The Nikon D5500 uses SD Card format memory cards. The camera has a single SD slot and supports UHS-I cards. The camera supports SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards. The names are given based on capacity, the standard SD cards are 2GB in capacity, while SDHC vary from 4GB to 32GB. Cards of 64GB and larger capacity as SDXC. You may see UHS-II cards available, but the D5500 does not have the UHS-II interface. The UHS-II cards are backwards compatible, so they will work, but only at UHS-I speed. So there is no benefit to using a UHS-II card in this camera.
You may see SD Class numbers such as Class 10 on SD cards. This is an older speed rating for cards that can reach at least 10MB/s read and write speed. 10MB/s is actually rather slow if you consider the camera will take images that are 25MB each (RAW 14-bit). The camera is capable of writing much faster. Newer UHS cards may have a UHS Speed Class rating of 1 or 3. These are denoted by U1 or U3. These numbers mean the card has a minimum write speed of 10MB/s (U1) or 30MB/s (U3). These ratings were created for video recording where HD or Ultra HD (4K) require a minimum continuous bitrate to work, but they are not very useful for telling how fast a card is for continuous burst shooting. In burst shooting the camera can take 5 fps of 25MB files, or over 125MB/s! UHS-I cards can go up to only 104MB/s, so it is obvious that the camera buffer is important as it will hold the overflow up to a certain point (about 10 frames in 14-bit RAW).
The number that is most important in choose an SD card is Write Speed. The fastest UHS-I cards quote up to around 90MB/s write speed. For continuous shooting performance you should use one of the faster cards. They will clear the buffer faster, and allow many more frames and higher fps after you reach the buffer capacity (about 10 shots RAW).
Nikon officially recommends only particular brands of SD cards that were tested in the D5500. The list of cards supported in the user manual includes SanDisk, Toshiba, Panasonic and Lexar (Platium II, Professional, and Full-HD Video) ranging from 2GB to 256GB capacity. However the list does not mention which specific cards were tested.
Below is a list of approved and recommended cards for the Nikon D5500 for best performance.
Fastest SD card for the Nikon D5500
SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-1 Memory Cards (90 MB/s write speed)
Ohter fast SD cards for the Nikon D5500
Toshiba Exceria UHS-I Memory Cards
Panasonic Gold Series UHS-I SD Cards
Lexar Professional 600x UHS-I Memory Cards
That SanDisk link is actually a UHS 3 card. I’m confused what to do now…
Hi Ronnie. The SD cards types and ratings are confusing. SanDisk Extrme Pro is available in both UHS-I (95MB/s) and UHS-II (280MB/s). Both cards are rated UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) which means they are able to sustain at least 30MB/s write speed. There is no such thing as UHS 3. The D5500 only supports UHS-I so that is the card you should get. The UHS-II card is reverse compatible with UHS-I but it is slower in UHS-I mode than the SanDisk UHS-I card. You want the SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I 95MB/s U3 card.
Is this card is compatible with nikon d5500, need to buy card SanDisk Ultra microSDHC UHS-1 Class 10 Memory Card
Hi Lav,
Yes, the card is compatible when used in an microSD to SD adapter.
Which is the maximum card capacity that can be seen by the D5500? I saw in the manual 64GB.
Hello Danny. Nikon updated their recommended cards to include 128GB and 256GB cards for the D5500. Higher capacity should work as well.
I bought 32GB Extreme Pro SD card thinking maybe it will be better since the manual only said 64GB.
Maybe the new manufactured D5500 series was upgraded with 128GB & 256GB. can you confirm if D5500 manufactured last 2015 and Thailand made is ok for 128GB?
Thanks
Hello Frank,
128GB and 256GB cards work with all D5500 regardless of production date.
Hi Lav
I bought a Kodak SDHC 4K UHS-I U3 (32 GB, Read Speed: Up to 95MB/s & Write Speed: Up to 90MB/s) for my Nikon D5500. The problem is, after taking some photos (about 30 min), the camera shows a message; “this memory card can not be used…” but when I connect SD card to laptop, it works properly and I can see the content. It is interesting to hear that, when I reconnect SD card to camera, it works properly until about 30 min and afterwards the story will be repeated. I replaced SD card by another one (same one) and I saw every thing happened as before. please help me.
Thanks
I want to buy the below card. Is it compatible with the nikon D5500? Is there any faster card then the below that is supported?
Lexar Professional 2000x 32GB SDHC UHS-II/U3 (Up to 300MB/s Read) w/USB 3.0 Reader – LSD32GCRBNA2000R
Hello,
Yes, the Lexar 2000x UHS-II card is compatible with the Nikon D5500. It will function in UHS-I mode in the camera. It will be limited at up to 104 MB/s; that is the fastest that the camera is capable of writing.
Hello,
I bought a PNY Elite Performance 64GB Flash Memory high speed SDXC class 10 UHS-I. Is it compatible with the nikon D5500?
Hello Ximena,
Yes, the PNY Elite Performance card will work in the D5500.
I just recently purchased a nikon d5500 and the nikon website states that the max sd card for hd video is 16gb with a sdhc memory card.
The way it is written shows that you can only record hd video with a sdhc memory card, is this true?
This is confusing to me, why can’t I use a 128 sdxc card for recording hd video?
what is the difference in sdhc as opposed to sdxc for recording hd video?
thank you your help would be greatly appreciated…
I believe I found the Nikon website chart that implies this, however that table is not formatted correctly. The “Full HD Video” is an old line of Lexar cards that was only offered in 4, 8 and 16 GB sizes. The camera will record HD video with any size card. The table lists cards that were tested with the camera by Nikon; it is not a complete list of cards that will work in the camera.
I have SanDisk Ultra “microSDXC UHS-I Card, 64 GB, Speed up to 48 MB/s 320X”, Full HD VIDEO, 🔟 is it good and compatible to be used in my new Nikon Camera D5500 model?
Hello Saged,
The Ultra card is compatible with the camera. The card read speed is 48MB/s but the write speed is much lower. You could use a faster card such as the SanDisk Extreme or Extreme Pro, both of these will allow faster write speed and will benefit your camera if you find the Ultra card writes too slow.