Reading mode: Light Dark

News Reviews Articles Buying Guide Sample Images Videos Cameras Lenses Phones Printers Forums Galleries Challenges

Now reading: Download and play with Nokia's new Raw photo files 71 comments

Download and play with Nokia's new Raw photo files

Published Oct 30, 2013 | Lauren Crabbe

Nokia's example DNG photo files can be manipulated like other Raw files using software like Photoshop.

Last week, Nokia announced that its new Lumia 1520 phablet and already released Lumia 1020 smartphone will be able to capture RAW photos in the form of DNG files. When we first heard the news, we were skeptical that a phone's RAW files will be good enough to warrant filling up the Lumia 1020's limited storage space. In an attempt to silence the doubters, Nokia posted some official DNG files captured with a Lumia 1020 to its Nokia Conversations blog. Available for download, Nokia promises that its DNG files are high quality and "kind of a big deal."

From Nokia:

Photography enthusiasts have a cause for celebration. The Nokia Lumia 1020 and the new Nokia Lumia 1520 will be able to save your photos as lossless RAW files (in “DNG” format), allowing maximum flexibility when editing the images on your computer or laptop.

“This is one of the most exciting announcements of the week for me personally,” says Juha Alakarhu, head of imaging technologies at Nokia. “It has been a key request from so many of our users for a long time now. People who are passionate about photography can be more creative and do more with the images from their Lumia than ever before.”

Users will be able to choose a new 5MP JPEG and DNG file option from the Nokia Camera app on the new Lumia 1520 as well as the Lumia 1020. Raw support will be available right away on the forthcoming 1520 phablet, and an update will be pushed out "soon" for the 1020 smartphone.

Unlike the "Raw" files that I have gotten from iOS apps before, the Lumia 1020 DNG files actually respond to edits in Photoshop. Like my Nikon's NEF files, the Nokia DNG's can have a few stops of exposure compensation and natural-looking white balance adjustments. The Lumia 1020 photos especially benefitted from Raw noise editing. A little adjustment of the "Luminance" noise slider got rid of most of the phone's digital grain.

Download the example DNGs for yourself and see how they fare in your usual RAW editing routine.


Titled "WP_20131021_14_55_29_Pro" in Nokia's download folder.	Titled "WP_20131024_18_05_33_Pro" in Nokia's download folder.

Titled "WP_20131024_17_32_04_Pro" in Nokia's download folder.	Titled "WP_20131024_17_42_31_Pro" in Nokia's download folder.

Tags: mobile, lumia-1020, lumia-1520, news, nokia, phablet, raw, smartphone

Comments

All (71)

Most popular (7)

Editors' picks (0)

DPR staff (2)

Oldest first

Serge Yavorski

Plenty of noise at ISO100

Dec 30, 2013permalink

Wins

can somebody confirm if the raw files from 1020 has corrected the blur on corners? I think that is the issue of 1020's lens.

Nov 6, 2013permalink

Lars Rehm

soft corners unfortunately cannot be corrected for in raw conversion or with a firmware update

Nov 29, 2013permalink

keith Bennett

will the 1020 raw support be a software update soon’ish, or hardware with microSd card, or both?

Nov 4, 2013permalink

Lars Rehm

should be OTA update

Nov 29, 2013permalink

Sirandar

Looking at the pictures with good light I have to say I am impressed.

Sad that I would never even consider buying a phone without microSD. A Galaxy S3 or S4 is a great tool because it is expandable enough to use as a phone, camera, music server, GPS and mini-laptop. You need 100Gb to do all of this well and the S3 delivers 100Gb with a 64GB microSD card.

All those RAW files are bound to take up a lot of space.

There is nothing even remotely comparable in terms of speed, accessibility and ease of maintenance as having your entire music collection on a microSD card. You never need to sync again except when you buy new tracks. On-line solutions do not even come close because the tracks are not cataloged properly

Nov 4, 2013permalink

SamPavlov

Hello there! Here in 21st century we are using cloud services. You will know about them soon.

