OM System OM-5 Memory Card Recommendations

It’s a great camera, but what type of memory card should you get for the OM-5?

Selecting the right storage is essential to taking full advantage of the OM-5’s advanced features, from Cinema 4K video to high-speed sequential shooting. This guide is designed to help you cut through the cryptic technical codes so you can get out shooting sooner. My recommendations are based on years of experience and results from my independent SD card speed tests.

You can see some of the photos I’ve taken with this camera in my OM System OM-5 Sample Images and High ISO Performance Tests.

Quick recommendations for the OM-5

If you just want reliable recommendations that are guaranteed to work with all the OM-5’s video and photo modes, here are my top picks. Any of these cards will perform well in the OM-5.

OM System OM-5 SD card compatibility & requirements

The OM System OM-5 features a single SD card slot with a UHS-II interface. It is fully compatible with SDXC, SDHC, and SD memory cards.

If you’ve ended up with the OM-5 Mark II instead, the storage side is unchanged: it also has a single UHS-II SD slot and the same 237 Mbps C4K ceiling, so everything here applies to both bodies.

To use the camera’s highest-quality video settings (DCI 4K) which record at bitrates up to 237 Mbps, you must have a card that can maintain a high sustained write speed. While a slower card might work for 1080p, it will likely cause errors or stop recording unexpectedly in 4K modes.

It’s worth being precise about which mode is which, because these get mixed up constantly. C4K on the OM-5 is 4096 x 2160 at 24p only — there is no C4K 30p — and that’s the 237 Mbps mode. UHD 4K is 3840 x 2160 at 30p, 25p or 24p, and it’s much lighter at about 102 Mbps. There’s also a high-speed Full HD mode at 120fps. So the heaviest sustained load your card ever sees on this camera is that C4K stream, around 30MB/s.

What the OM-5 manual says about SD cards

The official manual provides basic guidance, but it can be confusing. It notes that a UHS-I or UHS-II card with a UHS speed class of 3 (U3) is required for 4K. However, in professional practice, relying on older U3 ratings is risky for high-bitrate video.

I focus on cards that meet the V60 or V90 (Video Speed Class) standards. These are modern ratings specifically designed for sustained 4K video recording. My recommendations are based not just on these labels, but on my own independent SD speed tests where I verify that these cards actually live up to their manufacturer claims.

Decoding the SD card specs

UHS-I vs UHS-II

UHS-II cards have a second row of contacts on the back. Because the OM-5 slot is UHS-II compatible, it can utilize this extra interface to write data much faster than UHS-I cards. While UHS-I cards will fit and work, the UHS-I bus tops out around 100MB/s, so where you feel it is buffer clearing after a burst and offloading files afterwards. Video is tighter than it looks rather than impossible: C4K’s 237 Mbps works out to about 30MB/s sustained, which is exactly the floor a U3 or V30 card promises and nothing more.

SDHC vs SDXC

I recommend sticking to SDXC cards (64GB and larger). SDHC cards use the FAT32 file system, which limits individual file sizes to 4GB. This forces the camera to “chapter” your video into multiple files. SDXC cards use exFAT, which allows the OM-5 to save a movie as one long continuous file — saving you a lot of hassle in post-production.

How to format SD cards on the OM-5

Always format your memory cards in the camera to ensure the filesystem is set up exactly as the OM-5 expects. This reduces the risk of data errors. (The OM-5 only has a high-level (or quick) format option; for a low-level or full format of the memory card, you’ll need to do it with a card reader and computer.)

Setup Menu (wrench/spanner icon) > Card Setup > Format

Pro Tip: Only use “All Erase” if you want to keep protected images. Use the Format option for a completely clean slate and to maintain optimal card performance over time.