Compatible CFexpress Cards for the Canon EOS R5

Canon has officially released a list of compatible cards for the Canon EOS R5 (Amazon, B&H):

When recording movies, use a card with ample performance (fast enough writing and reading speeds) for the movie recording quality. Test cards by recording a few movies to make sure they can record correctly at your specified size.

*I was able to record 8K RAW with the 128 GB Sandisk Extreme Pro card. Unfortunately it’s the largest size currently available in India.

Based on this, it seems the Sony CFexpress cards are the best option.

Tips from Canon

• Before recording 8K or 4K movies, format cards by selecting [ Low level format ] in [ : Format card ].
• If you use a slow-writing card when recording movies, the movie may not be recorded properly. Also, if you play back a movie on a card with a slow reading speed, the movie may not be played back properly.

Limitations of SD cards on the Canon EOS R5

The following files cannot be recorded to SD cards.

1. RAW movies- 8K
2. ALL-I- 4K 119.9/100.0 fps (High Frame Rate movies)
3. 4K ALL-I HEVC (YUV422, 10-bit)
4. 4K 59.94/50.00 fps ALL-I

The bummer here is you can’t record 10-bit 4:2:2 on SD cards, or 120 fps. This means you have to use both CFexpress and SD cards to get the best out of the Canon EOS R5 (Amazon, B&H).

Check out my comprehensive real world review of the Canon EOS R5: