How to transfer RAW images taken with the iPhone (LR2.5/iOS10) to the computer

[jsch]

Hi,

I posted this in the iPhone/mobile section, but it is about LR mobile so I want to ask the question also here:

http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=113443.0

Below the question, that you don't have to click the link.

_______

Hi,

Lightroom mobile 2.5 on the iPhone with iOS 10 allows to capture RAW images with the iPhone. How can I transfer the RAWs from the iPhone to the MacBook?

The following doesn't work:

These RAW captures can be seen in Lightroom mobile but not in the camera roll. So if I connect the iPhone with the MacBook they don't show up in the Photos app on the MacBook. If I share the RAWs from LR mobile with the camera roll or via email, LR mobile sends a jpeg to share.

Sync via WLAN also doesn't transfer the RAWs to the MacBook. It jpegs it syncs.

Any ideas?

Thank you,
Johannes

[rdonson]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb1L-c3kG6c

[digitaldog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb1L-c3kG6c

Boy, is Terry confused. The iPhone like all digital cameras has always produced a raw file (does he think a JPEG just magically gets rendered?). Now we have access to the raw, it's not tossed away when rendering the JPEG.


Back OT a bit. I just updated to iOS10, have zero interest in LR mobile. Is there any way to get access to the raw otherwise? IOW, does the OS have some option I haven't seen to provide it to LR standalone or other raw converters that handle DNG?


EDIT: Crap, answer is no! You have to use (as of today) the LR app, it's not 'native' within the iPhone app.

[ButchM]

EDIT: Crap, answer is no! You have to use (as of today) the LR app, it's not 'native' within the iPhone app.

There will be several camera apps that will offer RAW DNG capture using iOS cameras. Don't have a list of current ones but many of the popular camera apps like ProCam 4 ... there are more, I just can't recall them. Just as now with jpeg, some apps will store the captured files separately that would require you to connect to iTunes to save them over to your system, others may use the Camera Roll.

[digitaldog]

There will be several camera apps that will offer RAW DNG capture using iOS cameras.

I'd expect so, but I can't understand why Apple didn't provide the 'DNG switch' like I saw in the LR mobile video. Also, seems one needs the iPhone 6plus or better?

[ButchM]

I'd expect so, but I can't understand why Apple didn't provide the 'DNG switch' like I saw in the LR mobile video. Also, seems one needs the iPhone 6plus or better?

I think the developer API supports any iOS camera that uses the 12MP (or newer) sensor. I know the iPhone SE is supported.

[Chris Kern]

. . . I can't understand why Apple didn't provide the 'DNG switch' like I saw in the LR mobile video. Also, seems one needs the iPhone 6plus or better?

Exactly.  And I have difficulty imagining a technical rationale for limiting the ability to save the raw sensor data to products that have the 12 Mpx cameras.

However, I can guess why it has taken Apple so long to offer an API that provides access to the raw files.  Or why Apple in general makes it so difficult to move files between an iOS device and another computing platform without going through some "cloud" service or Apple's demented iTunes application.  (If Apple considers allowing direct access to the iOS filesystem through a mount point to be a security risk — there's a persuasive argument to be made for such a policy — why not at least allow applications to transfer files through a serial connection?)  The answer to these questions, I suspect, is Apple's longstanding philosophy that it should decide and constrain how its customers use its products.  I personally like the Apple ecosystem, but I wish it wasn't so restrictive.

[ButchM]

Exactly.  And I have difficulty imagining a technical rationale for limiting the ability to save the raw sensor data to products that have the 12 Mpx cameras.

However, I can guess why it has taken Apple so long to offer an API that provides access to the raw files.  Or why Apple in general makes it so difficult to move files between an iOS device and another computing platform without going through some "cloud" service or Apple's demented iTunes application.  (If Apple considers allowing direct access to the iOS filesystem through a mount point to be a security risk — there's a persuasive argument to be made for such a policy — why not at least allow applications to transfer files through a serial connection?)  The answer to these questions, I suspect, is Apple's longstanding philosophy that it should decide and constrain how its customers use its products.  I personally like the Apple ecosystem, but I wish it wasn't so restrictive.

But you are ok with Adobe's CC only capability for Lr Mobile?  You have to actually transfer images from LrM without using an Adobe server.

[Chris Kern]

But you are ok with Adobe's CC only capability for Lr Mobile?  You have to actually transfer images from LrM without using an Adobe server.

I'm holding off on installing iOS 10 on my mobile devices until I'm more confident all the dust has settled, so I haven't used Lightroom Mobile yet to transfer raw files.  But my experience using the Adobe sync service even with JPEGs is that it's not exactly blazingly fast.  I would at least like to have the option of making a direct connection between the iOS device where the images were created and one of the computers I typically use for post-processing.

[ButchM]

I would at least like to have the option of making a direct connection between the iOS device where the images were created and one of the computers I typically use for post-processing.

Like I said ... you can't do that with Lr Mobile and CC ... the image files have to be bounced off the Adobe servers to go from your phone to your laptop/desktop.

Updated my phone Thursday, iOS 10 works fine no issues. The very early adopters had some issues because they bogged down and overloaded the Apple servers. Now that the rush has subsided, there doesn't seem to any of those issues.

[Chris Kern]

I gave in and installed iOS 10 today so I could see what I could do with a raw file from my iPhone 6s.  (I briefly reported on the result here).

As I expected from my experience with iPhone JPEGs, the sync process for raw files between the desktop and mobile versions of Lightroom is quite slow.  Not unusable if you only have a few images to transfer, but nothing remotely like what it would be if there was a direct connection between the two computing platforms.

[ButchM]

I gave in and installed iOS 10 today so I could see what I could do with a raw file from my iPhone 6s.  (I briefly reported on the result here).

