Which is the best smartphone camera for shooting in RAW format? As smartphone’s camera becomes more powerful, it has essentially replaced the Digital Compact Camera dominated by Canon, Sony and Nikon. Today’s smartphone camera is 10 times better than the second or third generation digital compact camera, thus making it an ideal entry point for those interested in photography but don’t want to invest in a DSLR first. Skill is always more important than hardware, once you have the necessary skills, any picture taken with any camera is as good as what can be achieved with a simple DSLR.
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The first step towards being a pro in photography is to shoot in RAW. So what is RAW? RAW is a file format that captures all the data recorded by the sensor. Unlike JPEG, there is no compression and no loss of information. For this reason, RAW allows photographers to work with a wider range of colors and tones. More importantly though, RAW allows the correction of imperfections in post, including under/over exposure, the recovery of highlights/shadows, and of course temperature and tint.
Skills not only include taking the right picture as the right angel and at the right perspective, it also includes processing the image on Photoshop, bringing out the best composition. The below comparison shots clearly highlight the benefits of shooting in RAW. They recommend that you select the RAW+L format, which saves a RAW image as well as a full resolution JPEG.
Surprisingly the best cell phone with the best lens for taking the best photos is not Apple’s iPhone. DxOMark website provides DxOMark Mobile ratings [ Best Smartphone Camera For Photography ], mobile reviews and explanations on how DxOMark is testing camera-embedded mobile devices, and according to them, these are the smartphone with the best cameras lens for mobile photography at the time of writing. Note: Not all smartphone in the list below supports RAW.
- 1st – Google Pixels
- 2nd – HTC 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and Sony Xperia X Perf.
- 5th – Moto Z Force Droid, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, Sony Xperia XZ and Sony Xperia Z5
- 9th – Apple iPhone 7, LG G5, Samsung Galaxy Note V and Samsung S6 Edge
- 13th – Huawei Mate 9 and LG V20
- 15th – Apple iPhone 6s Plus, Google Nexus 6P, Moto Z Droid, Moto G Plus and Moto Droid Turbo 2
1. Adobe Lightroom
Import, edit and sync the raw photos you take with your camera (Paid Feature). Craft and share pro-quality images from your smartphone or tablet using simple yet powerful tools built with Adobe Photoshop technology. Perfect your shots in a tap with more than 40 presets.
Experiment with color, adjust clarity and add vignettes. You can even connect to other Adobe apps like Photoshop Fix to retouch and refine your work. Become a Creative Cloud member or start a free Creative Cloud trial and get everything you need to make beautiful photos including:
- Access to Paid Features in Lightroom for Mobile:
- Import, Edit and sync raw photos from your camera
- Local Adjustments
- Lightroom CC for your computer – All the editing tools found in Lightroom Mobile plus additional tools that give you precise control over the color and tone of your photos with selective local adjustments, and more.
- Sync your photos across Lightroom on all your devices
- Photoshop CC for your computer – The world’s best tool for combining multiple images, removing objects, and retouching your photos.
- Access all your Lightroom photos in Photoshop Mix, Photoshop Fix, Spark Video, Spark Page and Premiere Clip, thanks to Adobe CreativeSync technology.
2. ProShot
This photography application is by far better than Apple’s photo app. It allows you to choose a 16×9 aspect ratio! Apple’s app does not and puts black bars on the top and bottom, this is 2015 Apple, get with it… I love how you can focus the light source and get a better photo. You could actually do HDR this way. Taking a HDR image with this app would be a nice new feature.
- Auto, Program, Manual, and two fully configurable Custom modes
- Full manual control over exposure, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, torch intensity
- Burst, Timer, Timelapse, and Video modes all with full manual controls, even during video recording!
- 4K Video
- Customizable video size and FPS
- Slow motion video, up to 240 FPS
- Zero-lag exposure bracketing with EXP, ISO, and SHR modes
- Fully featured Camera Roll integrated into the viewfinder with EXIF metadata, support for video playback, and media delete
- Real-time ISO, aperture, and shutter info
3. ProCam
ProCam offers unparalleled control and quality with DSLR-like camera functionality and full featured photo / video editing capabilities. This app provides more control over the settings of the iPhone’s built-in camera than your old compact camera probably ever did. If you’re looking for a pro-grade camera app with neat photo and video editing features to boot, better set your sights on ProCam.