Nov 5, 2013permalink

BeeSprout

Why do you need a SD? Are you one of those who keep your photos on their camera? The approach on the 1020 should be take raw photos, Move to your Workstation, process, publish via favorite online portfolio. Delete from Phone. Start Over. Do you need more thank 500k images at the time in your device?

Nov 8, 2013permalink

vivo ivanov

God, those guys who commented this post must have F in Maths if they ask why do one needs SD card. The raw files are about 50mb each! How much do they think could be stored in less than 32GB!?! When you are abroad or don't have Wi-Fi, the cloud services are totally useless! That is the reason you need interchangeable memory.

Jan 12, 2014permalink

Zlik

After having played a bit in lightroom with these files, I can't believe they are from a smartphone ! Incredible. My 808 is a little bit jealous.

Nov 4, 2013permalink

ob33315

My Lumia 1020 is a great phone with an incredible camera. WP 8 is a wonderful system that works out of the box and Nokia's build quality is top notch. The only gripe I have is that it is just too slow in doing a couple of things especially taking multiple shots.
Hopefully, Nokia will do something about it and bring an update to address this issue. I certainly hope this can be addressed with an update....

Nov 2, 2013*permalink

IchiroCameraGuy

Like this post... good move for Nokia.

As far as below discussion of windows phone 8...I don't think it's about people not liking it but newest apps/non-camera features being with iOS or Android.

When browsing for a new phone I loved the windows phone 8 immediate ease of use but after a few days with a phone that immediate factor is negligible.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

Earthlight

Well, this is refreshing. Hmm... This might actually sway me towards Microsoft (bye bye beautiful...) even though I always carry a DSLR as a rule. But for snapshots this might cut it since I do not always have our S110 with me.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

HowaboutRAW

Let's hope future camera phones from Nokia that record raw have a faster buffer and a card slot.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

falumas

The Lumia 1520 har micro-SD-slot, and will be out at the end of the month. That one will also support RAW. The 1520 has a 40% bigger sensor then the iPhone5S but only 45% of the sensor size of the Lumia 1020.

Nov 6, 2013permalink

It's really too bad that Nokia only uses Windows OS (and now is owned by Microsoft). If Nokia offered Android versions of their devices, I'd buy them. They make good hardware. I'm just not interested in Windows Phone 8 or Windows 8. And a lot of people feel the same way: like the Nokia hardware, don't like the Windows OS,

Nov 1, 2013permalink

krmuir

I actually hope they don't offer this on android. I like the windows OS and hope that these excellent cameras will help build up a strong user base.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

zodiacfml

Nokia could make a dedicated camera from this and compete with the RX100.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

YiannisPP

Yeah a lot of people feel this way T3, but it's quite irrational, or smells of "fashion victim". Windows is not fashionable (to be mild) and Android is. Even people who admit WP8 is pretty darn good, say they won't buy it? When you ask them why, they basically say it's because it's not android:)

Nov 1, 2013permalink

Dave Oddie

Surely you should have said "When you ask them why, they basically say it's because they already have their favourite apps on Android that don't exist (or would have to be bought again on WP8) and for many other practical reasons."

I uses Windows 7 on my home PC. I'd prefer to be able to use Linux but I have invested too much money in applications and time in learning them to switch.

Isn't it the same with phone O/S's? Once you are invested in one changing is just a total pain in the neck and a clever phone from Nokia isn't going to sway that many people to switch in my opinion.

Nov 1, 2013*permalink

DaveE1

@YiannisPP: Android is "fashionable"?

It's certainly common, but I wouldn't say fashionable :D The iPhone still seems to appeal to the image conscious (and I am not just talking about its camera).

Nov 1, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

"The iPhone still seems to appeal to the image conscious (and I am not just talking about its camera)."
You mean: The iPhone 5C still seems to appeal to the image conscious (and I am not talking about its pittyful non-OIS "camera").

