I just pulled the trigger on a Sony a1 for this huge wildlife trip to Costa Rica I have coming up in two weeks and honestly my bank account is screaming at me lol. I spent so much on the body and the 200-600mm lens that I almost forgot I need cards that can actually handle the 30fps burst rate. Im kind of panicking because I dont want to get out there and have the buffer lock up while a jaguar is crossing the river or something.

I spent all night looking at reviews and Im just more confused now. Everyone says the Sony Tough cards are the gold standard and the most reliable but they are so insanely expensive for like 160GB and i feel like i'll fill that up in ten minutes shooting uncompressed raw. Then I saw the Lexar Gold series and they seem cheaper but then I read a couple of forum posts saying they overheat after like 5 minutes of 8k video or they just randomly fail? And ProGrade is another option but some people say they dont fit perfectly in the slot?

I really need something that isnt gonna fail on me but I also cant spend another thousand bucks just on storage right now. Is the 80GB version even worth it? It seems tiny. Or should I just bite the bullet and get the big 320GB Sony ones even if it means eating ramen for a month? I keep reading about VPG400 certification too and how important that is for video but then some people say for stills it doesnt matter as much? But the a1 is all about that speed so I dont want to bottleneck the most expensive thing I own.

What are you guys actually using in your a1 day to day for heavy burst shooting? Do the third party cards like Pergear or Exascend actually work or am I just asking for trouble trying to save a few bucks? My trip is so close and I still havent ordered anything yet because I keep second guessing...