6d max memory card size

[cidd47]

Don't know if there is an answer to this question. I see others asking also, what is the Maximum memory card size that will work reliably in the 6D?

I have checked the manual, I have checked store descriptions, no one seems to know the answer to this question.

Has anybody on here ever used a 64g or 128g card in the 6D? What were your results?

TIA,

Craig

[Skirball]

The theoretcial max size of SDXC is 2 tB.  But cards of that size don't exist yet.

I've rarely seen the upper limit of cards listed in specs ever since SDXC came about.  I'm guessing it's because they don't have the ability to test the upper limit since the cards don't exist.

I used a 64 gB without issue, but it was just once, so maybe I didn't put it through it's paces.  But I really don't think you'll have any problems with the big cards. 

Most my big cards are 32 gB - I've found it a nice compromise between size, price and the frequency with which I swap cards.

[TCampbell]

I do own one 64GB card, but most of my cards are 16GB.  I prefer to have more lower-capactiy cards than one high-capacity card.

I always recommend you have AT LEAST TWO cards... whatever you get.  And it'd be a better idea to have 3 or 4 if you're a volume shooter.

When I unload a camera, I stick the card directly into the reader on the computer (or usb-attached reader).  I don't read from the camera via it's USB cable.  This is mostly due to transfer speeds involved.

But that means there's a chance I'll forget to pull the card out of the computer and put it back in the camera.  I'd hate to be 50 miles from my computer when I fire up the camera and get the dreaded "no card" error... only then to remember where my card is.

Also, think of cards like the tires on your car.  They DO WEAR.  They may wear out slowly, but make no mistake... everytime you write to a flash memory card, you take a little bit of it's life away.  At some point it will eventually fail and you want a spare card in the bag.  If you're shooting an important event, a card failure *may* mean the loss of images... bad enough that you'd lose any images, but you wouldn't want to lose all of them.

[ebiggs1]

Smaller cards, say 8 to 16 GB, are preferable as they reduce your risk to loss.  The exception I guess would be video which I never do. For stills, several smallers cards and change them often is a best practice plan.

[cidd47]

Ok, I know most of you recommend using smaller cards. That's what I have been doing. I just find it very strange that Canon has not said just how big of a memory card can be used in this camera.

Is it 64g?

Is it 128g?

Is it higher?

Maybe I only want it for shooting a full length movie. Maybe I only want it on one card. How can I do that without knowing the memory card limits of the camera?

My inquiry is mostly out of curiosity, rather than use. However, if in the future I want to replace my cards with something larger and maybe faster, what will the camera take?

Thanks.

[hsbn · Accepted solution]

You don't have to worry about its limit, at least not with anything on the market now. The 6D can read both FAT and exFAT format card, so it should be able to see card up to 512 TB at least. But it only supports SDXC, so the upper limit should be 2 TB.

There are some people already tested the Lexar 256GB SDXC with the 6D, and it works great. Here is one of the review: http://www.technologyx.com/pc-hardware/storage/lexar-professional-600x-sdxc-uhs-1-256gb-card-review-...

[Skirball]

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@cidd47 wrote:

Ok, I know most of you recommend using smaller cards. That's what I have been doing. I just find it very strange that Canon has not said just how big of a memory card can be used in this camera.

Is it 64g?

Is it 128g?

Is it higher?

Maybe I only want it for shooting a full length movie. Maybe I only want it on one card. How can I do that without knowing the memory card limits of the camera?

My inquiry is mostly out of curiosity, rather than use. However, if in the future I want to replace my cards with something larger and maybe faster, what will the camera take?

Thanks.

---

As I said above, I'm fairly certain that it can go up to the theoretical max of SDXC: 2 terabytes.  Or, another way to say it, it will take any SDXC card you put in there (or SDHC, or SD).

And as I also said above, I think that Canon doesn't explicitly state how big it can go, because they can't test it.  Cards that big don't exist yet.  I know if I manufactured something I'd be hesitant to list a spec I couldn't test.  Well, in my industry it would be illegal to list a spec that wasn't validated.

[cidd47]

Thank you very much!

That pretty much answers the question.

I'll wait until the price comes down a little bit or if I need cards, other than what I have now.

Best Regards

[TCampbell]

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@cidd47 wrote:

Maybe I only want it for shooting a full length movie. Maybe I only want it on one card. How can I do that without knowing the memory card limits of the camera?

---

Movies have a different problem.  I was always puzzled as to why all DSLR cameras that shoot video will state that they cannot film a single clip longer than 30 minutes (I think it's 29 minutes and 59 seconds.)  Then I learned that this is more to do with tariffs.  Apparently if any device is able to film for longer than 30 minutes continuously then it has to be treated as a video camera and tariffed as such.

For the United States the tariff isn't bad... 2.1% plus state sales tax.  But most countries are closer to 5% and there are many countries where it's 20 to 25% tariff added to it.

Since Canon makes these products to sell world-wide (as do most of their competitors), they design the camera with that 30 minute hard limit on recording to avoid the tariffs.

That means no matter the size of your memory card... you can never record more than 30 minutes continuously (the FAT32 filesystem also has a 4GB filesize limit.)

In the video industry, it's generally preferred to shoot many short clips and weave them together to tell your story... rather than one long continuous clip (watch any movie or tv show... count the number of seconds before the camera angle cuts away to another camera.  It's never very long ... seldom longer than 10 seconds.)   If you shoot lots of short clips, the 30 minute limit is never a problem because each clip goes to it's own file.

[cidd47]

GOT AN ANSWER FROM CANON. I thought you might be interested in:

Thank you for contacting Canon product support regarding the maximum size of memory card that can be used in the EOS 6D.

This depends entirely on the type of card being used.  For very old original "SD" cards, the limitation of the specification was 2GB.  For SDHC cards, the specification tops out at 32GB.  For SDXC cards, the specification tops out at a theoretical 2TB, though no cards this size exist at this time.  The camera is also compatible with the UHS-I high speed transfer specification, but not the UHS-II specification.  You should be able to use any SDXC card currently on the market or that will be released on the market for several years to come.  However, you will very rapidly run into a point of diminishing returns, where larger cards provide you with no additional benefit. 

For instance, a currently available 512GB SDXC card can hold approximately 87,000 Large/Fine JPEG images from this camera, or 22,000 RAW images, or over 37 hours of 1080p HD video.  Most people will never shoot that many images before downloading them to their computer.  If you do, then in my professional opinion you may be inviting disaster.  You could easily lose all of those images to an inadvertent button press or accidental corruption of the file system.  There's an old adage about "not putting all of your eggs in one basket" that you may want to take into consideration.  A theoretical 2TB card would hold over 349,000 JPEG images, or approximately 3.5x the rated life expectancy of the shutter mechanism in your camera.  You would be nearly half way through the expected life span of your fourth shutter mechanism before you would fill the card. 

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance with your EOS 6D. Thank you for choosing Canon.

Sincerely,

Dirk
Technical Support Representative