What is RAW image format? How to recover RAW photos from camera? Now you can read this post on MiniTool to learn details about RAW picture format and how to perform RAW photo recovery on both Windows operating system and Mac.
This post aims to show you how to recover RAW photos from camera. Before that, we’d like to briefly introduce the RAW image format.
A Brief Introduction to RAW Photos on Camera
RAW is similar to the common image formats JPG and PNG and is a general term for image formats. As the name suggests, digital camera RAW photos contain unprocessed or minimally processed RAW data. The purpose of the RAW image format is to preserve data obtained from the sensor with minimal loss of picture information. The RAW photo format is used by many people who do extensive post-production on their photos.
Common RAW photo formats are IIQ (Phase One), 3FR (Hasselblad), DCR, K25, KDC (Kodak), CRW, CR2, CR3 (Canon), ERF (Epson), MEF (Mamiya), MOS (Leaf), NEF NRW (Nikon), ORF (Olympus), PEF (Pentax), RW2 (Panasonic), and ARW, SRF, SR2 (Sony), and so on.
Like pictures in other formats, RAW photos can be lost due to various reasons. If you have never performed data recovery operations before, you may not know how to recover deleted RAW photos from camera like the user below.
“Is it possible to recover deleted RAW photos from camera? I was in a situation where I was using my Canon camera to take some RAW pictures and let my little cousin hold my camera for a minute. Somehow, he managed to delete some pictures of the camera. Is it possible to recover those deleted pics with software? I'm so worried!”www.dpreview.com
Now, read on to know the details about RAW photo recovery.
How to Recover RAW Photos From Camera Windows/Mac
Way 1. Use MiniTool Power Data Recovery (Windows)
The most recommended data recovery software that works great on photo recovery is MiniTool Power Data Recovery. It supports recovering files from cameras of various brands, such as Sony, Nikon, Canon, Samsung, GoPro, Leica, etc.
Supported image format to recover include DWG, PSD, CDR, PSP, PCX, JPG, GIF, WMF, EMF, PNG, SWF, BMP, CRW, CR2, DCR, MRW, NEF, ORF, PEF, RAF, RDC, SRF, TIF, X3F, XCF, CAM, CUR, ICO, AI, ABR, EXB, ANI, DCD, DNG, DXF, FLA, MAX, OCI, SDR, ARW.
Besides, MiniTool Power Data Recovery excels at recovering other types of files, including Word documents, Excel sheets, PDFs, slides, archives, videos, emails, etc.
If you are not sure whether this secure data recovery software can find your RAW photos, you can try its free edition first. MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free allows you to scan and preview files, and recover up to 1 GB of files without paying a penny.
Now, get this free photo recovery software installed and start to recover RAW photos.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1. Remove the SD card from your camera and then connect the card to your PC via a card reader.
Step 2. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free to go to its main interface. Here all partitions on the camera SD card will be displayed under Logical Drives. You need to move your cursor to the target drive and click the Scan button to start scanning it for lost/deleted RAW photos. Also, you can go to the Devices tab and opt to scan the whole SD card.
Step 3. After scanning, all found items will be categorized by file path under the Path tab. Since you need to recover RAW photos, you can move on to the Type category list and view found files by file type. Under the Picture section, all photos are managed based on the image format.
To check if the found photos are the required ones, you are allowed to preview them. Note that not all RAW image formats are supported for preview. You are allowed to preview DNG, ICO, and ARW, among other RAW types, as well as standard image formats like GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, SVG, TIF, and others within the software.
To preview a file, just double-click on it or select it and then click the Preview button from the top menu bar.
Step 4. Finally, tick all required RAW photos and then click the Save button. In the pop-up small window, select a file directory to store the recovered photos. Note that you should not store the recovered items to the original camera SD card for this may cause data overwriting, rendering the deleted files irretrievable.
If you need to recover files of more than 1 GB, you can upgrade the free edition to an advanced edition.
This is all about how to recover RAW photos from camera with the help of this MiniTool free file restoration tool.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Way 2. Use MiniTool Photo Recovery (Windows)
In addition to MiniTool Power Data Recovery, another photo recovery software – MiniTool Photo Recovery is also worth trying. This software is one of the most secure data recovery services that is specially designed for photo and video recovery.
It can help you recover photos/videos from different types of digital cameras and other storage devices like SD cards, USB drives, computer hard drives, and so on. It supports multiple image/video formats, including JPG, TIFF/TIF, PNG, BMP, GIF, PSD, CRW, CR2, NEF, ORF, RAF, SR2, MRW, DCR, WMF, DNG, ERF, RAW, etc.
The free edition of MiniTool Photo Recovery supports 200 MB of free data restoration.
Now, connect the camera directly to your computer or remove the SD card from the camera, and connect the card to your PC to start the photo recovery process.
Step 1. Download, install, and run MiniTool Photo Recovery.
MiniTool Windows Photo RecoveryClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 2. Click the Start button to continue.
