The biggest drawback to shooting RAW on any camera-iPhone 12 or otherwise-is the size of the files you produce. Potential Drawbacks of Shooting in ProRAW The format is also compatible with features like SmartHDR, Deep Fusion, and Night mode.ĭon’t get it confused with the similarly named ProRes RAW, which is a lossless video codec used on high-end cameras. ProRAW is used purely for still images and isn’t compatible with video.
You can use ProRAW with all lenses on your iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max. Apple recommends using editors that explicitly support ProRAW, so if you see unexpected results, you might want to try a different app. This is different from camera manufacturers like Sony that still use proprietary formats, which can make editing images difficult in older software. DNG, which means that you can (theoretically) open a ProRAW image in any editor that supports. AppleĪpple’s ProRAW uses the ubiquitous digital negative file format. This is why the RAW files are commonly used by professionals and photography enthusiasts who spend more time poring over their edits in apps like Photoshop and Lightroom. The format is not used for sharing photos, but rather, for editing them before they are exported to more efficient formats like JPEG. It might help to think of RAW photos like the negatives of the film era. RAW files are perfect for making edits like changing the exposure, where an abundance of raw data preserves more detail in shadows and highlights. By altering certain parameters, you can change how the photo is rendered after it’s taken. This data is rendered by an image editing application like Photoshop or Apple’s own Photos app. These files are essentially raw data, hence the name. Whereas lossy formats like JPEG and HEIF will discard “unnecessary” information when you squeeze the shutter, RAW formats hold on to most of it. The RAW format is commonly found on mid-to-high-end cameras, allowing photographers to capture as much information in a scene as possible. ProRAW is Apple’s implementation of the RAW image format, available on the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and likely on future iPhones.