If you are looking for a good camera with optimum features that suits your budget, then nothing fulfills your requirement more than the Nikon D3300. It is certainly an idealistic entry level DSLR camera for beginners and has exceptional video quality and sharp image features. With comprehensive features, this camera is programmed to accept SD, SDHC and SDXC cards. Let’s look at the best memory cards for Nikon D3300.
What memory card does a Nikon D3300 use?
The Nikon D3300 uses SD, SDHC and SDXC cards. Each card has its own memory capacity with different Speed Class rating and different pricing. Where SD is the basic version which incorporates low storage capacity, SDHC can be classified as intermediate in terms of memory and SDXC is the advanced version with higher storage capacity.
The pricing depends on the type of memory cards as per Speed Class ratings. However, higher memory capacity influences camera performance and quality. For instance, if your prime requirement is recording movies you should opt for a SD Speed Class rating of 8 or above for best performance.
Lower Speed Class rating memory cards are unsuitable to serve the movie recording purpose as it may disrupt the movie recording experience.
What’s the difference between SD/SDHC/SDXC cards?
These abbreviations are used to determine the memory capacity of cards. The basic SD card or Secure Digital has a limited memory capacity of 2GB.
SDHC or Secure Digital High Capacity is the advance version that incorporates the memory capacity up to 32GB and comes in the sizes micro, mini and standard. These cards are formatted with FAT32 file system.
SDXC or Secure Digital Extended Capacity can be called the pro-version memory card that holds a maximum capacity from 32GB to 2TB. The exFAT file format is used to format the SDXC cards.
A device designed to support only SD cards will not support SDHC and SDXC memory cards, similarly a device that supports SDHC memory cards may support the previous version of SD cards but not in the case of SDXC. The SDXC is the most advanced and pro version and it is programmed to support both its previous versions the SD and the SDHC cards.
The Nikon D3300 supports the SDXC card which makes it compatible to support the previous SD and SDHC memory cards.
What kind of write speeds do I need?
Photos
Speed Class 6 with a write speed of 6mb/s is suitable for a Standard definition (SD) photo and if you are shooting a photo in High Definition (HD), Speed Class 10 which has write speed of 10mb/s to UHS3 with write speed capacity of approximately 30MB/s will be compatible depending on your usage capacity of shoots.
Video
Speed Class 6 is compatible for Standard Definition video and Speed Class 10 has a minimum write speed of 10mb/s that supports High Definition video recording.
Burst photography
UHS Ultra High Speed Class is compatible for burst photography as it is competent for quick data transfer encompassing a transfer speed of up to 312MB/S. These include UHS 1(UI) and UHS 3 (U3) amongst which U3 with write capacity of 30mb/s is best suitable to serve the purpose of burst photography.
High resolution/ High Fps video
U1 with write capacity of 10mb/s and U3 (30mb/s) are best compatible to serve the requirement of high resolution and high 60fps video shooting.
The Nikon D3300 supports UHS-1 cards and provides a pretty fast writing speed to suit your requirement, it could be a waste of money to buy a U3 card that fails to write as fast as the card reads.
Best Memory Cards for Nikon D3300
SDHC and SDXC memory cards with UHS-1 interface along with a Speed Class of 10 sounds like a reasonable pick and can be considered as the perfect compatible memory card for a Nikon D3300, taking the overall performance and features of the equipment under consideration.
Selecting an expensive card with interface UHS-2 won’t serve you any additional advantage as its high end performance won’t compliment the features of the device and you may end up disappointed spending more money for something that would not benefit you as much as your expectation.
There are multiple reputed brands available in the market that manufactures memory cards. All these brands are quite competitive in terms of features and performance. A comprehensive list of brands and its features may guide you to an extent to select the brands that would suit the Nikon D3300 keeping its features and performance in mind.