Nov 6, 2013permalink

WayneHuangPhoto

Just played with the cat photo in Camera RAW. I am speechless at the IQ coming from a phablet. This beats images coming from my 5s, which I consider excellent coming from a phone camera.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

Michael Ma

Samsung is really quick to bang out an update to their software when people show enough interest. I hope that is the case here. RAW for the Galaxy Note 3 would be sublime.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

YiannisPP

Not sure about the "sublime" part as it has a tiny sensor. Don't even think it's going to look anywhere near as good as what you're seeing here..

Nov 1, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

Why there is no Android with big sensor and OIS?
(there will never be a good iPhone)
I just have to settle with the more sleek, but more restricted Windows Phone OS.
Tough choices in life: what phone this year?
I think I'll have to sell some stuff to get
the Lumia 1520 RED

Nov 6, 2013permalink

ManuelVilardeMacedo

Wow, a picture of a cat! How cheeky.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

3DSimmon

Now I am finally impressed, looks like one of the kids might inheret my 808. Nice move supporting raw dng, very Nice.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

vlad0

Yes, now with a little work/time you can make the 1020 images almost as good as the 808s.. its a very good addition.

It also shows that they have a lot of work to do in terms of their own jpeg processing.. they need to port the Symbian algorithms to WP, which is probably what will happen with the Nokia Black update

Nov 1, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

I'm not so sure about that Lumia Black update making everything better all at once. It might take a longer time for the former Nokia engineers, but when they have access to the OS and when Microsoft get their mittens all over the Nokia secrets THEN we will see some image processing supported by the OS!
Yeah! WP 8.1 plus GDR

Nov 6, 2013permalink

peevee1

" Like my Nikon's NEF files, the Nokia DNG's can have a few stops of exposure compensation and natural-looking white balance adjustments."

Do you really believe the tiny pixels "have a few extra stops" of dynamic range (needed to make exposure compensation after the fact) in them - beyond 8 bits captured by JPEG? Then I have a bridge to sell you.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

vlad0

How does pixel density play with DR ? I know that nothing can beat big fat pixels, but doesn't density help a bit ? I mean.. you have 41 million 1.1 micron pixels, it must be better than having 13 million ..

Nov 1, 2013permalink

Joel Benford

It's a pretty noisy camera compared to MFT/APS/FF, even at ISO 100, even resized for a 1920 x 1200 monitor. There's only so much you can do to the files. Especially if you crop it hard, which you'll need to since it's got no optical zoom.

It's far and a way the best quality I've seen from a phone, but it's not like my NEX-6. Of course, it's not a big as my NEX-6 either, and it makes phone calls.

Nov 3, 2013*permalink

Michael Ma

OK. I'm 100% sold on the camera. Not on the OS. I hope they consider selling their camera modules like everyone else in the smartphone business. Once Lumia gains enough of a marketshare, maybe they'll see it as something that can only be good for business. Right now, they are using it as leverage to get more people to switch. I'm sure it is a good OS, but I'll switch for different reasons, not because they have a nice camera.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

rudy919

I don't understand this comment. you theorize it's a good OS, but you won't buy the camera because of the OS. And then, you go onto say that once there is other people with the OS, you'll consider it. I view this as saying something along the lines of boy, I wish this was canon and not a nikon.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

YiannisPP

Yes, that's how I read it as well.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

Joel Benford

W8 may be a nice phone OS for all I know, but it doesn't run the one application I bought a smartphone (instead of just a phone) to run.

[Viewranger, GPS with topographical landscape maps used by hikers and mountain rescue and so on.]

Nov 3, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

You me like what we have in Finland:
"Maastokartat"
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/maastokartat/67f85a12-b3cd-4a72-b9e2-c58cabc59051
or
"Karttaselain"
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/karttaselain/d3910fff-6855-4f5f-8636-9fb489e21f2a
or
"Finland Topography"
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/finland-topography/7b0d8a62-5a30-46c1-9b36-15583b944213
or
Ask Nokia to add it to the HERE Maps system and they will do it! (may take a year?)

