) > FORMAT

Then specify which card slot you want to format. And finally, confirm that you want to erase all the data from the card.

How to Format SD Cards on a Computer

It’s always best practice to format memory cards in the camera you’re going to use them in, but if that’s not possible or not what you want to do, you can also format cards using a computer. But there are some things to know when formatting SD cards to minimize the risks of your camera having problems with them. So I’ve put together guides on how to format SD cards on Mac and how to use the free SD Card Formatter app for Windows or Mac.

macOS Compatibility Bug

There is currently a bug in some Fujifilm X and GFX series cameras–including the X-T4–that shows up in a pretty specific set of circumstances: if you’re saving more than 4,000 files in the camera to a single folder on an SDXC card and then directly accessing the card using macOS. In that case, the extra files (i.e., after the first 4,000) might be inaccessible. You can find more information here.

As a workaround, Fujifilm is working on a firmware patch that will limit the number of files that can be written to an individual folder.

You can find the latest X-T4 firmware here.

FAQs Related to Fujifilm X-T4 SD Cards

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