# Taking RAW iPhone photos and transfer to Mac



## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

Hi,

I have the perpetual licens of LR and I am happy with that and I have all the clouds I need: iCloud and Dropbox.

The iOS 10 update makes it possible to take DNG photos with my humble, but very compact and capable  iPhone SE and I tried it out with LR Mobile yesterday and it worked fine until I tried to transfer the files over to my Mac.....

I am not interested in editing my files on my phone - I want to do that on my Mac as usual.

I tried copying (even to my Dropbox) and sharing, but all I got was jpgs. Is there no way to copy the DNG files to the Mac - except using Adobe Cloud?

Presumably there will be other third-party camera apps around the corner that solves this........  but what can I do today?


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## DGStinner (Sep 14, 2016)

I'm pretty sure the only iPhones which can shoot/save as DNG without third party apps are 6S/6S Plus and the new 7/7 Plus.


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## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

And iPhone SE - I just did it!

So, I now have some DNG files from LR Mobile in my SE and my question was how to transfer them to my Mac without using the Adobe Cloud......


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## clee01l (Sep 14, 2016)

fullkoll said:


> And iPhone SE - I just did it!
> 
> So, I now have some DNG files from LR Mobile in my SE and my question was how to transfer them to my Mac without using the Adobe  PHOTOS Cloud......


You will need to use the OS X Photos App to D/L them from iCloud.   Then you need to extract the originals from the Photos Library and once outside of the library, they can be imported into LR
What you lose by not having LRCC is the ability to use the Camera roll in LR Mobile and have LRMobile be the conduit to your LR catalog via the Adobe Creative Cloud.  With Creative cloud, the photos in your LR Mobile app automatically get imported into your sync's  LR catalog.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 14, 2016)

As long as the images are still in your iPhone camera roll, you should be able to import them into Lightroom desktop in the same way you can import pictures of any other camera: connect the iPhone to your computer with the USB cable.


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## Jim Wilde (Sep 14, 2016)

I think that's the problem....if using the LRmobile camera the image is not automatically copied/added to the Camera Roll. There is an option to then "Save to Camera Roll", but I think that's effectively a Jpeg export (which I guess that is what fullkoll is experiencing), so it doesn't look like there is a way to get the LRmobile-generated DNG onto the Camera Roll for subsequent extraction.


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## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

You´re right Jim - copying to Camera Roll produces jps.......   LR Mobile´s Camera Roll is not the same as the iPhone´s Camera Roll and there doesn´t seem to be a way to transfer the DNGs to the phones Camera Roll......

So my DNGs are there, but I can´t import them like pictures of any other camera!


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 14, 2016)

So conclusion: if you do not have Lightroom CC, don't use the LrM app to take photos or they will be 'stuck' in LrM. Use another app that can take photos in DNG.


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## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

Yes, Johan I think you´re right!
I have searched the AppStore for apps that can use the iPhone´s camera to take DNGs, but couldn´t find any - too early I suppose......

I should also mention that I ´normally´shoot RAW with my cameras, but even my smallest camera (Lumix GM1) is too big to always carry around. The phone is always there somewhere in a pocket.

The 12 mpix camera in my compact iPhone SE (I sold my iP6 to get it) is quite good, but I miss the ability to adjust foremost the white balance, which isn´t perfect in the phone - far too warm in most situations.  And the jpg-engine smears details, of course-  like many other cameras ....


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 14, 2016)

Search for 'camera dng'. The first one you'll see should work. It's called 'RAW Camera'.


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## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

Thanks for the tip Johan!

I just tried it, but it crashes when I try to take a picture - looks promising though. It seems to  export via iTunes File Sharing - perfect for me!
It´s published 13 sep 2016 and is in version 1.0  Talk about fresh!  


I just reported my problems to the developer!


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## rob211 (Sep 14, 2016)

You might have to wait a bit for DNG support in some apps. Try Snapseed; it does RAW. And it's free.

A problem might be that since each app in iOS has it's own storage, and DNGs and other RAW formats are supposed to be non destructive, then sending to other apps is gonna be more like exporting a JPEG than copying a DNG.


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## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

As I said before,the RAW Camera app crashed for me on my iP SE and after contacting the developer he asked me:

"Are you interested in testing this out with me? I can add you to a test build in TestFlight and from there I’ll be able to debug and hopefully fix the issue"

I said naturally that I would, and after that testing I will know if the transfer to Mac via iTunes works, but I have no doubts that what he says in the App Store is correct.


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## Johan Elzenga (Sep 14, 2016)

rob211 said:


> A problem might be that since each app in iOS has it's own storage



Most camera apps ask permission to save to the camera roll, not to their own storage space. There is no reason to assume that a camera app that can shoot in DNG would not follow the same path.


