Do you need RAW for mobile photography?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Whether it's worth messing around with images without compression or standard JPEG is enough when shooting on a smartphone.

It doesn't take long to prepare and carry around a bunch of equipment to get a great shot. Smartphone is always at hand and ready to shoot. You can immediately process the resulting photo and share it with your friends. For this, millions of people love mobile photography.

In this article, we'll talk about the RAW format on smartphones. What is it and what is the use of it in mobile photography? Let's figure it out now.

What is RAW

Literally, RAW is translated as "unprocessed" or "raw". Its peculiarity is that it allows you to take photos without loss in quality and detail. Any other format (the same JPEG) compresses the image, which reduces its size, but at the same time deprives of detailed information about color and light.

“It's great, of course,” you say, “but why do I need this information? I shoot in JPEG, and everything is beautiful."

And you'd be right: you don't need RAW unless you plan on doing post-processing. However, it should be noted that this format allows you to "squeeze" much more from the same frames than JPEG.

Thanks to its wide dynamic range capabilities, RAW is capable of stretching even hopeless shots. After sitting in the editor, you can adjust the exposure separately for light or dark areas, get rid of overexposures and achieve correct color reproduction.

You won't get results like this with JPEG photography. You will certainly lose in detail, noise and artifacts will appear.

All modern smartphones shoot in RAW. On most Android devices, this format can be selected in the standard Camera application. The iPhone has learned to work with RAW since iOS 10. However, for this you need to install a third-party application, such as Adobe Lightroom CC or ProCamera.

You can immediately edit the picture in the application or save it on your computer for further processing.

Is RAW really necessary for shooting on a smartphone?

I think you've found that RAW can help you achieve impressive results. But is it really necessary in mobile photography?

This is why many people use a smartphone camera: to quickly take a photo, sketch filters and post on social networks. The essence is speed, mobility, and for thoughtful work on photography there is a camera and a computer. You do not plan to use these images for commercial purposes, print them on huge billboards, and so on. The main thing that is required from mobile photography is a high-quality image and the ability to quickly process.

Few people will specially save a photo from a smartphone on a computer in order to painstakingly process it in Photoshop. After all, she will still go to Instagram, where she will be mercilessly squeezed.

Yes, JPEG images are of lower quality, but they weigh less and are processed faster. And if your hands are not hooks, the end result will please.

Shooting RAW is the right thing to do, but it doesn't make much sense for mobile photography. Smartphones have not yet matured to the level of "adult" photography, although they are developing very quickly. Hopefully in a couple of years I will be able to put the camera on the shelf and shoot only with my smartphone.