Tag: RAW
The Power of RAW on iPhone, Part 2: Editing RAW
This is the second in a series of posts on RAW photography on iPhone. I previously wrote about what RAW is by explaining a little on how cameras work, how you can use RAW, and what some key tradeoffs of using RAW are. New to this series? I suggest you start there. I’m the design half of the team that builds Halide, a camera app for iPhone. As a result, I take — and edit — a lot of photos on my iPhone. This guide will walk you through the basics of RAW editing and adjustment. Most of these pointers also apply to editing RAW files from other cameras, but some parts focus on iOS editing workflows and how to transfer your RAW files from your iPhone to your Mac or PC. Most of Halide’s (and other iOS RAW camera apps’) RAW shots come out fairly ‘flat’, as they are basically designed to give you maximum editing freedom instead of looking punchy right out of the camera. My workflow is typically to edit them a bit and share them: Editing RAW files can be done right on your iPhone, or on your Mac or PC. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves: the editing..
The Power of RAW on iPhone, Part 1: Shooting RAW
I take a lot of photos. Usually I pack either a Sony A7R2 or a Leica M—two cameras with massive sensors and brilliant lenses. But lately, I’ve been shooting exclusively with the iPhone X, and have found it absolutely excellent. I am the design half of the team that makes the iPhone app Halide, which is a camera app with manual controls and, most importantly, RAW capture. RAW is a file format that holds an incredible amount of information. We’ll get into the details later, but first let’s show what you can do with it. RAW affords you editing freedom. Absolute freedom to change the colors and white balance of a photo, or recover too-bright highlights and too-dark shadows. However, as awesome as RAW is, it’s important to know RAW isn’t a magic “enhance” button. Some of our users sometimes reach out with confusion about their RAW images looking worse than a regular capture from the stock camera app. It’s helpful to understand how a RAW file is fundamentally different than JPEG, to fully understand the tradeoffs. So What’s a RAW file? Think of the process of taking a photo as three steps: 1. A sensor captures light 2. Software translates..
