The best memory cards are the lifeblood of photography; they store your raw photos and videos and it can be devastating if they fail, losing all of your hard work. Thankfully, there are plenty of options on the market for professional and hobbyist photographers alike which prevent file corruption and other loss of files. Memory cards have come a long way since they were first introduced, now offering large storage capacities up to 1TB and blazing fast transfer speeds. This means you can take pictures to your heart’s content and quickly move them from the card to your computer and get back to doing what you love faster. Many also include data recovery services that protect your pictures and videos from file corruption and accidental deletion. 

With 4K photography and video becoming more popular and mainstream, many memory cards are optimized for higher resolutions, giving you more detail in your photography and videography. Along with higher resolutions and storage capacities, memory cards have also become much more affordable, with some retailing for less than $10, giving you the opportunity to start your hobby or business without breaking the bank. We’ve rounded up our top picks and broken down important deciding factors to help you decide which is right for you.

For those who need a card that can handle a heavier workload, the Samsung EVO is a better choice than our Most Popular pick. The EVO is perfect for filmmakers and photographers since it is strong enough to process 4K footage and RAW files, which take longer to upload. The EVO boasts its high storage capacity (up to 128GB), as well as its efficient speeds for reading and writing files, 100MB/s and 60 MB/s respectively. Additionally, the EVO offers a high level of durability and excellent resistance to extreme temperatures, seawater, magnets, and other harsh conditions. The EVO comes with a full-size adapter, allowing you to download files to your smartphone, tablet, PC, or other devices.

Best Overall

Samsung 64 GB EVO MicroSD Memory Card

  • Speedy read/write speeds

  • Durable

  • Full-size adapter

  • Incompatible with some dash/action cameras

This plug-and-shoot high-performance SD card is perfect for photographers of all levels, balancing speed with value and versatility for a solid all-around memory solution. It has class 10 and UHS-1/U3 compatibility, meaning it can handle 4K photos and videos, as well as all other traditional file types. It hits 95MB/s read speed and 90MB/s write speed, letting you transfer large files at quick speeds. It also supports burst mode for continuous shooting, and is shockproof and waterproof to survive adventurous outings. 

Runner-Up, Best Overall

Polaroid 64GB SDXC Card

  • 4K video ready

  • Great transfer speeds

  • Shock and waterproof

  • Occasional errors after formatting

PNY isn’t the most recognizable brand, but it delivers performance that is comparable to better-known products in its class. The card provides reads speeds of 95 MB/s, which is a respectable rate if you’re looking for a professional-grade product. For photographers and filmmakers, the PNY Elite Performance works well with DSLRs and can support the demands of capturing action shots, HD videos, and other high-quality photos. In terms of storage, the card offers 32GB and 64GB options for less than $20 and up to 512GB if you’re willing to splurge. However, for the best value, 32 to 64GB is plenty of storage space. Additionally, the PNY Elite Performance card boasts a high level of durability as it is magnet-proof, shock-proof, waterproof, and resistant to extreme temperatures.

Best Value

PNY Elite Performance SDHC Class 10 UHS-I

  • Good read rate

  • Up to 512GB capacity

  • Larger cards are 4K ready

  • Smaller cards are UHS-I/UI

The PNY’s 32GB option is a UHS-I/U1 card, meaning it has a writing speed of 10 MB/s, so it only supports full HD resolution (1080p). The 64GB, on the other hand, is a UHS-1/U3 card, which features a 30 MB/s rate, meaning it can handle 3D, 4K, and ultra HD shooting. For photographers, the 32GB card offers plenty of space, but filmmakers should consider upgrading to the 64GB. Regardless, both cards provide cost-effective alternatives to household names like SanDisk and Lexar, without compromising on quality.

