RAW image files , or raw image files, stand out mainly because they contain all the data and information captured by the camera’s sensor. It is a special format, especially if we take into account that it is a raw snapshot , in such a way that it contains absolutely all the information that the camera has captured at the time of capturing, without carrying out any type of processing.
Due to this, it is a file that can become very large, since the image is saved without any type of compression. We could even define it as a kind of “digital negative”, in such a way that it can be modified later since it would be a “raw” photograph. In this way, the digital image is stored on the memory card of our camera (or even that of the mobile phone) with hardly any processing.
For this reason, it is an option chosen primarily by professional photographers and non-amateur users , since it is considered one of the most flexible formats when we then proceed to edit it, using professional software tools.
JPEG images , however, are processed and compressed by the camera, resulting in smaller files, with an obvious loss of some details and information. While it is true that most users hardly notice the change, especially when choosing the highest quality setting option (between 90 to 95 percent), professional photographers prefer to choose the RAW format because the camera captures the raw snapshot, with all the data, without processing it.
But in what way could we convert RAW images to JPEG files , if our camera captures the files in this format? There is an excellent program of visualization and conversion, absolutely free, baptized with the name of IrfanView.
It offers us the possibility of opening the most common RAW formats, used by brands such as Canon, Kodak, Fuji, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax, Olympus and Sony, to later be able to save them in JPEG format. Of course, remember that each camera manufacturer has its own RAW file format.
For example, Nikon’s RAW files are .NEF, while Canon’s are .CR2 or .CR3. Whereas, on Android mobile phones that support RAW, they generally shoot in DNG, which is a universal file format, unlike Apple, which has its own ProRAW format.
In addition, this very interesting application also allows us to convert files in batches , an excellent option when we have too many files in our camera.
