What is Camera Raw?

The fi rst thing to understand about camera Raw is that it is not

one fi le format, but many. Camera Raw formats are proprietary,

developed by camera manufacturers to best handle the data

produced by individual models. Hence, the Raw file format

produced by Canon’s EOS 5D will diff er from that produced by

the Nikon D3 and even from other Canon dSLRs.

Though there are some important diff erences, Raw is just another

fi le format like JPEG or TIFF. The major diff erence is that Raw fi les

contain unprocessed data from the camera sensor. Before Raw

data can be viewed as an RGB image, they have to undergo a

number of processes. If you shoot in an RGB format, such as TIFF or

JPEG, this processing is done in the camera. If you shoot Raw, the

same is done by Raw decoder software like that used in Aperture.

by

Apple Aperture 2. A Workfl ow Guide for Digital Photographers