Best Memory Cards for Pentax K-1

Check out our list of the best memory cards for the Pentax K-1, a full frame DSLR camera.

It’s got 2 x SD memory card slots that both support UHS-I type. Since the camera has 36 megapixels, it’s recommended to get a fast card that can write those big files quickly. For shooting sports and action, this is pretty much a must!

Our favorite memory card is the SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB. It’s as cheap as the majority of UHS-I cards, yet is the fastest and most reliable of them all.

After looking through many memory cards available, these are the top 3 (best price/speed ratio).

Best Memory Cards for Pentax K-1

• SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-I (95MB/s)
• Lexar Professional 2000x UHS-II (300MB/s)
• Lexar Professional 1000x UHS-II (150MB/s)

SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB

Our top pick: For the price, nothing beats the SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB (95MB/s). It’s our most recommended card for almost all cameras because it’s super fast, cheap and UHS-I U3.

It’s more than enough for the K-1 that has a top writing speed of around ~30MB/s, but since it’s so cheap it doesn’t hurt buying something that’s a little bit of an overkill, just to be on the safe side.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Lexar Professional 2000x UHS-II

The Lexar Professional 2000x is currently the fastest SD card you can get. However, since it’s UHS-II and the Pentax K-1 can’t take the advantage of the extra speed, you will only see the benefit when transferring your files to the computer (it will be much faster).

In-camera, it will be just as fast as the SanDisk above simply because the K-1 tops out at UHS-I speed.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Lexar Professional 1000x UHS-II

The Lexar Professional 1000x 64GB is a slower, more affordable version of the card above. Instead of 300MB/s, it tops out at 150MB yet is still UHS-II U3 so the minimum will always be 30MB/s.

It’s less expensive than the SanDisk but it’s a fraction slower, despite being UHS-II. You will notice an improvement in read speeds (aka moving the images, displaying files etc.) but not in-camera.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Don’t buy memory cards from unknown brands or something that looks too good to be true. More often than not, those cards will fail right when you’ll need them the most.

A memory card is where all of your work is stored until you transfer that on the computer.

Make sure to get a card from any of the following brands: SanDisk, Lexar, Transcend and Kingston. There are a few good out there, but the 5 we mentioned are more than enough.