Step 3. In the new window, click Setting to customize the scan settings. To recover RAW photos, you need to expand the Graphics and Picture tab and tick the wanted image format. After that, click OK.
Step 4. Select the target partition where the RAW photo loss happens, and click the Scan button.
Step 5. On the scan results page, find and select all needed files, then click the Save button to recover the selected items.
Way 3. Use Stellar Data Recovery (Mac)
If you are a Mac user who wants to recover deleted/lost RAW photos from a camera, you can use Stellar Data Recovery. It is a professional Mac data recovery tool that provides comprehensive file format and file system support.
It allows you to recover lost images in CRW, DCR, DNG, DXF, ARW, CDR, PSP, JPG/JPEG, PNG, TIFF/TIF, GIF, PSD, BMP, etc. No matter why your photos are lost, as long as the lost data is not overwritten by new data and the camera or SD card can be recognized by this software, you have a chance to perform deleted file recovery.
When Is It Recommended to Use the RAW Image Format & How to Protect RAW Photos
After completing the data recovery, we provide additional insights on RAW photos to enhance your comprehension of this image format and improve your data protection practices.
Why You Need to Use a RAW Image Format
Commonly used image compression formats for camera photography are JPEG and PNG. In what scenarios do you need to use RAW image format? What are the advantages of this image format?
- For better post-production: RAW photos record original shooting data, so the post-production space is very wide, allowing photographers to perform in-depth post-production in terms of brightness, highlights, shadows, color, color temperature, etc., to meet their expectations. JPG is a lossy compressed image format that irreversibly compresses the image, which is not conducive to post-production.
- For the preservation of the picture’s original information: RAW format photos retain the original information collected on all photosensitive elements, so they can provide more picture details and better image quality performance. Besides, the RAW image format allows photographers to better realize their creativity and expression of photos.
- For the protection of intellectual property rights: In addition, the RAW lossless format can also play a certain role in the protection of intellectual property rights.
Although the RAW format has many advantages that JPG does not have, it is not recommended for ordinary photographers who only use it to record life. This is because the RAW format has a much larger capacity than the common JPG format, and many image editors do not support opening RAW images. RAW format is generally suitable for professional photography enthusiasts and picture post-production personnel.
Common Reasons for Losing RAW Photos on Camera
Next, we will talk about the common reasons for RAW image loss so that you can take corresponding preventive measures.
- Accidental deletion: When you have too many photos in your camera, it can be easy to accidentally delete important photos.
- Wrong formatting: Accidental formatting of the memory card without backup is also a common reason for camera RAW photo loss.
- SD card or camera damage: Both cameras and SD cards are susceptible to damage due to various reasons, such as exposure to extreme conditions such as heat, cold, or moisture.
- Improper operation: Forcibly ejecting the memory card from the camera or computer can easily lead to data loss. This situation often occurs when transferring pictures between the camera’s SD card and the computer.
- Insufficient battery: Due to insufficient battery power, the RAW photos may be lost or damaged if the camera is turned off during the data writing process.
- Virus attack: If the SD card is infected by a virus, it may cause the RAW photos to be deleted.
How to Safeguard RAW Photos on a Camera
As mentioned above, RAW photos from the camera can be easily lost under various circumstances. Below we have listed some common precautions for your reference.
- Back up your photos: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversity and spreading risk are also important principles for protecting camera RAW photos. You can regularly transfer photos from your camera to other devices, such as a computer, cloud storage service, or external hard drive. This way, even if your camera is lost or damaged, you can still access your photos from the backup.
- Be careful when deleting photos: Be extra careful when deleting photos from your camera to avoid accidentally deleting them.
- Check the memory card regularly: Regularly checking the health of the SD card will help prevent camera photos from being lost or damaged due to SD card corruption or virus infection. If there is a problem with the memory card, you need to back up your photos immediately and repair or replace the memory card.
- Choose a high-quality camera: Usually, cameras from big brands will have better quality assurance, so the chances of camera and data corruption are relatively small. Common professional camera brands include Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc.
- Keep your camera safe: For camera hardware safety, you can use a camera bag or protective case to prevent camera damage from accidental bumps and drops.
Wrapping Things Up
To sum up, this article explains how to recover RAW photos from camera on Windows and Mac. To complete this task, you can take advantage of MiniTool Power Data Recovery, MiniTool Photo Recovery, or Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Besides, taking preventative measures to safeguard your RAW photos on the camera SD card is also an important step during camera use. The tips listed above are worth considering.
Should you encounter any issues or have any questions about MiniTool software, please do not hesitate to send emails to [email protected]. We’re always ready to provide professional and patient technical support.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Shirley graduated from English major and is currently an editor of MiniTool Team. She likes browsing and writing IT-related articles, and is committed to becoming a professional IT problem solver. The topic of her articles are generally about data recovery, data backup, and computer disk management, as well as other IT issues. In spare time, she likes watching movies, hiking and fishing.