The Canon EOS 6D was released in 2012 and features a single SD memory card slot.
With 4.3fps in continuous shooting mode, it’s far from being the fastest DSLR, but when the burst mode is needed, you definitely don’t want the camera to take forever to clear the buffer and write the files.
Having a fast memory card is important for video as well (Full HD at 30fps on the 6D) because you want at least the minimum recommended speed for smooth video files.
Unless you mainly shoot in a studio with no external variables, you’ll want to make sure your memory card can get the job done quickly. This includes wedding, long exposure, action and portrait photography.
What Size & Speed?
The EOS 6D can use UHS-I type of cards and you won’t see any benefit from UHS-II as the camera is not able to utilize those faster speeds (like most DSLRs today). You don’t have to spend too much here and are fine with cards at around ~$30 (for 32GB).
Speed Class of SD Cards
| Class | Speed | Our opinion |
| Class 4 | 4MB/s | Too slow for most modern cameras. Skip it. |
| Class 6 | 6MB/s | A little bit better but unless you take 3 pictures a year, skip it. |
| Class 10 | 10MB/s | Good enough for most cameras with 20+ megapixels and Full HD video. |
| U1 (UHS) | 10MB/s | Good enough for most cameras with 20+ megapixels and Full HD video |
| U3 (UHS) | 30MB/s | Perfect for fast burst cameras, Full HD at 60fps and 4K video |
With 20 megapixels, the average JPEG file size is 6MB, whereas RAW is 25MB. You can check how many pictures you can store here.
These are the best 3 SDHC/SDXC memory cards you can get:
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-I U3
- Lexar Professional 95MB/s UHS-I U3
- Transcend R95/W60MB/s UHS-I U3
SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-I U3
The SanDisk 64GB Extreme Pro 32GB U3 is our favorite card, seeing as it’s inexpensive and provides writing and reading speeds near 90MB/s. It’ll handle the 70D’s burst mode and Full HD video with ease.
The speed makes it perfect for whatever you’re doing; fast bursts with large megapixel cameras, 4K video, let alone Full HD. It comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB sizes.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
Lexar Professional 300MB/s UHS-II U3
The Lexar Professional 300MB/s UHS-II U3 offers faster speeds for both writing and reading files. We just said above that the 6D won’t benefit from it, and it’s true, but if you transfer a lot of shots almost every day, you’ll appreciate the much faster transferring speeds to your computer.
Don’t have a memory card reader that supports such speeds? Luckily you get a free Lexar UHS-II reader along this card that will greatly reduce the waiting time. You also get a free downloadable Imaging Rescue software. It comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes. And in case you ever decide to upgrade to a newer model, chances are it’ll support UHS-II so you’re covered. We recommend this Lexar card only if you’re annoyed with your current slow sharing speeds.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
Transcend R95/W60MB/s UHS-I U3
The most affordable on our list, yet still UHS-I, is the Transcend 64GB UHS-I U3. In terms of reading speed it goes up to 95MB/s, while for writing the maximum is 60MB/s.
Transcend, just like Lexar above, gives you the option of downloading their free image recovery program and they both work pretty good in most cases. It comes in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB sizes.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
Comparison of the 3 Memory Cards
| Card | Size | Speed |
| Sandisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s U3 | 32GB | Writing files: ~90MBs. Reading files: ~95MB/s |
| Lexar Professional 300MB/s U3 | 64GB | Writing files: ~240MB/s. Reading files: ~280MB/s |
| Transcend R95/W60MB/s U3 | 64GB | Writing files: ~60MB/s. Reading files: ~90MB/s |
What Brand is the Best?
Your photographs and videos are stored on a memory card, so you should definitely not try to save any money here by buying from unknown, cheap brands. While you save a few bucks, you probably won’t even get the advertised speeds, and are at a bigger risk of losing your shots.
We see too many beginners choosing the cheap route here, but until you transfer your shots to a computer/online, this is where they’re stored at. You want the memory card to be the most reliable piece of your equipment!
Stick to Sandisk, Lexar, Transcend, Kingston, Sony and Toshiba. There may be a few other good brands out there, but the ones we mentioned are already more than enough and offer great prices.