Android is probably one of the best operating systems for photography and camera quality, particularly on the more expensive and more powerful smartphones. To help the hardware components we find valid photography apps, which in addition to having very convenient image sharing and backup options, in many cases allow you to take RAW photos, as you would do with an SLR camera. If so far we only knew the photos in JPG format for your photos, it's time to take the big step towards photos taken like real professionals: in this guide we will explain what RAW photos are and how we can get them on Android, so as to being able to shoot at a higher level.
Best app for taking RAW photos on Android
Shooting in RAW is not easy, even more if we do not know what is behind this format and we do not know how to make shots in this form. For this we have tried to collect as much information as possible in the following chapters, with the inevitable list of apps that we can use for free to make RAW photos on Android.What is a RAW photo
For those unfamiliar with it, a RAW photo is different from a JPEG image because it is uncompressed and, therefore, more flexible and easy to edit and process. When taking a photo, normally the processing software (i.e. the camera app) takes the data acquired by the camera image sensor, processes them by adjusting exposure, contrast, sharpness and other things, compresses them and saves the image as a JPEG file, which is a standard that can be opened in any image viewer.The RAW photo instead is the one that is generated after a shot, without software processing.
The main difference is that the RAW image is not compressed, it is not processed, it seems flatter, less beautiful, but ready to be modified and improved by another program that can be PhotoShop or anything else, without losing quality. The RAW file is three or four times larger than a JPEG file, since it is not compressed and needs work to bring out the best in the photo.
Taking RAW photos on Android is something that most people do not need to do, but the important thing is to know that it can be done, especially for professionals or for those occasions when you want to get the best possible shot or if you are located in low light conditions.
Compatibility with the RAW format
On Android, RAW photos can be saved to a file with the .DNG extension, which is Adobe's RAW format. To shoot in RAW, the phone (or tablet) must however support a special library of the Android operating system called Camera2 API . This support must be made by the smartphone manufacturer and, if it is missing, there is nothing else to do because it cannot be added via an app (the ones we will see below use this library to make the shots).Nowadays we can say that the RAW format is available on all high-end smartphones produced by Samsung Galaxy, LG, Google, Xiaomi, Motorola and Sony, with the latter actually supporting it on all the models on the market .
App for taking photos in RAW
Among the apps for taking RAW photos and processing DNG images, we recommend you try the ones below, so as to be sure to use the library indicated to take these special photographs.Google Camera
One of the best apps for taking RAW photos on Android is undoubtedly Google Camera.
This camera app would be perfect for every Android smartphone, but for a precise choice of Google it cannot be installed on all devices and some functions are present only on Pixels or on devices that have support for Android 10 or later.
If we can install this app on our device, it is better to immediately test it to see if it is possible to make the photographs in RAW.
HedgeCam 2
What we believe to be the best camera app for taking RAW photos on Android is HedgeCam 2.
In fact, it transforms our smartphone into a real SLR, with which you can adjust any type of photographic setting and choose the RAW format, so you can take real photos ready to be modified later on the PC or with other photo editing apps. It is currently one of the best choices, especially if we have a high-end smartphone with 3 or more camera sensors.
DSLR Camera Professional
Another very valid app that transforms our smartphone into a real reflex is DSLR Camera Professional.
Just like for the previous app, we can use this advanced app to adjust any type of effect or photographic setting, so as to replicate the operation of a professional SLR. In the app settings you can choose the format of the photos taken, from which you can choose RAW on enabled smartphones.
Other apps for taking RAW photos
If the apps seen so far have not convinced you, below we can try other camera apps with support for RAW files, so we can find the one that suits our needs:- Lightroom mobile, the smartphone version of the popular, free photography program, works very well both for taking RAW photos and for processing them. Especially when editing, Lightroom is an excellent app, with basic options to adjust brightness and contrast and with options to adjust the tones to produce results that would be expected only on PC.
- Manual Camera is a non-free professional app, which costs 3 Euros, which allows you to take RAW photos as if you were using a camera, with an analog-style dial for ISO control, white balance, option to adjust the shutter speed and focus, which allows you to adjust the exposure settings for one shot.
- PROSHOT is another professional-quality app with support for RAW photos, with even more features than Manual Camera, even if it costs a Euro more.
- Camera AZ is instead an app similar to the two above, but free, to manually control the shot, including focus, shutter speed and ISO. You can also choose to take photos in RAW-only mode or as RAW + JPEG.
- Snapseed, the Google photo editing app for Android, does not take photos but is able to process RAW photos in DNG format, with excellent results.
Conclusions
Taking photos in RAW is stuff for photography professionals and we advise you to use it only if we want to take the shots from a photographer to make them improve or develop, so that he can have a good starting point for photo editing operations. For all daily shots, better use the default camera app or one of the apps seen in our guide to the best camera apps for Android and iPhone to take photos with your mobile phone .If we want to edit photos personally, we invite you to read our guides The best free photo editing and graphics programs and Best Apps to edit photos on Android .
