The Best Memory Cards for the Sony A58
Two different kinds of memory cards can be used in the Sony A58. Sony XC-HG Duo, PRO-HG Duo, and PRO Duo will work with and in addition SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards.
There is is only space for just one memory card to be in the camera at a time. You will have to make a choice between an SD or PRO Duo card.
Sony engineered and controls the PRO Duo memory card format. SD cards have had a wider adoption that PRO Duo cards because SD cards are often faster as well as being more affordable.
- UHS-I, U1, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 10MB/s write speeds.
- Excellent choice for photos.
- Capable of recording Full HD (1920x1080) Video.
- Inexpensive with more than good enough performance.
- Larger capacities are available for a reasonable price.
Best SD Cards
SanDisk, Lexar, and PNY are manufacturers that produce high-quality Memory cards. The best SD cards I have used have been the SanDisk Extreme Pro memory cards.
You do not need to buy a card made by SanDisk for your Sony ILCE-A58. Make sure the name is impressive. That will make sure you get fast read/write speeds, dust resistance, and more features.
I have not had errors with PNY Elite Performance or Lexar Professional SD cards.
The issues I have experienced with SD cards has been when low priced generic brands were used. A low cost card increases the chance of corrupted data or card errors.
If you would like to spend less, don’t buy a cheap card. You will be better off buying a name brand memory card with a smaller storage capacity.
Recommended SD Cards
- UHS-I, U1, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 10MB/s write speeds.
- Excellent choice for photos.
- Capable of recording Full HD (1920x1080) Video.
- Inexpensive with more than good enough performance.
- Larger capacities are available for a reasonable price.
- UHS-I, U3, V30, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 30MB/s write speeds.
- Good for burst shooting photos and recording 4K video.
- Larger capacity cards are available.
- Reliable & Durable: Magnet Proof, Shock Proof, Temperature Proof, Waterproof.
- Comparatively expensive for faster read speeds.
- UHS-I, U3, V30, and Class 10 Speed Rating. Can sustain 30MB/s write speeds.
- Only makes sense for professional use or if you need the largest storage capacity available.
- Temperature-proof, waterproof, shock-proof, and X-ray-proof.
Sony A58 SD Card Compatibility
SDXC, SDHC, and SD cards are usable with the Sony A58. If you want to get the best performance, use a SD card.
The most recent SDUC memory cards can’t be used in the A58.
There are four different specs of SD (Secure Digital) memory cards. Newer memory specs add more features that allows for more memory capacity and increased transfer speeds.
- Secure Digital (SD) - 128MB to 2GB.
- Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) - 4GB to 32GB.
- Secure Digital eXtended Capacity (SDXC) - 64GB to 2TB.
- Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC) - 4TB to 128TB.
SD Card Speed
The speed rating of an SD memory card is based on the sequential read and write speeds. The transfer speed of a SD memory card is very important for clearing the camera buffer for continuous shooting in addition to recording video.
A slow memory card can cause a decrease in the number of continuous frames the Sony A58 can take. This is because the camera’s buffer is not able to write data to the memory card fast enough.
With video, a slow card can cause recording to end. The video file may also end up being corrupted. If you intend to shoot video, it is important the SD card you use meets the required continuous write speed for video.
Read speed is nice to have for file transfers to a computer or laptop. If you have cards that are full, a SD card with a fast read speed will reduce the transfer time.
Speed Class Rating
A memory card is labeled with a Class rating based on the sustained transfer rate of the card. Class 10 is the best rating, even though cards are for sale that are much faster.
Here are all of the Classes and applicable minimum transfer rates:
- Class 2 - 2MB/s
- Class 4 - 4MB/s
- Class 6 - 6MB/s
- Class 8 - 8MB/s
- Class 10 - 10MB/s or faster
Any SD memory card worth picking for the Sony A58 will be a Class 10 SD card. In the time since the camera was released, SD cards have gotten so much faster.
Ultra High Speed (UHS)
The Ultra High Speed (UHS) bus is available in SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC cards. The UHS bus memory cards to achieve faster write speeds.
There are three separate specs. They are UHS-I, UHS-II, and UHS-III.
To find out the rating of a memory card, look at the front of the card. If the SD card has UHS, a Roman numeral I, II, or III will be on the memory card label.
- UHS-I - Maximum transfer rate of 104 MB/s
- UHS-II - Maximum transfer rate of 312 MB/s
- UHS-III - Maximum transfer rate of 624 MB/s
Sony A58 PRO Duo Card Compatibility
The Sony A58 can use either a PRO Duo or PRO-HG Duo memory cards. PRO-HG signifies the memory card may have read speeds up to 50MB/s and a 15MB/s minimum write speed.
PRO Duo memory cards are quite often double the price of an SD memory card. I would not recommend purchasing a PRO Duo card for use with a A58 as a result of the increase in price.
Image Capacity
Below is an approximate estimation of how many large JPEG images you can expect to store on each size of SD card.
- 16GB - 4,640 images
- 32GB - 9,280 images
- 64GB - 18,560 images
- 128GB - 37,120 images
- 256GB - 74,240 images
Related Cameras
There is nothing more you need to determine about SD and PRO Duo cards.