Nov 6, 2013permalink

wansai

ok this is the original file as converted to JPEG in ACR: http://i.imgur.com/Htsn8Dg.jpg

This was after I processed it. This is not my normal process. I just pushed and pulled to see how far I can take it so it does have an HDR look to it.
http://i.imgur.com/iCkZLkd.jpg

There's banding in the highlights but to be honest, it's Very, very impressive.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

bigley Ling

nicely processed! The HDR effect still looks quite photo real which is nice.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

YiannisPP

wow, very well done! Great processing, what HDR?!
And very impressive from Nokia...

Nov 1, 2013permalink

jcmarfilph

This should stop the Apple from creating iPhone with camera from now on. Charging more on a phone with mediocre camera is humiliating. Now if Nokia will put optical zoom and better controls, this cam will demolish budget P&S really.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

Michael Ma

I hope it gets Apple to stop using the term "DSLR-like" when talking about their camera quality, which they did in during the iPhone 5s annoucement. It is blasphemy, especially after looking at these true DSLR-like photos.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

peevee1

It demolishes budget P&S already - up to about $100 budget that is. :)
Wide aperture and big sensor with a lot of pixels means some digital zoom (crop) can be as good or better as dark optical zoom - up to a point. 2/3" sensor with f/2 is better than 1/2.3" sensor with f/5.6 optical zoom. 4 stops difference (3 from the lens, 1 from the sensor size) means 4x digital zoom (crop) on the former gets about as much light as the long end on the latter, producing about the same quality. And the residual 2.5 mpix is still more than enough to fill FullHD screen and then some. And try to find a cheap P&S which is faster than f/5.6 at 4x.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

DaveE1

It's good alright. Exciting times to see such devices pushing the limits of what is possible with smaller cameras (and smartphone cameras).

Let's not make this into a hate-fest. There is still a long way to go before these can be as good as the best dedicated camera of the day. Remember, those are improving rapidly too.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

"Let's not make this into a hate-fest. There is still a long way to go before these can be as good as the best dedicated camera of the day. Remember, those are improving rapidly too."
If you are talking about any DSLR you're right,
but if you talk about the simple P&S then you-re dead wrong.

Nov 6, 2013permalink

keith Bennett

excellent actually….

so i’ll take the 42mp(38mp?) camera in the phablet please….and can i view my ancient live-view DSLR wifi out on the phablet too please …. for my t/s shots you know …. ta very much Nokia

Oct 31, 2013permalink

YiannisPP

That cat photo surely is impressive. Very impressive.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

LarH

Sorry Nokia, your dng files don't open in photoshop cs3.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

ShelNf

Sorry, your CS3 doesn't open Nokia dng files.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

LarH

So am I. Wish they did open in CS3.

Nov 2, 2013permalink

Ndi

I wish I knew that. I really did.

Dec 21, 2013permalink

wansai

going to download now to try these out. if works as advertised it's goodnight to all but the top range point and shoots and will demolish any other camera phone out there... will report back.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

michael2011

People criticize 32GB as "limited storage" for shooting RAW these days? How much memory do you put in *your* DSLRs?

Oct 31, 2013permalink

BlueBomberTurbo

64? But really, you need much more room on a phone, since you're storing a bunch of other stuff at the same time, not just photos. Music, video, apps and their storage data, OS, etc.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

LiSkynden

Exactly. Wife's iPhone 5 (16GB) has now 70MB free space and i asked what are you gonna do about it. Nothing, she said, "you are".
"ok, can i delete these?"
"no"
"what about these? "
"no" ...

