SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Did you even know that you could shoot raw images with the iPhone?

The raw file format, in the form of Apples ProRaw, has been available since the iPhone 11. In another recent thread, the question about whether it was possible to shoot in native Raw was asked, with native Raw being the same as raw in a real camera . Initially, the discussion was informative but, for me, it quickly went south, so I decided to post here. As it turns out, you can shoot using ProRaw or native Raw. Using Apples native app, only ProRaw can be used. But using 3rd party apps, such as Moment, Pro Photo or Halide, you can also shoot native Raw.

There are pros and cons to each approach so rather than trying to describe them myself, I'm attaching an article written by Lux (the authors of Halide) describing the strengths and weaknesses of each format in great detail.

https://lux.camera/understanding-proraw/

I've used both, but I found this article very informative.

Hope you find this info informative.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Thank you for the info and link!

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Thanks for sharing the info. I’ve been shooting more in Raw lately.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Excellent article about Apple ProRAW. It deserves a careful read.

Someone accustomed to developing camera images starting from the raw file might find it difficult to adopt new habits and rely on an approach that does some things for you that would be difficult or impractical if you restrict yourself to native files.

The biggest problem with the original native raw file is that it's a single 12-bit file. That means that to get a quality image you need to force the camera to expose carefully at low ISO via ETTR. Even then there may not be enough dynamic range (DR). That takes us back nearly two decades to the dawn of ETTR. The fact that it is a real raw file that needs demosaicing is seldom an advantage.

The main advantage of ProRaw is that, when the scene demands more DR, it automatically takes multiple images and combines them into a single file. The combining multiple images into a single HDR image (no longer pure raw) is only the beginning of the process. The rest of the work is more selective - where to sharpen or remove noise and how much, where to change the colors and saturation and a host of other things that make the image coming from ProRAW work better. The camera knows the difference between sky, water, grass, faces, etc., and treats them differently.

I have tried both the native raw and ProRAW and compared them to the HEIC (more compressed than a high quality JPEG) results from Apple. I found it extremely difficult and time consuming to match a JPEG to the automatic HEIC image.

For someone who is accustomed to working with a single raw file from a conventional camera, it takes a bit of getting used to the notion that you can easily get a better image from PwoRAW and use the HEIC SOOC.

And you can also do the same thing you are accustomed to doing with a raw file with the ProRAW DNG, even if it is not a pure raw file - a technical distinction without a difference.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

Well said Scotty, my sentiments exactly.

Native Raw from 3rd party apps and ProRaw from the iphone's camera app are just another tool to use. Understanding what they are and their strengths and weaknesses allows one to understand when and under what circumstances to use them. For most, I feel the discussion of native raw vs proraw would be about as exciting as going to the dentist. But for a few others, it may allow them to find more utility with the camera that they always have with them.

Mike

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Bill Murray in Little Shop of Horrors just popped into my head.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA