Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

Started Jun 13, 2018 | Discussions
h2k Senior Member • Posts: 1,039
Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

Hello, i'm trying to calculate how many pics i could store on free online storages like Google Drive or Apple iCloud, but I don't have all the information about file sizes from smart phones and about iPhone specialties.

  • I'm fully aware that file sizes can vary dramatically depending on image content and file format settings.
  • The storage would be without further server-side compression such as Google Drive's "unlimited image storage" service (compressing even 12 MP JPEGs further in quality, if selected)

For instance, if you have longstanding practical experience, I'd like to know:

  1. typical file size of 12 MP HEIF file from iPhone X
  2. typical file size of 12 MP RAW from iPhone X (taken with Lightroom etc.)*
  3. typical file size of 12 MP JPEG from Samsung S9
  4. typical file size of 12 MP RAW from Samsung S9
  5. typical file size of 12 MP JPEG from Google Pixel 2 (if diff. from Samsung etc.)
  6. typical file size of 12 MP RAW from Google Pixel 2 (if diff. from Samsung etc.)

In case of iPhone HEIF files:

  1. If I store online on iCloud, will HEIFs or JPEGs be stored?
  2. If I store online on Google Drive, will JPEGs or HEIFs be stored?
  3. If I store online with Lightroom CC (maybe via auto import), will HEIFs or JPEGs be stored?

Thanks for your experiences!

*I take it that you need 3rd party apps to snap RAW files even with the newest iPhone and that in most cases, if you do snap RAW files say with the Lightroom CC iOS app, the OIS is turned off (but it's supposedly not turned off if you use the app "camerapixels" for _bracketed RAW capture.

onlyfreeman
onlyfreeman Senior Member • Posts: 2,498
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

I don't have long standing experience, but this seems like a difficult question. Are you trying to calculate a rough estimate, or something more precise?

Google can easily reveal some information for you, such as S9 and Pixel 2 RAW files are about 23 MB in size. HEIF files are generally something like half the size of the JPEG equivalent.

JPEG files from all of these phones are around 3-9 MB in size, so the typical or average file is around 6 MB. Although as you stated it can vary quite dramatically, such as from 1 MB to 14 MB.

By my calculations, 1 TB of storage will let you hold approximately 160,000 JPEG images, or 320,000 HEIF images, or 40,000 RAW files. The JPEG and HIEF numbers are probably quite conservative, and you should be able to hold quite a bit more than that, typically.

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The Davinator
The Davinator Forum Pro • Posts: 24,707
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?
1

h2k wrote:

Hello, i'm trying to calculate how many pics i could store on free online storages like Google Drive or Apple iCloud, but I don't have all the information about file sizes from smart phones and about iPhone specialties.

  • I'm fully aware that file sizes can vary dramatically depending on image content and file format settings.
  • The storage would be without further server-side compression such as Google Drive's "unlimited image storage" service (compressing even 12 MP JPEGs further in quality, if selected)

For instance, if you have longstanding practical experience, I'd like to know:

  1. typical file size of 12 MP HEIF file from iPhone X
  2. typical file size of 12 MP RAW from iPhone X (taken with Lightroom etc.)*
  3. typical file size of 12 MP JPEG from Samsung S9
  4. typical file size of 12 MP RAW from Samsung S9
  5. typical file size of 12 MP JPEG from Google Pixel 2 (if diff. from Samsung etc.)
  6. typical file size of 12 MP RAW from Google Pixel 2 (if diff. from Samsung etc.)

In case of iPhone HEIF files:

  1. If I store online on iCloud, will HEIFs or JPEGs be stored?
  2. If I store online on Google Drive, will JPEGs or HEIFs be stored?
  3. If I store online with Lightroom CC (maybe via auto import), will HEIFs or JPEGs be stored?

Thanks for your experiences!

