wolan Posted March 7, 2024 Share #1 Posted March 7, 2024 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi, I have seen many threads related to the "best SD for M1". My question is however, what should the minimum write and read speed the card should have to not experience any slowness or other problems while shooting? Would a card with the following characteristics be ok: Class 10, UHS-I U3, V30, reading: 200 MB/s, writing: 140 MB/s? Thanks Edited March 7, 2024 by wolan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 7, 2024 Posted March 7, 2024 Hi wolan, Take a look here SD card for M11 / M11m: minimum (reasonable) speed requirements. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lct Posted March 7, 2024 Share #2 Posted March 7, 2024 Leica does not advise using UHS1 cards, although the following ones work fine on my M11. Better choose an UHS2 card as a precaution. List of my cards FWIW: • UHS1 Sandisk Extreme Pro 95mb/s (64gb) • UHS1 Sandisk Extreme Pro 170mb/s (256gb) • UHS2 Sandisk Extreme Pro 300mb/s (64gb) • UHS2 Sony Tough 300mb/s (64gb) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmzimelka Posted March 8, 2024 Share #3 Posted March 8, 2024 (edited) 11 hours ago, wolan said: Hi, I have seen many threads related to the "best SD for M1". My question is however, what should the minimum write and read speed the card should have to not experience any slowness or other problems while shooting? Would a card with the following characteristics be ok: Class 10, UHS-I U3, V30, reading: 200 MB/s, writing: 140 MB/s? Thanks The camera doesn't make use of UHS II very well, but there are differences between UHS-I and UHS-II cards. Here are some measured speeds with the M11 to internal and some SD cards... - Writing speeds to internal memory: About 124.4 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Sandisk Extreme Pro 95 MB/S 64GB UHS-I card: About 69 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Sandisk Extreme Pro 300 MB/S 128GB UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Lexar Professional 32GB 2000x UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Lexar Professional 32GB 1667x UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Writing speeds to ProGrade 128GB V60 (Gold) UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Transfer speeds from camera SD storage via USB-C cable: About 69 MB/sec - Transfer speeds from camera INTERNAL storage via USB-C cable: About 83 MB/sec Edited March 8, 2024 by hmzimelka 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmzimelka Posted March 8, 2024 Share #4 Posted March 8, 2024 (edited) 11 hours ago, wolan said: Hi, I have seen many threads related to the "best SD for M1". My question is however, what should the minimum write and read speed the card should have to not experience any slowness or other problems while shooting? Would a card with the following characteristics be ok: Class 10, UHS-I U3, V30, reading: 200 MB/s, writing: 140 MB/s? Thanks Also keep in mind the notes Leica left in the previous firmware updates that with certain UHS-I cards some "Technical Issues" can take place. And that an update would be released soon with their words being, "This error will be remedied shortly" (that was some 3 months ago!) Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited March 8, 2024 by hmzimelka 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/390506-sd-card-for-m11-m11m-minimum-reasonable-speed-requirements/?do=findComment&comment=5080407'>More sharing options...
chris7273 Posted March 8, 2024 Share #5 Posted March 8, 2024 (edited) 16 hours ago, wolan said: Hi, I have seen many threads related to the "best SD for M1". My question is however, what should the minimum write and read speed the card should have to not experience any slowness or other problems while shooting? Would a card with the following characteristics be ok: Class 10, UHS-I U3, V30, reading: 200 MB/s, writing: 140 MB/s? Thanks That’s what I have and it’s ok. But I am a “slow” photographer. Never use burst mode and take my time between shots. card : Sandisk extreme pro 128 with the exact same specs that you mentioned have fun with your M11 Edited March 8, 2024 by chris7273 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marchyman Posted March 8, 2024 Share #6 Posted March 8, 2024 23 hours ago, lct said: Leica does not advise using UHS1 cards, although the following ones work fine on my M11. Better choose an UHS2 card as a precaution. List of my cards FWIW: • UHS1 Sandisk Extreme Pro 95mb/s (64gb) • UHS1 Sandisk Extreme Pro 170mb/s (256gb) • UHS2 Sandisk Extreme Pro 300mb/s (64gb) • UHS2 Sony Tough 300mb/s (64gb) I used to use the first card you listed. No issues. I now use the third card you listed. Again, no issues. I like 64 gb cards. They fit well with my camera use. If I ever finding myself needing more than that I'll swap cards as I always have a spare card with me. The question then will be what to do about the copies of the images in internal memory. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted March 8, 2024 Share #7 Posted March 8, 2024 Advertisement (gone after registration) It is the main reason why i bought a 256gb card but i end up preferring 64gb cards generally. Faster ones like the Sony take shorter to backup too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Lu Posted May 20 Share #8 Posted May 20 On 3/8/2024 at 2:22 AM, hmzimelka said: The camera doesn't make use of UHS II very well, but there are differences between UHS-I and UHS-II cards. Here are some measured speeds with the M11 to internal and some SD cards... - Writing speeds to internal memory: About 124.4 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Sandisk Extreme Pro 95 MB/S 64GB UHS-I card: About 69 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Sandisk Extreme Pro 300 MB/S 128GB UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Lexar Professional 32GB 2000x UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Writing speeds to Lexar Professional 32GB 1667x UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Writing speeds to ProGrade 128GB V60 (Gold) UHS-II card: About 99 MB/sec - Transfer speeds from camera SD storage via USB-C cable: About 69 MB/sec - Transfer speeds from camera INTERNAL storage via USB-C cable: About 83 MB/sec Which one is better for M11: SanDisk Extreme Pro 300MB/s 128GB UHS-II card vs ProGrade 256GB V60 (Gold) UHS-II card. My M11 has experienced multiple freeze, especially after wakeup from standby mode. People are alleging V90 card is the probable cause.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 20 Share #9 Posted May 20 Is your camera updated to the latest firmware? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted May 20 Share #10 Posted May 20 (edited) 9 hours ago, James Lu said: Which one is better for M11: SanDisk Extreme Pro 300MB/s 128GB UHS-II card vs ProGrade 256GB V60 (Gold) UHS-II card. My M11 has experienced multiple freeze, especially after wakeup from standby mode. People are alleging V90 card is the probable cause.... I use both UHS2 ProGrade and Sandisk 64gb 300mb/s v90 cards under the current firmware 2.2.2. No problem on my early M11, freeze issues at startup have been a thing of the past since firmware 2.1.3. As for v90 cards being the cause of such freezes, this was a rumor a few months ago but has not been documented since firmware 2.1.3 IIRC and my own v90 cards work normally. In your case, i’d make sure that firmware 2.2.2 is implemented, but i have no experience with UHS2 128gb or 256gb cards sorry. Edited May 20 by lct Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Lu Posted May 20 Share #11 Posted May 20 SD Cards</a> for Leica M11" width="200" data-embed-src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZEKe3Y_coHg?feature=oembed"> I looked around online. Looks this lady has resolved this puzzle.... It looks now with the new firmware update, SanDisk UHS-II V90 128G is the way to go.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted May 20 Share #12 Posted May 20 I did not watch the whole video but the lady there is referring to 2.0.2 firmware which is from November 2023. The firmware to consider now is 2.2.2 from May 2025. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedaes Posted May 20 Share #13 Posted May 20 3 minutes ago, lct said: The firmware to consider now is 2.2.2 from May 2025. From the Notes for FW 2.2.2 Important information regarding the use of SD cards In rare cases, the use of UHS-I cards would result in some technical issues. Leica recommends using UHS-II cards to generally avoid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted May 20 Share #14 Posted May 20 7 minutes ago, pedaes said: From the Notes for FW 2.2.2 [...] Leica recommends using UHS-II cards [...] Was the same with firmware 2.0.2. @James Lu is wondering if he could use v90 instead of v60 UHS2 cards if i understand well. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tseg Posted May 20 Share #15 Posted May 20 (edited) Knock on wood... never a glitch with this card used as primary storage in my M11-D since Day 1. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited May 20 by Tseg Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/390506-sd-card-for-m11-m11m-minimum-reasonable-speed-requirements/?do=findComment&comment=5804892'>More sharing options...
darknessreaper666 Posted September 8 Share #16 Posted September 8 I'm on the latest firmware version of my leica m11 silver model but before that I use the older firmware version no problem using any of my own memory card UHS-I or UHS-II, I use mostly my UHS-I card 32GB or sometimes 64GB SanDisk or Toshiba, but when I shoot some kind of event like cosplay portraits or some portraits, I use my Lexar 128GB UHS-II card V60 it is recommended by Reddotforum and even other leica users. it is not that expensive when I bought it sometimes you can get it in Amazon for cheaper price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel Posted September 8 Share #17 Posted September 8 I have always used Lexar maximum speed. Never had an issue. Currently using lexar professional 2000x Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted September 8 Share #18 Posted September 8 I have the UHS II 300mbps 64gb Sandisk card in my M11. Two Lexars in my SL2-S. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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