Canon R6 I Recommended Canon R6 Memory Cards

[Tim Mayo]

We have recently tested 20 memory cards in the R6 to find out which cards perform best in camera.

The complete article can be found over on the blog here:

Best Canon R6 Memory Cards With Speed & Buffer Tests

We've tested 20 memory cards in the Canon R6 Mark I to find out how many shots you can take before hitting the buffer and which cards clear the buffer the fastest.

rfshooters.com

To summarise, due to its performance in-camera and price per GB our recommended memory card for those of you who shoot a lot of continuous bursts with the R6 is the Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II card.

If you shoot more video than stills then we’d recommend a card like the Sony SF-M UHS-II card which is V60 rated and covers you for all video formats supported by the R6.

If you don’t shoot continuous bursts or video, then you can save quite a bit of money by purchasing a UHS-I memory card instead. Our recommended card based on our in-camera tests would be the Kingston Canvas Go! Plus UHS-I card.

The Angelbird AV Pro Mk 2 V90 UHS-II card is underperforming in a big way, it really doesn't like the R6 so we'd recommend avoiding this card for now.

Please let us know if you find this guide helpful, or if you would like to provide your own feedback on a particular card or suggest one for review.

 

[Nick L]

Thanks Tim, interesting to see the variation in real write speeds, as I have the R5 I use the CF card for the fast writes (only 128GB at present due to cost) but for trips etc I have three lexar 1667x 256GB cards and for walkabouts and landscapes they are fast enough, when doing action stuff the CF is there so I think large medium fast cards are fine with the R5, but your test does say have one large SD and one fast 128GB SD and the R6 has the same available.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Thanks Tim, interesting to see the variation in real write speeds, as I have the R5 I use the CF card for the fast writes (only 128GB at present due to cost) but for trips etc I have three lexar 1667x 256GB cards and for walkabouts and landscapes they are fast enough, when doing action stuff the CF is there so I think large medium fast cards are fine with the R5, but your test does say have one large SD and one fast 128GB SD and the R6 has the same available.

I hope to test the R5 in the next couple of weeks, unless our next child arrives earlier than planned! I'm currently testing the R3 with 12 different CFexpress Type-B cards and there's not a big difference between any of them really, the R3 doesn't write RAW files much faster than 400 MB/s so it can't take full advantage of the maximum write speed of CFexpress Type-B cards.

 

[Joephotographyau]

I’d love to know how you are getting the Mb/s in camera results? I’d love to test my own cards.

 

[JoeTheSnowPlowGuy]

Great information! I typically shoot stills, very short bursts no more than 6-12 shots each burst with at least a second or two between them, normally several seconds to half a minute. I did this on a Pentax K-50 and would occasionally fill its buffer shooting raw and have to wait a couple seconds for it to clear. I’m sure I’ll shoot 12-24 shots per burst with the R6.2, since its mechanical shutter capability is 2x that of the K-50. I’m using a Samsung Pro Plus 128gb card, theoretical speeds of 160/120 read write, it’s V30, UHS-1. I didn’t see that card in the testing. It’s relatively cheap and seems well made. For what I’m doing and perhaps the occasional video, any need to pick up more capable cards? Thanks.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Great information! I typically shoot stills, very short bursts no more than 6-12 shots each burst with at least a second or two between them, normally several seconds to half a minute. I did this on a Pentax K-50 and would occasionally fill its buffer shooting raw and have to wait a couple seconds for it to clear. I’m sure I’ll shoot 12-24 shots per burst with the R6.2, since its mechanical shutter capability is 2x that of the K-50. I’m using a Samsung Pro Plus 128gb card, theoretical speeds of 160/120 read write, it’s V30, UHS-1. I didn’t see that card in the testing. It’s relatively cheap and seems well made. For what I’m doing and perhaps the occasional video, any need to pick up more capable cards? Thanks.

We have an updated guide for the R6 II that you can find here:

Best Canon R6 Mark II Memory Cards With Speed & Buffer Tests - RF Shooters

Welcome to our Canon R6 Mark II Memory Card Guide where we have tested 23 cards in-camera to find out which cards perform best.

rfshooters.com

We've not tested the Samsung Pro Plus cards I'm afraid. If it's V30 then it will not support all of the 4K video modes of the R6 II, you'd need a V60 minimum card to cover all of the 4K recording options. We've covered this in more detail in the above guide under "Memory Cards for Recording Video".

For shooting stills maybe just see how you get on with the Samsung card but it will be pretty slow compared to a UHS-II card. One of the more affordable UHS-II options is the Sony SF-M UHS-II card (not the Tough version though).

 

[MrSparks999]

Thanks for the info, i use the Scandisk Extreme Pro, and never had issues, but may give the Kingston a try as the price is much better than the Scandisk.

 

[JoeTheSnowPlowGuy]

I ran the camera at 40fps last night on the electronic shutter. I never filled the buffer but I paid attention to how long the red SD card light flashed after bursts. This Samsung card seems to be fast enough, but do think I’m going to look into a pair of the Kingston Canvas V90 cards as primaries for it, probably at 256 or 512 GB (Just Kidding! Those suckers are $$$$! Overflow can go on a V30 and I’ll make it work haha!)! This sucker is FAST. I could see myself filling 128GB cards at events (like sports) that are a few hours long. A bunch of cheaper V30 cards will be fine as backups.

 

[MrSparks999]

I only get the 64GB cards, 2 in camera, and carry 2 spare. I have never run out of space.