Shooting in RAW format

Will the new Fairphone 4 be able to take pictures in RAW mode? For example DNG.
I come from the field of digital system cameras and I always take photos in raw mode. My previous cell phone, the Samsung S10e, supports this function and it is essential for me for a cell phone camera.

Welcome to the forum @Adda

You may like to read up on cameras and apps. Itā€™s more a function of the app than the FP model or camera. The FP3 will for example.

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My FP4 arrived yesterday, and the default camera does not save images in RAW/DNG format. Iā€™m a photographer, so thatā€™s an important thing for me as well. Iā€™ll be searching for a replacement Camera app until such time as FP add that to the default app.

If anyone has suggestions for a good RAW-saving camera app on the Play Store, Iā€™d appreciate it!

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Try Nikita G Cam V8, which is the one I use :slight_smile:

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Or Open Camera:

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Thanks for that. Iā€™d prefer not to side-load so will have a look at some others first, but it does look good!

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Iā€™ve installed Open Camera and will have a play with it for the next few days. Iā€™ve also installed Adobe Lightroom (I have an account) to see what their camera is like, as it also saves RAW files.

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For completeness sake, I thought Iā€™d let everyone know what Iā€™ve done about a camera app. As a photographer I do like the RAW files, even though itā€™s only photos on a mobile phone. It gives me options for more creativity when I donā€™t have my camera with me.

Iā€™ve decided on Open Camera - free, no ads, open source. Its UI does need some work, but its not bad. One of the really good things about it is that it saves the RAW/DNG files into your camera roll, where I have OneDrive set up to back them up to the cloud. No more having to plug my phone in to my computer after a walk to get my RAW files off of the phone. That makes them easy to remove from the phone and keep things tidy.

Lightroom camera is great, but I donā€™t now use it because it saves RAW files deep in a Lightoom folder somewhere, and doesnā€™t automatically save a JPG version in your Camera Roll.

And one more thing - the camera on the FP4 is not 48MP, itā€™s 20MP - thatā€™s what the RAW files are. The 48MP must come from a digital enlargement process.

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The camera is 48MPs (IMX582) but it may output other values.

Primary Camera - OIS Camera
  • 48 megapixels resolution with 48 megapixel output
  • 0.8um, 8000x6000 (48MP)

Sony IMX586 vs Sony IMX582

The Sony IMX586 is capable of recording 4K videos at up to 90 fps, but the Sony IMX582 is limited to 4K videos at just 30 fps.

|Specifications|Sony IMX586|Sony IMX582|
| ā€” | ā€” | ā€” |
|Sensor Size|1/2-inch (8 mm)|1/2-inch (8 mm)|
|Resolution (Native)|48 MP : 8000 x 6000 pixels|48 MP : 8000 x 6000 pixels|
|Resolution (Super Pixel Mode)|12 MP : 4000 x 3000 pixels|12 MP : 4000 x 3000 pixels|
|Pixel Size (Native)|0.8 Ī¼m|0.8 Ī¼m|
|Pixel Size (Super Pixel Mode)|1.6 Ī¼m|1.6 Ī¼m|

https://www.techarp.com/photo-video/sony-imx586-imx582-comparison/

The actual wording used in all of Sonyā€™s marketing, and all of the reviews is ā€œeffective megapixelsā€. Thatā€™s not the same as megapixels. If it were they would not use the word ā€˜effectiveā€™.

What I believe it really means, is that the sensor is a 12MP sensor (my bad, I originally wrote 20MP) and which uses algorithms - digital enhancement - to increase that by 4 to 48 effective MP (under each square of the the Quad-Bayer Filter there are 4 ā€˜sub-pixelsā€™).

All mobile phone cameras must use algorithms to process their images to the JPG output that you see on your screen, otherwise theyā€™d be really bad. This is for simple physical reasons, including, but not limited to, the amount of light falling on the very small sensor (compare that to the light that falls on a much larger DSLR sensor through a vastly larger lens) and the ā€˜cross-contaminationā€™ caused by such very small pixels being crammed so close together to make the small sensor.

Donā€™t get me wrong, you can take a good photo on a mobile phone with good light and with proper processing of the RAW image, and this is a good mobile phone sensor. But in this case the RAW (i.e. unprocessed by an algorithm) image is indeed 12MP. The processed JPG files produced by the built-in app are enhanced to 48MP.

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There are two lenses
2 times 20MP are nearly 48MP :wink:
The 8MP is merketing part :rofl:

For me the camera is OK doesnā€™t matter how much pixelā€¦

I so agree! The marketing is, well, interesting (and a little confusing!) but I really just want to take good photos. If I find out what lenses are used and if thereā€™s a profile for Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW Iā€™ll let everyone know.

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The issue is that in the FP3 the camera had 48MPs which were tied to a bayer array and could only output 12MPx.

In the FP4 each photosite can be processed separately hence the 48MPs gives 48MPx in selected situations. The output can be much smaller depending on a) user selection and b) what is offered by the software.

Of course I canā€™t really see any of the real detail, this is all hearsay.

Thanks for the links. Iā€™ll have a read of that when I have time!

Having each photosite accessible was a great moveā€¦ Instead of relying on the camera itself to process data from the photosites, it can now be offloaded to the phone and done in software :grin:

I guess this explains why the night photo in the FP4 gallery thread looks pretty good, although Iā€™m sure gcam can unlock some more of that sensorā€™s potential

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp4-pictures-gallery/78667/2

Is it just me or canā€™t Open Camera or Lightroom access the ultra wide angle lense?

i think itā€™s not just you. i dont remember having access to more than one lens in lightroom mobile or open camera

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Does it work with stock cam app? I remember from the first reviews that there is work to be done and updates to be provided for the cameras. Was this probably part and was it already fixed?

Did not read in detail
https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410238693649-FP4-Cameras-

At least here wide angel is mentioned, but stock cam is missing RAW
https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp4-pictures-gallery/78667/2?u=yvmuell

The stock cam app can access the wide angle lense but does not save pictures as DNG.

This :point_up_2:

Iā€™ve raised a ticket with Fairphone support about the stock fairphone camera app saving RAW files, and am awaiting further information.

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