As I expected from my experience with iPhone JPEGs, the sync process for raw files between the desktop and mobile versions of Lightroom is quite slow.  Not unusable if you only have a few images to transfer, but nothing remotely like what it would be if there was a direct connection between the two computing platforms.

I have been playing with the new ProCam 4 app ($4.99 US) that also has RAW capability for iPhone. App has plenty of manual controls for the camera (both still and video modes) and saves images to the iPhone Camera Roll. Simply plug into your computer, use Image Capture and drag the images to whatever folder and save them. Not much different than working with a DSLR ... Plus it saves all that stress on the Adobe servers to bounce all those pixels thousands of miles when all you really want to do is get them from one device to another that are only inches apart in the real world.

http://www.procamapp.com

[ButchM]

Hi,

Is it right that this ProCam 4 app saves a tif file? I could not find information whether this tif file has the same content like the dng file provided by Lightroom mobile. Is it black point compensated, normalized, demosaiced, delinearized?

Yes TIFF is one of the file choices, I haven't tried it. I just use the default RAW setting that writes out a DNG file.

[MarkJohnson]

ProCam 4 works a treat on iPhone SE. LR imports normally with phone connected to Mac Pro and all Develop controls available. Imported dng 11.2 Mb and exported tiff 73.2 Mb. You can quickly establish in 1:1 view what shutter speed avoids motion blur. LR noise controls and sharpening are useful with these files.

[Manoli]

Like I said ... you can't do that with Lr Mobile and CC ... the image files have to be bounced off the Adobe servers to go from your phone to your laptop/desktop.

Hmmm ... Yes, you can and No, they don't.

You'll need a file transfer app (e.g. File Hub) and you'll then be able to transfer files from either the Camera Roll directly or , as in LrM, the app's own 'folder' by first selecting the files/raw dng's and then 'Open In...' from the menu options.

File Hub gives you the option of transfer via wi-fi, bluetooth, or usb. If you're on the road, combine that with a TripMate Nano Wireless Router and you'll also be able to copy/backup to USB flash drives, SSD's and any attached hard drive.  Even better is the TripMate Titan. 

Obviously, this doesn't sync Lr/CC Collections etc.
It's just for transferring files and dng's  ...

[ButchM]

Hmmm ... Yes, you can and No, they don't.

No we can't ... at least not natively ... which it should be. The limitation is intentionally imposed, not a limitation of software technology or hardware.

The point being, while your method is indeed useful, it shouldn't be at all necessary. We shouldn't have to purchase and employ additional software and hardware to make up for Lr Mobile's intentional limitations.

[Manoli]

No we can't ... at least not natively ... which it should be.

Says who ?
There's nothing 'native' about the title of this thread.

You advocate buying a photo app for $4.99 to extend the functionality of the built-in camera (a good idea but just one of many); well it's an even better idea to extend the Apple built-in capabilities and have a comprehensive file backup and transfer system in place, incidentally for the same $$ as your cam app, especially for photographers on the move, and particularly if you're not floating around with your laptop in tow.

LrM may well have a good reason (syncing LrM and its collections with Lr Desktop) to keep the dng's in a separate folder - something the other cam apps don't do - do you know otherwise ?  No, you don't.  So it's somewhat presumptuous of you to start talking of 'intentionally imposed limitations' when you have not a clue as to the reasons behind the software design.  And if you still desperately need the dng's in Camera Roll, then you can always use the freebie Snapseed camera instead.

The point being, as you put it, that you CAN backup and transfer files from within LrM, natively, (via iCloud drive, even dropbox etc etc) but you can also do it via a 3rd party app more effectively - the choice is yours.

The question was 'how to' - not what Adobe should or should not have done.

[ButchM]

Says who ?
There's nothing 'native' about the title of this thread.

If you choose to drown in a sea of semantics, by all means do so. But here are the actual words the OP used:

These RAW captures can be seen in Lightroom mobile but not in the camera roll. So if I connect the iPhone with the MacBook they don't show up in the Photos app on the MacBook. If I share the RAWs from LR mobile with the camera roll or via email, LR mobile sends a jpeg to share.

Sync via WLAN also doesn't transfer the RAWs to the MacBook. It jpegs it syncs.

The question by the OP was how to get RAW images from Lr Mobile on his iPhone to his Macbook Pro. I pointed out that you can't do that (within Lr Mobile) without utilizing Adobe cloud servers. That method is by design, not happenstance. Your workaround is proof positive that image files can be easily moved locally without the use of cloud servers from one device to another and Adobe is, by choice, not utilizing that capability within Lr Mobile. Period.

Yes you can by all means drag along additional wifi routers, batteries, chargers, cables, etc.  and employ additional apps to circumvent the issue ... but it should be so much easier ... Especially if you connect the phone by USB directly to the Macbook as the OP shared. The fact is, software solutions should simplify and streamline our tasks, not create additional tasks to accomplish. Pointing out where Adobe has missed that mark and why the OP cannot easily transfer images from his phone to his laptop is very germane to the discussion.

By the way, I did not and do not 'advocate' ProCam 4 (or any other iPhone camera app) ... I merely pointed out it was one of many other iPhone apps (with many more to come) in addition to Lr Mobile that will allow the capture and recording of RAW image files on the current production versions of the iPhone.

[tchamber236]

I only found the first DNG to be slow uploading. Thereafter they upload pretty quickly.

Two observations:
- As with JPEGs, DNGs do not carry any edit history to the desktop. Any adjustments made in LR Mobile are "flattened" when they come into LR desktop.
- Unlike JPEGs, there is no lens profile information available for an iPhone DNG. I'm guessing it is baked into the raw converter as it is with, say, Olympus raw files, but I have no way to confirm if that is the case.