- Manual exposure, shutter speed, ISO, focus, and white balance controls
- Scroll and steppers system inspired by DSLR cameras
- Tap location accurate manual focus assist
- True focus peaking – iOS 9 or later
- Live shutter speed, ISO, focus, and WB values
- Manual controls are supported in all photo and video modes
4. MuseCam
MuseCam is a next generation image editor that makes it easier than ever to capture the perfect look for your photos. Shoot and edit your images using film emulation presets, professional grade tools, and advanced camera controls. MuseCam was built by a team of photographers & creatives with the understanding that stories need to be shared. They wanted to provide you the tools to tell your story, and to take your photography further. They get their inspiration from the art and people in their community.
- Manual Camera Tools – Custom exposure for your iPhone camera with independent control of shutter, ISO, white balance & focus.
- Refreshingly Simple Interface – Featuring no-import editing, a clean gesture-based UI & advanced tools made simple to understand.
- Create Custom Presets – Choose from presets designed by world-class photographers, or create & share your own.
- Tone Curves & Color Tools – Capture the perfect tone and create emotion by adjusting the HSL of each color separately.
5. ProCamera
ProCamera, the gold standard for professional iOS photography, provides a highly intuitive interface for beginners as well as an impressive array of DSLR-like controls for experts. Leveraging the capabilities of the iPhone, ProCamera is easy to use, yet deep when needed!
- RAW Photos – Raw capture and editing opens up a whole new area for iPhone photography. Having access to the raw sensor data allows for even more creative freedom in post-processing.
- Dual-Lens Support – Support for the dual-lens camera system of the iPhone 7 Plus, including a Wide, Tele and Dual setting.
- Selfie Camera – The Selfie Camera is a streamlined photo mode to enable quick and easy self-portraits. The Selfie Camera comes with their innovative Skin Tone Front Flash, which will also work on older devices. More info >>
- ProTimer – ProTimer allows you to capture a series of photos. You can set up and start it directly on your iPhone or remotely via Apple Watch.
- 3D Tiltmeter – For perfectly straight photos at any camera orientation/angle.
- Advanced HFR video recording – 240 fps slow motion capturing (iPhone6/6+).
6. Manual
RAW capture now available! Shoot RAW in DNG format with full control of exposure. Amazing. RAW is available on iPhone SE, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus. Requires iOS 10. (Manual controls available to any device iOS 8 or above). A powerful camera app with full control over your image. Quickly and simply adjust all parameters of your image.
No more tapping and hoping automatic can understand what you want. Take control. If you’re a photographer tired of trying to tap your way to the exposure you want, then this is the app for you. Fighting to get the sweet spot between a blown out background and a silhouetted subject? Stop tapping and just set the ISO and shutter yourself, you know how, stop letting your silly pocket computer decide what looks good to you.
- Save photos in RAW DNG
- Level
- Live monitor automatic exposure values
- Histogram
- Focus Zoom
- Photos save directly to Camera Roll
- Fill Flash (Flashlight) Mode
- Light and Dark Themes
- EXIF Viewer
- Rule of Thirds Grid
7. Flannl RAW Camera
Flannl is the world’s most powerful mobile camera, available now on iPhone. Mobile photography just took a major leap forward. Flannl RAW Camera is the most gorgeous, powerful camera you can carry in your pocket. Flannl finally brings the power of true RAW to the iPhone. Flannl’s dead-simple one-handed operation means it has never been easier or faster to dial in the perfect exposure and capture your shot. Flannl Cam stores RAW images in a fully open Flannl DNG format. This means your best images can be opened by any DNG/RAW editor (in essence, any modern image editor).
In addition to true RAW capture, Flannl brings a whole new way to set your camera’s manual settings. Get precise exposure control fast with the full-screen selector. Scroll left-right to choose the setting mode. These include Shutter Speed (Time), ISO, Focus, and White Balance. Then simply scroll up or down to adjust the settings for each mode. Need full auto? It’s as easy as tapping the Exposure, Focus, or WB lock buttons to clear them.
