I thought I’d do a few reviews on the little things that photographers use, the unsung heroes of the camera bag that we use day to day without really noticing. And I’m going to start with the smallest, my memory cards.

I should point out that I am not what you would call particularly ‘techie’, more so perhaps than your average person but this won’t be an overly technical review. I probably couldn’t even explain what all of the numbers and letters mean that are printed on the card. The card in question being an Integral Memory UltimaPRO X2 SD card which is my SD card of choice.

Actually let’s put that to the test… the 256GB at the top is clearly the storage capacity. The II refers to UHS-II (Ultra High Speed), which differs from a UHS-1 card in that it has two rows of pins on the back instead of one and more importantly, all things being equal, is going to be considerably faster. I did have to look up V90, U3 and C10… they are all write speed ratings, each the fastest in that class. If you were wondering, the reason there are three different speed ratings is that they have been added as cards have evolved and define different methods of accessing the memory on the card. The most important numbers though are the 300MB/s read speed and 280MB/s write speed which indicate how fast the card can access and save the photos.

Now all that is out of the way what I’m really interested in is how well it works and for most of us memory cards are just something that we buy and forget about, but they are an important link in the chain.

I first started taking more interest in the spec of my memory cards when I upgraded my cameras to mirrorless. Camera manufacturers sell us cameras based on all sorts of impressive numbers, megapixels, frames per second etc. but to get the best from modern cameras you need a card that can perform at the same level. Unlike my previous DSLR, my Canon mirrorless camera bodies are both compatible with UHS-II cards and can take advantage of the extra speed available.

I have two main cameras, the Canon R5 & R7 and they each have two card slots - 1 SD & 1 CF Express card in the R5 and 2 SD cards in the R7.

As a landscape photographer I ask very little of a memory card. It just needs to be reliable and durable. I have found memory cards generally are very reliable, I’ve only ever had two fail, one a CF card, one an SD card and both were well known brands. Of course reliability needs a longer test than the few months I have been using this card but so far, so good. The same is true of durability and that might seem a strange requisite of a memory card but my workflow involves taking the card out of the camera after every shoot, using a card reader to download the images before the card is reinserted into the camera and formatted. I’m often in a rush and as a result not always as careful as I should be. Fairly recently I had to throw an SD card away because the plastic case was splitting apart. The casing of the UltimaPRO cards feel noticeably thicker and less flexible than other SD cards I’ve used and are actually advertised as shock proof, waterproof, X-Ray proof and temperature resistant but I won’t take that as a challenge.

As I write this review it occurs to me that those aren’t my only requirements, the read speed of the card is another important factor, i.e how quickly the image files can be downloaded from the card to my computer. Combined with a compatible card reader, this card will download my images considerably faster so I spend less time waiting around.

When it comes to wildlife photograph though the write speed of the SD card becomes much more important, particularly when using the R7, which when reach is important, is usually my camera of choice for wildlife. Compared to the Canon R5 the R7 doesn’t have a big buffer and as it is capable of a maximum speed of 30 frames per second (fps) compared to the 20fps of the R5, it is reached even quicker. When the buffer is reached the camera can’t be used until it catches up so valuable seconds and award winning images are potentially lost. The faster the write speed of the card, the less likely the buffer will be reached.

So how much difference do all the impressive numbers on these cards actually make? I tested three cards with the R7 (set to CRAW rather than RAW) and recorded the number of shots it took to reach the buffer and the length of time for the buffer to clear.

Sandisk Extreme Pro UHS-1 V30 U3 C10

Integral Ultima Pro X2 UHS-II V60 U3 C10

Integral Ultima Pro X2 UHS-II V90 U3 C10

Time to
clear buffer

14.29 sec

7.24 sec

6.05 sec

Shots to
reach buffer

72

138

197

It was a fairly simple test but I think the results are pretty overwhelming, highlighting the difference a quality memory card makes. Combining a fast SD card with a little restraint with my shutter finger and I should be able to avoid hitting the buffer and missing any of the action.

I should give the review a little context in terms of how and when I use the cameras (and thus the memory cards). During the ten months or so that I have been using Integral cards, I have taken 29,552 images. These cover a range of subjects from landscapes to birds in flight in conditions ranging from -15°C temperatures during two winter trips to Iceland to over 40°C heat during a ten night trip to the Namibian deserts and of course the ever changing and usually damp British weather. Interestingly the heat affected the cameras battery life much more than the cold… neither affected the cards thankfully.

Finally I should point out that I am a brand ambassador for Integral Memory, but I would never endorse a product that I didn't use myself and I’m happy to say that these are the best SD cards I’ve used.

Find out more about Integral Memory cards.