The Sony A7 IV features two memory card slots. Slot 1 is compatible with CFexpress Type-A cards and also UHS-II SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, it's also backwards compatible with UHS-I cards. Slot 2 only supports UHS-II & UHS-I SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.
If you want to record to both card slots simultaneously the write speed will be restricted by the slowest card which will be the UHS-II / UHS-I card in slot 2. For the best performance we recommend recording RAW to slot 1 (CFexpress) and JPEG to slot 2 (UHS-II). We also recommend choosing one of the faster UHS-II V90 cards.
Recommended CFexpress Type A Cards for Photographers
For photographers our top 10 recommended CFexpress Type A memory cards for the Sony A7 IV are:
- Delkin Devices POWER (Mid-range)
- Delkin Devices BLACK (Premium)
- Sony TOUGH CEA-G Series (Premium)
- Lexar Professional Silver Series (Budget)
- Lexar Professional Gold Series (Mid-range)
- Nextorage NX-A1PRO CFexpress Type A (Premium)
- Nextorage NX-A1SE CFexpress Type A (Mid-range)
- ProGrade Digital Iridium 4.0 CFexpress Type A (Premium)
- ProGrade Digital Gold 2.0 CFexpress Type A (Mid-range)
- OWC Atlas Pro 4.0 CFexpress Type A (Mid-range)
Recommended UHS-II SDXC Cards for Photographers
Our top 10 recommended UHS-II SDXC cards for photographers are:
- Delkin Devices BLACK V90 (Premium)
- Kingston Canvas React Plus V90 (Mid-range)
- Delkin Devices Power (Mid-range)
- Nextorage NX-F2PRO V90 (Premium)
- SanDisk Extreme Pro V90 (Mid-range)
- Sony SF-G Tough V90 (Premium)
-
Lexar Professional 2000X V90 (Premium)
- Nextorage NX-F2SE Series V60 (Mid-range)
- Angelbird AV Pro Mk 2 V90 (Mid-range)
- OWC Atlas Ultra V90 (Premium)
Recommended Memory Cards for Videographers
For videographers who wish to shoot in S&Q Mode with the file format XAVC S-I 4k, a record frame rate of 25p / 30p and a frame rate of 50fps /60fps (2x slow motion), you will require a CFexpress Type A card rated VPG200, VPG400 or higher. All of the CFexpress Type A cards we recommend above are rated VPG200 or higher.
If you want to record in XAVC S-I 4K (600Mbps) or XAVC S-I HD (222Mbps) then the minimum requirement is an SDXC V90 UHS-II card. All of the SDXC cards we recommend above are rated V90 for video.
For XAVC HS 4K (200Mbps), XAVC S 4K (200Mbps) and XAVC S HD (100Mbps) the minimum requirement is an SDHC/SDXC U3/V30 card or higher. The Delkin Devices 256GB BLACK UHS-I SDXC V30 Memory Card is very good value for money.
Is CFexpress 4.0 Supported?
The Sony A7 IV supports the CFexpress 2.0 standard but not the latest 4.0 standard. However, you can still use CFexpress 4.0 cards in the A7IV because they are backwards compatible, you just won't see any advantages in-camera. Where you will see an advantage is when copying files from your memory card to your computer, with a 4.0 card this can be up to twice as fast compared to a 2.0 card providing you are using a CFexpress 4.0 compatible reader.