1. SanDisk Extreme U3 UHS-I
- Read/write speed: 60mb/s read and 39.2mb/s write speed
- Ideal for: full HD Video recording
- Sizes available: 16gb to 256gb
Sale 
SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I Card – C10, U3, V30, 4K UHD, SD Card – SDSDXXY-128G-GN4IN
- Shot speeds up to 90MB/s, transfer speeds up to 170MB/s [requires a compatible device capable of reaching such speeds, such as the SanDisk SD UHS I card reader (sold separately)] | Based on internal testing; Performance may be lower depending upon host device, interface, usage conditions and other factors 1MB=1,000,000 bytes; X = 150KB/sec
- Perfect for shooting 4K UHD video (1) and sequential burst mode photography, (1)Full HD (1920×1080) and 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) video support may vary based upon host device, file attributes and other factors. Compatibility – Compatible with microSDHC and microSDXC supporting host devices
- Capture uninterrupted video with UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and video Speed Class 30 (V30)(2) | (2)UHS Speed Class 3 designates a performance option designed to support 4K UHD video recording with enabled UHS host devices; UHS video speed class 30 (V30), sustained video capture rate of 30MB/s, designates a performance option designed to support real time video recording with UHS enabled host devices
- Built for and tested in harsh conditions (3): Temperature Proof, Water Proof, shock Proof, and X ray Proof, (3)Card only
- System ram type: ddr3l_1600_sdram
2. SanDisk Extreme Pro
- Read/write speed: 72.8mb/s avg. write and 90mb/s read
- Ideal for: Fast burst, full HD video
- Sizes available: 16gb to 256gb
SanDisk 64GB Extreme SDXC UHS-I Card – C10, U3, V30, 4K UHD, SD Card – SDSDXV6-064G-GNCIN, Black
- Shot speeds up to 60MB/s, transfer speeds up to 150MB/s requires compatible devices capable of reaching such speeds. | Based on internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host device, interface, usage conditions and other factors
- Perfect for shooting 4K UHD video(1) and sequential burst mode photography | (1)Full HD (1920×1080) and 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) video support may vary based upon host device, file attributes and other factors
- Capture uninterrupted video with UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30)(2) | (2)Sustained video capture rate of 30MB/s, designates a performance option designed to support real-time video recording with UHS enabled host devices
- Built for and tested in harsh conditions(3): temperature-proof, waterproof, shock-proof, and x-ray-proof | (3)Card only
3. Lexar Professional 633x
- Read/write speed: 95mb/s read and 70mb/s write
- Ideal for: Full HD images and videos
- Sizes available: 16gb to 512gb
4. Transcend V30 UHS-1
- Read/write speed:95mb/s read and 40mb/s write
- Ideal for: HD video recording
- Sizes available: 64gb to 256gb
- Sequential read speed of up to 95MB/s
- Class 10, U3 rating delivers speed and performance for burst mode HD photography and 4K Ultra HD videography
- Record, store and share videos, photos, music, files and more across device
- Compatible with point & shoot cameras, DSLR cameras, standard & advanced HD-enabled video cameras, and more
- Reliable & Durable: Magnet proof, shock proof, temperature proof, waterproof
6. Sony U3 UHS1
- Read/write speed: 94mb/s read 90mb/s write
- Ideal for: HD videos and high speed burst photos
- Sizes available: 16gb through 256gb
Conclusion
Buying the perfect memory card for the camera is the most essential part you need to keep in mind as your entire hard work completely relies on this small device, especially when you are working professionally and have spent hours looking for the perfect candid shot.
You certainly cannot afford to sabotage the hard work and perfect moments to be wasted if your shots fail to get saved or takes relatively a lot of time to read and write consuming your valuable time.
We also need to keep in mind that whichever memory card we plan to purchase should be completely compliant with the camera features. Don’t prefer buying a high end memory card spending a fortune which would fail to serve you the advance technology it has got just because your camera features do not support it.
The Nikon D3300 demands a big memory card as it has a 24 megapixel sensor. You can opt for a 32 GB or 64 GB depending on the amount of your usage.
There’s no need to buy UHS2 interface when you can settle for a UHS 1, as for a Nikon D3300 the UHS2 would certainly be a waste of money.
As far as brands are concerned you can refer the above list and select the best brand that is compliant to your usage and budget.
Nothing remains out of focus when shot on the Nikon D3300 as it successfully captures the finest detailed images with its Expeed 4 image processor and can shoot up to 5fps.
Even though it’s a low budget camera it can out-perform other high end cameras through its features because of its cost-efficiency factor, and if the right memory card is attested to it that boosts its performance. If not, it may sabotage your video quality and disrupt the overall camera performance.