*I take it that you need 3rd party apps to snap RAW files even with the newest iPhone and that in most cases, if you do snap RAW files say with the Lightroom CC iOS app, the OIS is turned off (but it's supposedly not turned off if you use the app "camerapixels" for _bracketed RAW capture.

I thought I read something about iOS 12 supporting raw processing native.  I may have misread that

vv50
vv50 Contributing Member • Posts: 904
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

h2k wrote:

Hello, i'm trying to calculate how many pics i could store on free online storages like Google Drive

  1. If I store online on Google Drive, will JPEGs or HEIFs be stored?

why store photos on Google Drive when you can use Google Photos to store unlimited data for photos under 16mp?

https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791

OP h2k Senior Member • Posts: 1,039
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

Freeman, VV50 and Davinator, thanks for your input.

Again, i am just interested in typical image file sizes as described and will do my calculations from there. It is totally clear that file sizes vary strongly depending on file format settings and image content.

Thanks again!

onlyfreeman
onlyfreeman Senior Member • Posts: 2,498
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

vv50 wrote:

h2k wrote:

Hello, i'm trying to calculate how many pics i could store on free online storages like Google Drive

  1. If I store online on Google Drive, will JPEGs or HEIFs be stored?

why store photos on Google Drive when you can use Google Photos to store unlimited data for photos under 16mp?

https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791

One reason might be that the unlimited photos option only stores photos at "high" quality, and that means they may be further compressed by Google, compared to the original. They are also resized if above 16 MP, videos are resized to 1080p too.

For a lot of users though, that's perfectly fine, I'm not sure if the unlimited Photos option allows RAW files, I don't think it does.

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OP h2k Senior Member • Posts: 1,039
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

onlyfreeman wrote:

I'm not sure if the unlimited Photos option allows RAW files, I don't think it does.

That's correct.

vv50
vv50 Contributing Member • Posts: 904
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

onlyfreeman wrote:

vv50 wrote:

h2k wrote:

Hello, i'm trying to calculate how many pics i could store on free online storages like Google Drive

  1. If I store online on Google Drive, will JPEGs or HEIFs be stored?

why store photos on Google Drive when you can use Google Photos to store unlimited data for photos under 16mp?

https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6220791

One reason might be that the unlimited photos option only stores photos at "high" quality, and that means they may be further compressed by Google, compared to the original.

  • in unlimited option, as long as all your pictures are under 16mp resolution, you always get to download your original file because they are stored without any further compression.
  • Google Photos stores 12mp photos in HEIF format as HEIF in its original size
OP h2k Senior Member • Posts: 1,039
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

Vv, thanks, but are you sure about that:

vv50 wrote:

  • in unlimited option, as long as all your pictures are under 16mp resolution, you always get to download your original file because they are stored without any further compression.

I believe that in "unlimited" option, even 12 MP files may be compressed in JPEG quality - say compressed from 7 MB to 3 MB. The pixel count remains the same, but not the JPEG quality and there might small differences be visible when zooming in.

Or am i wrong?

vv50
vv50 Contributing Member • Posts: 904
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

h2k wrote:

Vv, thanks, but are you sure about that:

yes

Jostian
Jostian Veteran Member • Posts: 4,890
Re: Typical file sizes of 12 MP smartphone pics (JPEG, HEIF and RAW)?

h2k wrote:

Vv, thanks, but are you sure about that:

vv50 wrote:

  • in unlimited option, as long as all your pictures are under 16mp resolution, you always get to download your original file because they are stored without any further compression.

I believe that in "unlimited" option, even 12 MP files may be compressed in JPEG quality - say compressed from 7 MB to 3 MB. The pixel count remains the same, but not the JPEG quality and there might small differences be visible when zooming in.

Or am i wrong?

yip and as mentioned file sizes can vary massively, on my S8+ is I use the stock camera app file size (jpeg) is around 3 to 4 MB, if I used the modded camera app which removes compression etc. they range from 8 to 12MB...

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