Apples take on raw files is, of course, a little different.
But why is that useful to you?
Is it good enough for pro photographers?
d3sign / Getty Images
Is it too complicated for casual shooters?
What Is ProRAW?
A cameras sensor doesn’t capture an image.
The types of edits that a RAW file enables.Halide
It just records how much light falls on each pixel.
Thats the raw file.
The next step is to take that data and turn it into colored pixels.
Only then does the camera get to work.
I think its a great thing to make RAW more accessible AND it offers a lot for Pros.
The iPhone does this, and a whole lot more.
It might apply HDR to bring details to the highlights and shadows.
And it also creates depth maps to apply its portrait blur.
And, big surprise, Apple uses an open standard to do this:DNG (digital negative).
This means that any raw-image-capable app will be able to read the files.
Reading that post, youll see that ProRAW isnt strictly raw.
It doesnt actually contain those original ones and zeros recorded by the sensor.
But there are some great reasons for using ProRAW.
One is if you already edit your photos in an app like Lightroom.
You might like to convert digital images to gritty B&W, for example.
In B&W, even digital noise looks like lovely film grain.
Its also likely that apps will add features that use the extra info in these ProRAW files.
And you might also pick and choose what parts you keep.
Its extremely powerful, if thats what you need, and the only penalty is the extra file size.
Its a real win-win.