The Evo series from Samsung offers an amazing value for the price because they’ve optimized these SD cards for massive UHD video files while also keeping the 64GB price below $20—no small feat when you look at how well this card operates. That 64GB capacity offers read speeds up to 100 MB/s, with write speeds capping at 60 MB/s. Those speeds factor out to accommodate a 3GB video transfer in as little as 38 seconds (under specific conditions). That’s certainly a far cry from the days of floppy disks. The full capacity can accommodate up to 8 hours, 30 minutes of full HD video, 14,000 photos or 5,500 songs.

Runner-Up, Best Value

Samsung Evo Select 64GB SD Card

  • Well optimized

  • Strong read/write speed

  • Affordably priced

  • Gets warm during heavy usage

The card has been tested with dozens of different devices from tablets to cameras to phones and more, and it can accommodate 4K videos, too. Samsung’s four-point protection claims 72 hours in seawater, extreme temperatures, airport X-ray machines, as well as magnetic fields equivalent to an MRI scanner, so the card will go basically anywhere you need it to go without issue. It offers grade 3 and class 10 distinctions, meaning it’s about as pro as it gets, and it comes with a full-sized SD card adapter.

Now we enter the realm of high-capacity, high-powered SD cards for serious, high-energy photographers and video producers. While a little pricey, the Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC and SDXC cards are available in 32, 64 and 128GB. Why would you spend that much on an SD card? Because you’re getting perhaps the best SD card on the market, and probably because you’re a professional photographer who doesn’t mess around. Each format offers a remarkable read/transfer speed of up to 300MB/s. Write speeds are pretty much guaranteed to be much slower than that, but depending on your conditions, it can still reach as a high as 275 MB/s. Regardless, the Lexar Professional can handle 1080p (Full HD), 3D, and 4K video, whether you’re shooting from a DSLR camera, HD video camera or 3D camera. This thing is meant to handle a variety of conditions and is equipped to do so with unprecedented speed.

Best for Pros

Lexar Professional 2000x 64GB SDXC UHS-II Card

  • Killer speed

  • Great for 4K or 3D video

  • Perfect for professionals

  • Also quite expensive

RAW files are significantly larger than other file types, which means that transferring them from your camera to a PC demands a large amount of processing power. And while the Sony SF-G32/T1 will cost you a hefty penny, it’s absolutely worth it. The card’s performance is unmatched by its cheaper alternatives. The SF-G32/T1 offers three sizes from 32 to 128GB, and the price increases along with the expanded memory. Its main draw lies in its speed class, UHS-II, Class 10, meaning it can reach transfer speeds of up to 300 MB/s. The SF-G32/T1 is best suited for professional filmmakers, especially those working with 4K continuous shooting, burst mode shooting, and action photography.

Best for RAW Shooting

Sony SF-G32/T1 SDHC UHS-II

  • Insanely fast

  • Great for 4K

  • Variety of capacities

  • Very pricey

Professional and hobbyist photographers know that having a reliable memory card in your camera can make or break a photoshoot. The SanDisk Extreme Pro is available in sizes from 32GB to 1TB, giving you plenty of storage for 1080p full HD as well as 4K video and photos. With shot speeds up to 90MB/s, you can take sequential burst photos without losing frames; perfect for sports and wildlife photographers. 

Runner-Up, Best for Raw Shooting

SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB UHS-I/U3 Micro SDXC

  • Fast read/write speeds

  • 4K ready

  • Water and heat resistant

  • Incompatible with older macOS computers

You’ll get transfer speeds up to 170MB/s, so you can quickly move pictures from the card to your computer and get back to your photoshoot faster. Like other SanDisk memory cards, the Extreme Pro includes RescuePRO data recovery, which helps protect your photos from being lost to corrupted files or accidentally being deleted. The card is also resistant to heat, water, and minor bumps and drops, making it perfect for outdoor photography.

The SanDisk Extreme 64GB card is the best balance between price, performance and storage. Retailing just under $10, this memory card gives you plenty of storage space to take vacation photos, pictures of family events, and professional photoshoots. You’ll get up to 90MB/s transfer speed, meaning you’ll spend less time waiting for pictures to transfer to your computer, and more time editing or taking more photos. 

Best Budget

SanDisk Extreme 64GB microSDXC

  • Affordable

  • Rugged

  • 4K Ready

  • Incompatible with older camera models

It’s ready to shoot pictures and video in either 1080p full HD or 4K UHD for enhanced detailing and color. The card itself is resistant against heat, water, minor bumps and drops, as well as C-rays to protect your memories and professional work. With the RescuePRO recovery app, you’ll never have to worry about losing your photos to corrupted files or accidental deletion.

The Lexar Pro 256GB class 10 SD card does exactly everything you’d hope for it to do—it transfers data at high speeds and holds a ton of it. The card utilizes UHS-I technology for ultra-fast transfers that clock in at a speed of 95 MB/s for the read levels and a whopping 45 MB/s on writing. But what can you read and write with those speeds? Well, this massive SD card is optimized for high quality, raw images, as well as full video footage from 1080p all the way to 4K, even supporting massive 3D video files. As such, it’ll work formatted with your DSLR, camcorder or 3D camera.

Best Capacity

Lexar Professional 633x 256GB SDXC Card

  • Great capacity

  • Reasonable price

  • Lifetime recovery software license

  • Occasional lag

The cards are rigorously tested in Lexar’s Quality labs to ensure that they will work uninterrupted as advertised. But if, for some reason, it does fail and you lose some files, Lexar has included a lifetime license for their Image Rescue software that will do its best to recover lost files due to a corrupt disk.

The Lexar Professional 633x is the perfect memory card for photographers and videographers that need high capacity storage for their work. This card has 1TB of storage, allowing you to shoot over 13,000 photos and 25 hours of video in 4K (even more if you’re shooting in 1080p full HD). You’ll get transfer speeds up to 95MB/s so you can quickly move large photo and video files from the card to your computer when you need more memory. The card also supports shooting photos and video in 3D, allowing you to try out new photography techniques or offer customers new services.

Runner-Up Best Capacity

Lexar Professional 633x 1TB

  • 4K and 3D ready

  • 1TB of storage

  • Fast transfer speeds

  • Expensive

How We Tested

Our expert testers and reviewers evaluate SD card based on a number of objective measures. For starters, we look at the size of the SD card, focusing on if it’s full-size or microSD, and if the card includes an adapter. Next, we test performance by using CrystalDisk Mark’s sequential read/write test and Blackmagic’s Disk Speed test. We compare the benchmarks to other SD cards to get an idea of where the card stands. We also put it to day-to-day use and use the SD card for file transfers, photos, and video. Finally, we look at the price, compare it to similarly priced competitors, and make our final evaluation. All the SD cards we test are provided by Lifewire; none are given to us by the manufacturer.

If you want a card capable of handling RAW and 4K cards and don’t mind spending slightly more, the Samsung EVO is the best option.

About Our Expert Testers

Taylor Clemons has over three years of experience writing about games and consumer technology. She has written for Lifewire, Digital Trends, TechRadar, and her own publication, Steam Shovelers.

Jay Alba is a tech journalist and filmmaker with extensive experience with portable storage and a wide range of consumer electronics. Her work has appeared in a number of tech publications, covering everything from cameras and accessories to mobile devices and gadgets.

What to Look for in an SD Card

Type - Before you start browsing for the fastest cards, you’ll need to determine the exact type of SD card that your device takes. There are three types available—standard SD, miniSD, and microSD—so check your device manual to figure out the one you need.

Storage - Before you make your decision, you’ll need to decide how much content you’re looking to store on your SD card. Smaller 16GB and 32GB options can be great for the budding photographer, but if you’re looking to capture 4K video, you’ll want to aim for the largest card you can afford.

Speed - Cards are available in different speeds, and while the average individual should be fine with most options, those looking to shoot high-definition video or those demanding peak performance should make sure the card they’re purchasing has a “class 10” speed rating.