Can a phone gain RAW photo capture through a software update, or does the hardware have to support it?
Asked 4/17/2015
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I'm considering a phone that runs Android Lollipop, but it doesn't currently offer RAW photo capture. Is that usually a hardware limitation, or can a manufacturer enable RAW later with a software/firmware update? Also, if Android supports RAW, can a third-party camera app save RAW files on any phone, or does the phone maker still need to expose that capability?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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While Google created an API in Android Lollipop that exposes RAW images from the camera, Android leaves it up the each phone manufacturer as to whether they will make the camera RAW available to the user. Therefore, to gain access to RAW images, you need the phone manufacturer to enable it, and software to take advantage of it. And yes, it is possible for a phone manufacturer to enable this via a software update, since it is part of the Android Lollipop build.
For software, Camera FV-5, an Android Lollipop app, captures photos in Adobe RAW (DNG) format. This is taking advantage of the RAW support that is available in Android Lollipop.
AS mentioned, just having Lollipop and Camera FV-5 isn't enough either, your camera manufacturer must also make this API available as well. At the moment, only the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 make the API available, as does the OnePlus One. More info You likely do not see Camera FV-5 in the Play store because it is not compatible with your phone model.
The OnePlus One, being an Android-based Cyanogen OS phone, does not require the Camera FV-5 app, as RAW is enabled out of the box.
Originally by user4880. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4880
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Usually it depends on both hardware support and manufacturer software. Android includes APIs for RAW capture/DNG creation, but phone makers must expose that capability in their camera implementation. So yes: a manufacturer can enable RAW through a software update if the hardware and camera pipeline support it. But if the camera hardware/ISP only outputs processed JPEG data, an app alone cannot create true RAW files.
A third-party app can save RAW only when the phone already exposes RAW through Android’s camera API. In that case, apps such as Camera FV-5 can use it and write DNG files. If the manufacturer has not enabled RAW access, installing a different camera app generally won’t help.
So the practical answer is: RAW on Android is not guaranteed by the OS version alone. You need both device support from the manufacturer and an app that uses that support.
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