Best Memory Cards for Nikon D5

There are 2 different Nikon D5 bodies; one with 2 x XQD cards, and one with 2 x CF memory cards.

We’ve made a list of our best cards for each model. For long burst photography and 4K, you’ll want a fast memory card. The faster the camera, the more you should spend on a memory card.

Best Memory Cards for Nikon D5

• XQD – Lexar Professional 2933x XQD
• XQD – SanDisk G-Series XQD

• CF – Lexar Professional 1066x 64GB
• CF – SanDisk Extreme Pro 1066x 64GB

 

Best XQD Memory Cards

Our top pick: Definitely the Lexar Professional 2933x XQD card. Not only is it cheaper and faster than the Sony below, it’s easily the best memory card for the D5 and any other XQD camera right now.

If you’re all about action photography, you’ll want this card since it can easily take 200 shots (both RAW and JPEG) before the buffer fills. Even then, it’ll only take a small amount of time before you can do it all again. For 4K video, this is also more than it will ever require.

Basically, if you’ve got the money and never want to wait (whether it’s transferring files to your computer, or shooting in burst), get this Lexar card.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

In case the one above is not in stock, the Sony G-Series XQD 64GB is a pretty close card. It’s a little bit slower in both writing and reading speeds and costs more, so the decision is pretty easy.

It also comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes but again, we recommend the Lexar if you want the most for your money.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Best CF Memory Cards

If you’ve got the D5 with 2 x CF cards and want the most for your money, get the Lexar Professional 1066x 64GB. It’s a UDMA7 which the D5 supports so there’s nothing faster out there.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

The SanDisk Extreme Pro 1066x 64GB is more expensive and offers the same speed, but they’re mostly known for their memory cards being much more reliable in extreme temperatures and conditions than other brands. The card was tested at extreme cold and hot temperatures, and also features silicone coating for better shock and vibration protection.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Don’t buy memory cards from unknown brands or something that looks too good to be true. More often than not, those cards will fail right when you’ll need them the most.

A memory card is where all of your work is stored until you transfer that on the computer.

Make sure to get a card from any of the following brands: SanDisk, Lexar, Transcend and Kingston. There are a few good out there, but the 5 we mentioned are more than enough.