RAF to RAW Converter

Encoding: the RAF uses uncompressed or lossless compressed sensor data in Fujifilm's own container; RAW uses uncompressed, lossless JPEG or vendor-specific coding of the sensor data, depending on the maker, and the download is a Linear DNG: demosaiced 8-bit RGB with the colour matrices raw editors need.

Bit depth: 12 to 16 bits per channel depending on the camera in the RAF; RAW allows 12 to 16 bits per channel, and the DNG written here has 8 bits per channel, linearised. The sensor's 12 to 16 bits are not used: the 8-bit camera preview is converted.

Colour: camera RGB from an X-Trans 6×6 or Bayer 2×2 mosaic in the RAF; RAW supports camera-native RGB from a colour filter mosaic, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Metadata: the RAF can carry EXIF and Fujifilm maker notes, including the Film Simulation; RAW can carry EXIF and vendor maker notes, almost always with an embedded JPEG preview, but nothing is copied across.

RAF is the raw format of Fujifilm cameras, from the X series to the medium-format GFX. Most X-series bodies use an X-Trans sensor with a 6×6 colour filter pattern instead of the usual Bayer 2×2.

RAF is not TIFF at the top level: it opens with the text 'FUJIFILMCCD-RAW', then a header with the camera model and offsets to three blocks: a JPEG preview near the start of the file, a header describing the sensor layout, and the sensor data.

RAF files usually come from Fujifilm X-T, X-H, X-S, X-E, X100 and GFX cameras.

Camera RAW files (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, ORF, RW2, RAF and others) hold the unprocessed sensor data from a camera along with an embedded full-size JPEG preview rendered by the camera.

.RAW is an extension rather than one format. Panasonic and Leica compacts wrote TIFF-like .RAW files before Panasonic moved to RW2, and scanners and scientific cameras use .raw for headerless dumps with no width, height or layout recorded, which nothing can read without being told those values.

RAW files come from older Panasonic and Leica compacts that saved .RAW, and scanners or scientific cameras that use the extension for pixel dumps.

Forms and workflows that ask for RAW usually feed a raw editor, and each of those opens DNG as well, so the DNG can take the RAW's place. Keep the RAF if you only need to view or share the picture.

What RAW offers when it comes straight from the camera: Maximum editing latitude in RAW editors; Includes a camera-rendered preview. Its drawbacks: Huge files; Every brand uses its own format; Phones, browsers and websites cannot display it.