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## Drdul (Sep 15, 2016)

I'm using ProCam 4 to shoot in RAW DNG format on my iPhone 6s. I tried a few cameras capable of shooting RAW, and like ProCam the best. The controls are intuitive and easy to use, and don't get in the way.


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## fullkoll (Sep 15, 2016)

Thanks for the tip, Drdul!

How does the transfer to Mac work? Via iTunes? Do you get the untouched DNG file? I see that there is an update supporting the "DNG-iPhones"  13-14 sept 2016 ....


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## fullkoll (Sep 15, 2016)

I just bought the ProCam 4 and it works fine with my iPhone SE!
It´s wonderful to be able to work with the iPhone in the same way as with my cameras and Adobe seems to have been working hard with the new 12 mpix sensors in Lightroom.

The DNG-files are stored in the Camera Roll and I can use the same tool to transfer the files to my Mac as usual: PhotoSync.   No iTunes needs to be used here- very good indeed!


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## Drdul (Sep 15, 2016)

fullkoll said:


> How does the transfer to Mac work? Via iTunes? Do you get the untouched DNG file?



I transfer DNG images from my iPhone to Lightroom the same way I transfer JPEGs. I plug the phone into my Mac with a USB-Lightning cable, and then click Import in LR. I have set ProCam to save only DNGs (not DNG + JPEG), so I don't have to deal with two different file formats.


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## Drdul (Sep 15, 2016)

FWIW, I just learned from the developer of ProCam that iOS 10 currently does not allow location data to be embedded in the RAW image data. Instead location information is embedded in the low res JPEG preview image contained inside the DNG. That means that when you import iPhone DNGs into Lightroom, you won't see the location data.

The developer has filed a bug report with Apple and encourages others to do the same. In the meantime, I am running a GPS logging app and using the tracks from the app to geotag my iPhone photos in LR, as I do with my regular camera. If you want to extract the low-res JPG from the DNG, you can use an app like File Juicer (Mac).


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## fullkoll (Sep 15, 2016)

Thanks for that info - I was just wondering.
I tried to use the setting with both DNG and jpg and noticed that location data still was there in the jpgs but missing in the DNGs.  Didn´t have to extract the jpg, though- it was saved as a normal jpg file.

Naturally Apple has to fix this problem.......


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## rob211 (Sep 15, 2016)

So you're saying that the low res JPG with GPS is created by ProCam, right?

Photos taken with LrM DO have the GPS info. Photos taken with the Manual app don't have GPS, and neither does the embedded JPEG.


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## fullkoll (Sep 15, 2016)

With ProCam 4 you can take DNG photos (RAW) or DNG+jpg (RAW+L) saved as separate files.
Both are full resolution pictures - all the pixels are there - even in the jpgs, but you can change the jpg quality.

The DNGs have no location data, but the jpgs have - if you use that setting.

Enclosed is a picture from ProCam 4 settings!


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## Drdul (Sep 16, 2016)

rob211 said:


> So you're saying that the low res JPG with GPS is created by ProCam, right?



ProCam embeds a low-res JPG within the DNG, which it uses when you review photos within the app. The low-res JPG has location data embedded in it, whereas there is no location data embedded in the header of the DNG image where it should be. The ProCam developer says it's a bug in iOS 10. I would encourage you to complain to Apple about it.

What I am doing now with ProCam is shooting DNG + JPG (tap the "Set" button at bottom right to access the setting, as @fullkoll shows in his post above). I transfer the DNG and JPG files from my phone to a temporary folder on my Mac, and then I use HoudahGeo to geotag the DNGs with the "using reference photos" option, which copies the location data from JPG files to DNG files with matching times. Then I delete the JPGs and import the DNGs to LR . It's a bit kludgy, but it does the job until Apple updates iOS to properly embed location data in the DNG.


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## rob211 (Sep 16, 2016)

Drdul said:


> ProCam embeds a low-res JPG within the DNG, which it uses when you review photos within the app. The low-res JPG has location data embedded in it, whereas there is no location data embedded in the header of the DNG image where it should be. The ProCam developer says it's a bug in iOS 10. I would encourage you to complain to Apple about it.
> 
> What I am doing now with ProCam is shooting DNG + JPG (tap the "Set" button at bottom right to access the setting, as @fullkoll shows in his post above). I transfer the DNG and JPG files from my phone to a temporary folder on my Mac, and then I use HoudahGeo to geotag the DNGs with the "using reference photos" option, which copies the location data from JPG files to DNG files with matching times. Then I delete the JPGs and import the DNGs to LR . It's a bit kludgy, but it does the job until Apple updates iOS to properly embed location data in the DNG.



