Raw

RAW is a file directly from an imaging sensor that has not been processed by a converter. It is often referred to as a digital negative. It's advantage is the ability to produce a higher quality image. It cannot be used in a traditional image editor unless it has a RAW converter. For file extensions, Nikon uses .NEF, Canon .CR2, Pentax .PEF, Olympus .ORF and many others.

There is currently no agreed upon industry usage standard to RAW files. Different sensors could produce differing data, so cameras from the same manufacturer could also produce RAW file data that are not the same. RAW converters have to interpret the RAW data properly in order to convert them to a usable bitmap file formats such as TIFF and JPEG.

Glossary Terms