Sony ZV-E1 Memory Card Guide

In this guide you’ll find details of all the memory cards compatible with the Sony ZV-E1 including my recommended cards based on actual in-camera tests.

Quick Memory Card Comparison

Best UHS-II Memory Cards

I’ve not had chance to carry out any in-camera tests with the Sony ZV-E1 yet. But if you visit my Memory Card Guides you’ll see that I’ve tested many cards in many Alpha cameras so I have a good idea about which cards perform best.

The below in-camera tests were carried out using the Sony a7R IV and 64GB SDXC UHS-II memory cards. Both the Sony SF-G Tough UHS-II and the Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II typically perform very well in-camera.

Memory Card	In-Camera Write Speed (a7R IV)	Video Rating	Price Check
1. Sony SF-G Tough UHS-II	171 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
2. Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II	171 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
3. Ritzgear Video Pro UHS-II	166 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
4. PNY X-PRO 90 UHS-II	166 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
5. Angelbird AV Pro Mk 2 V90 UHS-II	165 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
6. SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II	164 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
7. ProGrade V90 UHS-II	164 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
8. Hoodman Steel 2000x UHS-II	156 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
9. Sony SF-M Tough UHS-II	137 MB/s	V60	B&H Photo | Amazon
10. Sony SF-M UHS-II	137 MB/s	V60	B&H Photo | Amazon
11. Lexar Professional 2000X UHS-II	129 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
12. Transcend SD 700S UHS-II	128 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon
13. Delkin Devices POWER UHS-II	42 MB/s	V90	B&H Photo | Amazon

Best UHS-I Memory Cards

The below UHS-I SD card in-camera tests were carried out using the Sony a7R IV and 64GB SDXC UHS-I memory cards. The Delkin and Kingston cards were the two top performers.

Memory Card	In-Camera Write Speed (a7R IV)	Video Rating	Price Check
1. Delkin Devices Advantage UHS-I	79 MB/s	V30	B&H Photo | Amazon
2. Kingston Canvas Go! Plus UHS-I	77 MB/s	V30	B&H Photo | Amazon
3. SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I	72 MB/s	V30	B&H Photo | Amazon
4. Lexar Professional 1066x UHS-I	63 MB/s	V30	B&H Photo | Amazon
5. Transcend 500S UHS-I	61 MB/s	V30	B&H Photo | Amazon

Which Memory Cards are Compatible?

The Sony ZV-E1 has one memory card slot that is compatible with SD (UHS-I/II) memory cards.

MicroSD memory cards are also compatible providing you use an appropriate adaptor.

Supported Memory Cards for Movies

If you just want one memory card that supports all of the possible recording options then purchase a V90 rated UHS-II SD card such as the Kingston Canvas React Plus Card (B&H Photo | Amazon).

If you don’t plan to record in the highest quality formats then the tables below provide details of the minimum memory card speed rating required to record in that format.

For movie recording (When [Proxy Recording] is set to [Off])

Movie recording formats and compatible memory cards are as follows.

For movie recording (When [Proxy Recording] is set to [On])

• Proxy recording is not possible when the recording frame rate is [120p]/[100p]. Depending on the setting for [File Format], the maximum recording bit rate may be lower than when [Proxy Recording] is set to [Off]. Supported memory cards for [File Format] are as follows.
• This camera cannot perform proxy recording when shooting in the XAVC S-I format.

For S&Q Motion shooting (When [Proxy Recording] is set to [Off])

File formats and compatible memory cards are as follows.

For S&Q Motion shooting (When [Proxy Recording] is set to [On])

• Proxy recording is not possible when the recording frame rate is [120p]/[100p]. Depending on the setting for [File Format], the maximum recording bit rate may be lower than when [Proxy Recording] is set to [Off]. Supported memory cards for [File Format] are as follows.
• This camera cannot perform proxy recording when shooting in the XAVC S-I format.

For time-lapse shooting (When [Proxy Recording] is set to [Off])

• Supported memory cards for [File Format] are as follows.

For time-lapse shooting (When [Proxy Recording] is set to [On])

• Supported memory cards for [File Format] are as follows.
• This camera cannot perform proxy recording when shooting in the XAVC S-I format.

What Size Memory Card Do You Need?

For video you’ll probably want to go with the largest memory card that you can afford or use an external recorder. The following table will help you to better understand what size cards you will need.

Number of Recordable Images

The table below shows the approximate number of images that can be recorded on a memory card formatted in-camera with the Aspect Ratio set to [3:2].

Recordable Movie Times

These recording times are when [Proxy Recording] is set to [Off].

• The times shown are recordable times using a Sony memory card.
• The duration of time available for movie recording varies depending on the file format/recording settings for movies, memory card, ambient temperature, Wi-Fi network environment, condition of the camera before you start recording, and condition of the charging of the battery.
  The maximum continuous recording time for a single movie shooting session is approximately 13 hours (a product specification limit).

Memory Card Readers

Unless you prefer to copy files to your computer via USB-C then you will require a card reader. Here are some of the options available.

Sony MRW-S1 UHS-II USB Memory Card Reader/Writer

If you won’t be using CFexpress Type-A cards then you only really need Sony’s MRW-S1 UHS-II USB SD Card Reader/Writer. It can read/write to UHS-II SD Cards via a USB 3.1 interface and is backward compatible with UHS-I SD cards.

Summary

If money is no object then you can’t go wrong with the Sony SF-G Tough UHS-II V90 cards (B&H Photo | Amazon). These are one of the fastest memory cards that you can put in the ZV-E1 and also extremely durable and well suited to harsh environments.

If the price of the Sony Tough cards makes your eyes water than thankfully the Kingston Canvas React Plus UHS-II V90 cards (B&H Photo | Amazon) typically cost around half as much and deliver almost the same performance, just without the additional toughness.

Whichever memory card you buy, please just make sure that it’s V90 rated if you want to shoot in all of the file formats that the ZV-E1 supports.

Also please make sure that you are buying a 64GB or larger SDXC labelled UHS-II card. 32GB and smaller cards are labelled SDHC and use the FAT32 file system which will split your movies into 4GB chunks.

I hope to carry out my own in-camera tests with the ZV-E1 soon. Until then I hope you still found this guide helpful.

Sony ZV-E1 Guides & Resources