8. Focus
[ Discontinued ] The easiest, most intuitive manual camera app for your iPhone. What’s the point of manual focus if you need a magnifying glass? See what’s in focus with Smart Focus Peaking. More Sweet Features:
- Capture RAW or RAW + JPEG (compatible devices only)
- Live Light Meter
- Live ISO and Shutter Values
- Shutter priority mode
- ISO priority mode
- 3D Level
- Rule of Thirds, Triangle, and Golden Spiral Overlays
- 3 & 10 Second Timers
- Photos save directly to Camera Roll
9. RAW by 500px
[ Discontinued ] RAW by 500px is a simple and powerful photo capture, editing, and licensing workflow on your phone. RAW by 500px brings a simple and powerful photo capture, editing, and licensing workflow to your phone. Take beautiful photos with the manual camera controls. Process your photos using the fast professional style editing controls. Create and manage model releases and license your photos on the Marketplace. With RAW you can.
- Capture and edit RAW photos for the best quality image
- Use powerful editing tools that include hue, saturation, and luminance controls
- Create your own custom filters based on your best edits
- Use filters created by some of the top 500px community members
- Upload and license photos to 500px and share to social networks
- Create, export, and attach model releases to photos
- Sign up for photography on-demand to participate in photography assignments
- Get notified about assignments near you (coming soon)
Nice. Just bought the Xperia X Performance because it´s in the list of Smartphones that support RAW format. But now, I noticed that this not the truth. It does not support RAW, 350€ wasted :-(
Unfortunately it looks like the author simply copy-pasted DxOMark’s top 10 list and didn’t check anything at all. Only about half the phones in that list support RAW.
It is possible that the author doesn’t actually know what RAW support is, they simply copy-pasted the description from yet another website, and so didn’t know that some cameras (including smartphone cameras) do not support RAW.
He did say before the list that not all phones on the list support RAW. Read better before blaming the author. It is a good article.
All but one of the apps are for the iPhone only
It’s not correct that smartphone cameras are better than digital compact cameras. It is just so wrong that one might suspect you are getting paid to see it. The matter of fact is, that the increased competition has made manufacturers of compact cameras to step up their game, and they are far better than those that come with a smartphone. Read more here https://www.techradar.com/news/best-compact-camera
I agree. DSLR and Compact camera comes with bigger sensor, faster focusing, and better colour processing. But the best camera is always the one easily accessible, which is none other than your smartphone. No point owning an expensive DSLR but missed out crucial opportunity when it arise.
This article is unsatisfactory. I am looking for the best smartphone to capture a RAW image, either in DNG format or some proprietary RAW format that Lightroom or Photoshop (newest versions) support for travel and quick photos and in a satisfactory high resolution image. This article just talks about some apps for various phones. I want to know: 1. the best SP camera with good zoom, good bright and low-light capture, high image resolution and some form of RAW capture, and, 2. what apps or native camera apps are needed to ensure that. Surely someone knows that. Dec. 2017.
The best I’ve ever own is the Nokia 1020. The camera is slow, but it has 41mp, natural bokeh and good at low light. Too bad, it was discontinued by Microsoft.
The best app for RAW was and still is Adobe Lightroom.
On any camera, but especially on phones, the lower megapixels the sensor has will make it better in low-light.
Yes, lower pixels means larger pixels, means better light input. However, the Nokia 41mps was amazing for its time.
Thanks for such beautiful article smart phone photography is really fun with smart camera and there are a lot camera with high mega pixel to find out it is another task which is best camera smart phone i have 10 smart phone listed below with best camera smart phone here.
“As smartphone’s camera becomes more powerful, it has essentially replaced the Digital Compact Camera dominated by Canon, Sony and Nikon.”
This is a really silly and uninformed comment. I have various high end film and digital cameras and yet also enjoy a camera phone for Instagram, and other low quality applications.
A camera phone is a convenience, handy and useful. But it adds to the tools out there and doesn’t “replace” anything.
what is the smart phone whose camera shoots jpeg at the best technology; intuitive year to date? my core needs a color and clarity at its best with a built in photoshop program.
I agree with the comments that the author is uninformed on the subject of quality image capture. Smartphone cameras are not better quality than compact cameras in general! They do however pack a whole lot more in terms of software, and the whole world also gets to write software for them! AND CHANGE THE TITLE PLEASE!!
What about Vistax?