I wait till she comes and says "OMG i cant save anything on my phone anymore" :D

Oct 31, 2013*permalink

Karroly

@LiSkynden & BlueBomberTurbo,
Solution one : one phone for music, one phone for video, one phone for apps, one phone for photography, etc...
Solution two :
Dedicated tools :
An good MP3 player for music, a good still camera for photos, a good video recorder for movies, a good computer for apps and a basic phone...for phone calls ! The way I do.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

bigley Ling

I can carry multiple memory cards for a DSLR, where as the Lumia 1020 is totally dependent on cloud storage like Sky Drive

Oct 31, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

I'd also prefer the Lumia 1520 with RAW and uSD

Nov 6, 2013permalink

zodiacfml

Shut up and take my money!!

Oct 31, 2013permalink

zodiacfml

Nokia, I cannot afford this and besides I'm stuck with Android. Please make a dedicated camera from this at Nikon J1 prices.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

(unknown member)

Nokia's dead.
It's beyond dead, it's a zombie.

Oct 31, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/images/news/misc/nokiadevicesq3a.png

Nov 6, 2013permalink

SergioMO

And Nokia 808 ??? Do it Nokia

Oct 31, 2013permalink

vlad0

RAW support for the 808 would be amazing, but I suspect that there might be a technical limitation of some sort.. not sure, but it might be that extra processing chip they have in there.. it might be preventing them from extracting the raw data from the sensor,.

That is of course if the jpeg processing is in fact done by that chip on the fly, instead of going to software way like the 1020.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

That would require a lot of programming so I think that future is the Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520 and similar RAW capable devices.
Next thing: ask for an Android Lumia ;-)

Nov 6, 2013permalink

neo_nights

I've just had a play - that's impressive! [2]

Impressive how much I could pull the blacks. There's banding, alright, but it's impressive nonetheless.

Oct 30, 2013permalink

JamieTux

I've just had a play - that's impressive!

Oct 30, 2013permalink

joe6pack

Help us out here. Show us a JPG and RAW (w/ Adobe noise reduction and resampled to 5MP) side by side.

Oct 30, 2013permalink

vlad0

We will have to wait for them to release the update ... but I suspect that the RAW file will give you a much better result than the nokia processing algorithm.

At least based on it's current state, with Nokia Black that might change.

Nov 1, 2013permalink

CyberAngel

I don't trust Nokia Black. It's too early. Not enough time. I'm waiting for the Nokia Devices merge to MS. Then both the OS and the imaging system can go full throttle. Windows Phone 8.1 + GDR !!!

Nov 6, 2013permalink


iPhone 7 is best Apple device yet in DxOMark Mobile testing Sep 28, 2016	Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus offer high-end camera specs and ultrasonic fingerprint reader Sep 27, 2016	Snapchat unveils Spectacles, a pair of sunglasses with an integrated camera Sep 26, 2016	Teardown reveals Sony image sensors in iPhone 7 Sep 23, 2016

150	FF snobbishness takes a hit now MF accessible
96	New E-M1 mk II for 2.000.00 Euros...
92	16-50 kit vs 24mm 1.8
91	Equivalency: Things We Can Agree On
84	What we spend on photography
68	The strategy and technology behind the Sony A99 II
63	24mp - In need of a little reassuranceI
63	43 Rumors reporting that E-M1 II will sell for 1999 euros - What do you think?
61	The mirror-less pickle...
57	Comparing Full Frame and APS-C
56	The Sony A7RII - A Year Later
47	"Expose to the right" exposure technique question...
46	Panasonic or Olympus - and why?
45	What 6.5 stops of stabilization looks like
37	500mm prime versions and IQ
34	impossible to manual focus at night
34	What medium-long prime lenses do people use?
33	Sorry to ask - what are the best current RAW converter?
32	Upgrade path after the a99ii?
32	Lens advice


Sunflower Field by GrannyMeg from An impressionist piece	Flag from Staten Island Ferry by wam7 from Flag	SAND SCULPTURE by duskman from Landscape - Black and White #4