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Tuesday, 2 October 2018

Is it worth bothering with RAW files on a smartphone?



























































I'm a great believer in RAW files. On my Leicas and m4/3 cameras I don't even shoot jpgs these days. But when it comes to my smartphones I do the opposite. Why is that?

I find by using larger sensors (and I include m4/3 in that) there is a lot of latitude available to process as I want in Photoshop. That also applies to scanned film. However, with the size of smartphone sensors that latitude is not there to the same extent. Even though the manufacturers work very hard to compensate for all the problems that small sensors and small lenses throw up. I've found that I have less success in processing smartphone raw files as I would want. If true raw is what they actually are. I suspect that iPhone and Huawei raw files are not quite what we would expect from larger sensor cameras. So, from experience I use the jpgs.

The reason is simple, all the work is done by the camera. To correct lens distortions and reduce noise for the most part. My Huawei P 20 Pro shoots amazing 40MP files. BUT only if the exposure is spot on. Noise builds up very quickly if there is under or over exposure and some rather nasty artefacts appear if elements like saturation and contrast get pushed too much. So my answer is keep it simple, use the convenience and speed of a smartphone camera, but don't try and be too greedy by assuming that these small sensor / lens cameras can compete with their larger counterparts. I have a Panasonic CM1 with a 1" sensor and that is somewhat better, but it still needs careful handling.

So, for me, smartphones are not there yet as a serious competitor to stand alone cameras. Yes they have made great strides and some are staggeringly good, but as yet they don't produce files that are 'flexible' enough to stand comparison with my other cameras. For most people that obviously doesn't matter, but they are yet to prove themselves to possess the same level of creative possibilities that 'proper' cameras do. Close, but no cigar as yet.



Stock photography by david martyn hughes at Alamy




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