Sony a6700 Memory Card Recommendations

Quick Recommendations

If you just want some quick recommendations, here you go. Any of these will work well in the Sony a6700 mirrorless camera.

These SD cards are fast enough to be able to use all of the a6700’s features, have a strong track record of reliability, are readily available, and are usually cost-effective. Any of these makes for a good choice for this camera, and if you’re after more detail, you can find it below.

Sony a6700 Memory Card Requirements

The Sony a6700 is a 26-megapixel camera in Sony’s Alpha line of APS-C interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras. Like the exceedingly popular a6000, and also the a6400, it combines powerful video and photo capabilities in a surprisingly small and mobile package. It shoots video up to 4K120 at a bitrate of 100Mbps and photos at up to 11 frames per second. And its those particular features that are going to be the most demanding of the speed of the memory card.

Where things get interesting is that the a6700 can record video at very high bitrates–up to 600 Mbps. Even if you don’t use the very highest recording mode, any of the 4K movie modes clock in upwards of 200 Mbps, which is still high. The slow and quick motion modes are considerably higher, in the 445-600 Mbps range.

So if you get a card that’s too slow, there’s going to be quite a few features on the a6700 that you won’t be able to use.

General Guidance

I’ve got some specific SD card recommendations here, but here’s the broad guidance.

Use a Card with V90 Rating

The V90 is a speed rating system specifically designed to be helpful to know if the card is fast enough for certain categories of video shooting. In this case, what you want is a V90 card. These are among the fastest SD cards currently available. The card and packaging and marketing material will all mention V90 if the card is rated for that.

For some video modes, you can get away with a V60 card, but that will leave some shooting modes unavailable.

Use UHS-II

The a6700 has a single UHS-II SD card slot. The way the UHS system is set up, it’s designed to be backwards compatible. So the camera will function with a UHS-I or a UHS-II card.

But UHS-II cards allow for much faster transfer speeds, and you’re going to need a fast UHS-II card if you want to have a card that’s compatible with all the camera’s features.

Stick with SDXC

You can use either a SDXC or SDHC card in the a6700, but I’d recommend sticking with SDXC for a couple of reasons:

1. SDXC cards have at least 64GB of storage space. And with the high-bitrate and high resolution modes of this camera, you’re going to want plenty of storage space (512GB or 256GB probably make more sense).
2. There are some of the higher end video modes of the a6700 that will only work with SDXC cards. That’s due to a limitation of the filesystem on SDHC cards that requires individual files to be 4GB or smaller. Some of the a6700’s video modes won’t work with that restriction. SDXC cards are formatted with a filesystem (exFAT) that doesn’t impose such restrictions.

Don’t Get SDUC or SD Express Cards

This camera is not compatible with SDUC and doesn’t have the interface to take advantage of SD Express. Both of these are emerging standards.

Sony a6700 Memory Card Detailed Recommendations

So which SD card should you get for your Sony a6700? The instruction manual isn’t especially helpful or specific, so here are some practical recommendations.

So here’s more detailed information on these cards, along with some others.

Does the a6700 Come with an SD Card?

A memory card isn’t really an optional accessory for the for the Sony a6700, but you’ll most likely have to buy it up separately. Without it, you’re not going to be able to take many photos or shoot much video. ¹

But the Sony a6700 doesn’t come with a memory card as standard. There are some bundles that retailers put together that might include a memory card, but chances are it’s something you’re going to have to pick up separately. Or maybe you want something bigger with larger storage capacity—the cards that are included in bundles are often on the small side and might fill up quickly, especially if you’re on a trip. So which card should you get?

That’s where this post comes in—hopefully, to help you get out shooting sooner and taking full advantage of all the features of your new camera rather than spendin

What Size SD Card to Use in the Sony a6700

The a6700 is compatible with SDHC and SDXC cards. That means you can use cards from 4GB all the way to the largest cards currently available, which are 512GB and 1TB cards.

There’s really no right answer when it comes to what size, or storage capacity, to get–it’s mostly a matter of convenience so that you don’t keep running out of space.

As is probably obvious, you can fit twice as many photos on a 64GB card as on a 32GB card. And with a 128GB card, you can fit four times as many photos as on a 32GB. And so on. And that’s especially handy when you’re traveling; even more so if you’re shooting any video.

The most logical sizes for this camera in terms of convenience and price are probably the 256GB to 512GB or even 1TB sizes. But if you want to use a larger or smaller one, say 64GB or even 2TB, go right ahead–they’ll work just fine because of the way that the SDXC spec is designed.

Do You Really Need a Good Memory Card?

A better memory card is not going to help you take better photos or improve image quality. But it can let you take advantage of all of the camera’s features. A card that’s not fast enough to keep up with the camera can cause issues like locking up, dropped video frames, and overheating.

There’s also the issue of reliability. There are plenty of junk memory cards on the market. Not only do they have flaky performance, but they’re also more likely to fail. And that means the risk of losing your photos and videos.

At the same time, you don’t want to pay extra for a high-performance SD card that’s overkill for the camera.

How to Format SD Cards

When you buy a new SD card, you should format it before use and then regularly after that. If you’re formatting a card that you’ve already been using, make sure that you’ve downloaded any photos and videos you want to keep, because formatting deletes everything on the card.

Here’s some information on how to format the memory card.

How to Format SD Cards in the Sony a6700

It is best practice to always format memory cards in the camera that you’ll be using them in. That sets the card up with the filesystem, folder hierarchy, and, in some cameras, a database file, so that the card is just how the camera expects. That greatly reduces the risk of unexpected errors and unpleasant surprises.

Always be sure you’ve backed up everything you want from the card, because formatting it will wipe everything. (If you’ve formatted accidentally, it still might be possible to recover data from the memory card, but it’s not always guaranteed, and it can incur the expense of buying recovery software; more on that below.)

On the Sony a6700, you can find the format function under:

MENU > Shooting > Media > Format

The a6700 has both quick format and full format options. Both will delete data and free up the space for further use, but they tackle it in different ways. For day-to-day use, quick format is the better option. Use the full format if the memory card isn’t performing as expected or you have sensitive data on the card that you really need wiped permanently.

How to Format SD Cards with a Computer

Having said that, it is still possible to format memory cards using a card reader and computer. You get a lot more flexibility that way, but also some extra risk if things aren’t set up just how the camera wants them. It’s also sometimes a good troubleshooting step if you’re having issues with a memory card.

There are some things to watch out for, particularly when it comes to choosing which filesystem to use. 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.

1. The Sony a6700 doesn’t have internal memory that is directly user-accessible. It does technically have internal memory, but it’s used for storing settings and as a buffer for writing data to the memory card.[↩]

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