Samsung launched its Expert Raw app in beta on the finish of 2021; presently, it’s only out there for the S21 Ultra. The app permits you to management handbook publicity settings for all 4 of the rear cameras, which is sweet, however the extra attention-grabbing factor it permits you to do is shoot multi-frame RAW recordsdata. Here’s what you must learn about Expert RAW – what it’s, why it’s helpful, and learn how to use it.

What is multi-frame RAW?

The brief reply is that it’s RAW however higher. In normal, RAW taking pictures saves extra knowledge than a JPEG picture file, which is a big profit in the event you desire to fine-tune issues like white stability and publicity photograph modifying software program. JPEGs are smaller and extra simply shareable, however these sorts of settings are “baked in” to avoid wasting area, and so they’re a lot much less versatile for post-processing. Plenty of smartphones provide a conventional RAW taking pictures mode – however with a significant drawback to taking pictures a normal JPEG picture.

When you’re taking a photograph in your cellphone’s native digital camera app, the ensuing JPEG (or HEIC) file usually consists of knowledge from a number of frames that have been captured in a short time whenever you pressed the shutter button. This permits the cellphone to create a single picture file with wider dynamic vary, making a backlit topic brighter with out including a complete lot of ugly noise, for instance.

Traditional RAW mode on a smartphone (or any digital camera) captures a single body that’s extra versatile for modifying than a typical JPEG however loses out on the computational advantages that include the multi-frame processing you’d get with the JPEG. This makes taking pictures RAW on a smartphone sort of pointless, to place it bluntly. Smartphones have very small sensors and lenses relative to conventional cameras, and so they use these computational methods to seize extra picture knowledge and compensate for that dimension drawback. As a outcome, it’s often higher to only let your cellphone do its factor and take a JPEG.

Multi-frame RAW, which a number of cellphone producers (together with Apple) have launched, makes RAW way more helpful, particularly whenever you’re taking a photograph together with your cellphone. You get the most effective of each worlds: knowledge from a number of frames recorded right into a single file, plus loads of flexibility for modifying.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Which Samsung telephones provide Expert RAW?

The Galaxy S22 collection, together with the usual S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra, have all supported Expert RAW as of February twenty fifth. Samsung plans to develop assist to some older fashions, however there are particular {hardware} necessities a cellphone has to fulfill to have the ability to run Expert RAW, so solely a handful of different top-tier gadgets will provide it. That checklist consists of:

• Galaxy S21 Ultra, full launch from beta anticipated someday in March
• Galaxy Z Fold 3, assist anticipated in April
• Galaxy S20 Ultra, Note 20 Ultra, and Z Fold 2, assist anticipated within the first half of 2022

How do you shoot images in Expert RAW?

The function isn’t included in the usual Samsung digital camera app; it’s truly a completely separate app that must be downloaded from the Galaxy Store. Open the shop app and seek for Expert RAW. Once you’ve downloaded it and agreed to present it entry to your digital camera and microphone, you’re prepared to begin taking pictures multi-frame RAW recordsdata.

The Expert RAW interface is just like the Pro mode in the usual digital camera app, together with the letter icons on the backside of the display that point out the 0.6x, 1x, and 3x lens choices. When you press the shutter, you’ll see textual content urging you to carry the cellphone nonetheless whereas the cellphone grabs a number of frames. Related: Expert RAW isn’t one thing you’ll wish to use for shifting topics.

The ensuing recordsdata are massive – round 30MB to 40MB every in my testing. There’s a high-efficiency RAW possibility you possibly can toggle on in the event you faucet the settings icon on the taking pictures display, however it solely saved me a few MBs per picture. Unless you got a cellphone with large storage, you’ll wish to follow utilizing Expert RAW when it is going to actually make a distinction, not on a regular basis.

How do you edit Expert RAW photos?

Expert RAW recordsdata are saved as commonplace DNG recordsdata, so you possibly can take them into any RAW processing software program that you simply like. Samsung features a Lightroom shortcut within the Expert RAW app, however if you wish to go that route, you’ll have to obtain Lightroom from the Galaxy Store and log in with an Adobe account. Downloading from the Galaxy Store entitles you to a two-month free trial, however after that, you’ll have to pony up for the $119 annual subscription.

In any case, you possibly can faucet the share icon when reviewing your picture to take your photograph right into a free app like Snapseed or put it aside to cloud storage to edit on a desktop.

With your picture within the modifying software program of your alternative, you’ll take pleasure in extra freedom to push shadows or pull again highlights than with a normal RAW file. I took a normal RAW and a multi-frame RAW of the identical backlit scene for comparability functions, and the distinction is important. Pushing the shadow slider all the best way +100 on each images, there’s some clear banding in the usual RAW, whereas the Expert RAW seems a lot cleaner.

So whenever you’re taking pictures a scene with a large dynamic vary, that is undoubtedly the higher RAW mode to make use of – simply don’t get too trigger-happy if you wish to go straightforward in your cellphone’s storage.