Rather interesting workaround for ProCam. I would think just generating the coordinate would be easier, since I expect not many have the tools or time to pull out the preview, then the GPS, then copy it.

But it's just easier for me to use LrM's camera and either creat the DNG with GPS, or do JPEG and then use Lr later to add it to the DNG generated by another app (I use Manual, not Pro Cam), by just copying. Although I do have HoudahGeo, which rocks BTW.


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## Drdul (Sep 19, 2016)

FYI: ProCam's latest update (version 8.0.2) includes this in its release notes: "EXIF data, including location, is now attached to both the JPEG and RAW image data."


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## fullkoll (Sep 14, 2016)

Hi,

I have the perpetual licens of LR and I am happy with that and I have all the clouds I need: iCloud and Dropbox.

The iOS 10 update makes it possible to take DNG photos with my humble, but very compact and capable  iPhone SE and I tried it out with LR Mobile yesterday and it worked fine until I tried to transfer the files over to my Mac.....

I am not interested in editing my files on my phone - I want to do that on my Mac as usual.

I tried copying (even to my Dropbox) and sharing, but all I got was jpgs. Is there no way to copy the DNG files to the Mac - except using Adobe Cloud?

Presumably there will be other third-party camera apps around the corner that solves this........  but what can I do today?


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## fullkoll (Sep 19, 2016)

Yes, I found that out an hour ago - nice!


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## Drdul (Sep 19, 2016)

FYI Part 2: Unlike previous versions, if you want to transfer a ProCam DNG to your Mac, you have to use Image Capture. Other apps like PhoneView or iMazing don't see the DNG on the phone, and instead only transfer the embedded JPG. Fortunately, Lightroom sees the DNG when importing from the phone, so the only need for Image Capture is when you want to transfer photos outside of Lightroom. According to the dev it's the way the other apps are programmed, and they're not using the correct command to see the raw version, so hopefully some of them will be updated to work properly with RAW images.


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## fullkoll (Sep 19, 2016)

I use an app on both my iPhone and my Macs to transfer photos by WiFi from the phone to the Macs: *PhotoSync* - and they are by default saved to the Downloads folder, but that can be changed in the Mac App. After the transfer I import them from there to Lightroom.

I have tried to import the files automatically to a LR folder and then synchronise that folder without problems, but I usually manually move the files from the import folder to LR in the folder I want to use at that time.

I have used it for a long time with all my cameras (raw-files and jpgs from Olympus and Panasonic Lumix) and iPhones 5,6 and SE and it also works fine with the ProCam files and efter the update of ProCam today, even the GPS-data is there too.

Both the DNG and jpg-files from ProCam are transfered as separate files - both with location data intact.


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## Drdul (Sep 28, 2016)

I'm resurrecting this thread to add a comment that may be of interest to others. I have switched from ProCam to ProCamera, which is currently on sale for 40% off. My reason for switching is that I prefer ProCamera's interface, which allows me to tap to set focus and exposure points separately, manually focus if I want to, and easily access exposure compensation, without other features getting in the way. I was finding with ProCam that when I tapped to focus it would switch to focus mode, and when I subsequently went to adjust the exposure comp the app was now in focus mode and I ended up manually focusing when I wanted to adjust exposure (and more than once I ended up with a few out-of-focus shots).


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## fullkoll (Sep 28, 2016)

I have also changed to ProCamera for the same reasons - but before the 40% sale I´m afraid.......

No problems with GPS location data in ProCamera.


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## rob211 (Sep 28, 2016)

Heh. Basically for the price of the cheapest UV filter you can buy you can purchase all the RAW iOS photo apps I think. Amazing.


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## Drdul (Sep 28, 2016)

fullkoll said:


> No problems with GPS location data in ProCamera.



Yes, and I just discovered that while ProCam didn't record direction, ProCamera does.


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## lauren.beeman7 (Mar 31, 2020)

clee01l said:


> You will need to use the OS X Photos App to D/L them from iCloud.   Then you need to extract the originals from the Photos Library and once outside of the library, they can be imported into LR
> What you lose by not having LRCC is the ability to use the Camera roll in LR Mobile and have LRMobile be the conduit to your LR catalog via the Adobe Creative Cloud.  With Creative cloud, the photos in your LR Mobile app automatically get imported into your sync's  LR catalog.


Hello.  I shot RAW photos on my Iphone Pro and can't get the high res images to upload to Lightroom Classic on my mac.  I used airdrop and they come in like the image attached.  I need high res a magazine spread.  Can you help?  PS, I'm a newbie


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## Jim Wilde (Mar 31, 2020)

See my response in the thread that you started about this issue.


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