Samsung Expert Raw (Beta) comparison shots
Dec 7, 2021
Samsung has released (at least in Korea) a beta of their new Expert Raw camera app only for those on Android 12 and with an S21 Ultra, and it's available on several websites including: https://www.rmupdate.com/2021/12/01/download-the-samsung-expert-raw-camera-app/
I downloaded it last week and am giving it a try. First a bit of background, I moved to the S21 Ultra from an LG V30. As a photographer I always used Pro Mode and RAW (DNG) for my cell phone photography. When I moved to the S21 ultra I was appalled at the poor quality of the ProMode/Raw images compared to what I was used to. The Straight photo mode which does it's computational processing magic is nothing short of amazing. The JPGs are phenomenal. But the photographer in me called out for more control than the photo give you. With the horrible raw quilty from the stock camera I was frustrated as no amount of processing could give me images like I wanted. Not to mention that it limited me to which lenses could be used.
I downloaded the Expert Raw camera app and gave it a try. The difference was like night and day. gone was the muddy off color, CA fringed images and instead clear color corrected DNG files with a small hint of CA. Plus I could use all the lenses the camera had to offer.
Here's two straight out of camera JPG images one from Expert Raw camera app and one from the Stock camera in Pro Mode. I did no editing on either image. I hope Samsung upgrades the stock camera app with this version of Pro mode.
Samsung Expert Raw JPG SOOC no editing
Samsung S21 Ultra Stock Camera Raw JPG SOOC No Editing