raw/dng with Note 4 (Android 6) possible?

[ottonis]

Hi all,

my first post here, so excuse my ignorance if this question may have already been answered.

Being a photography enthusiast I am not quite happy with the standard postprocessing applied by the Samsung Camera app. In particular, I find the sharpening algorithm not pleasing, second to the noise reduction algorithms.

Naturally, shooting in RAW (DNG) would allow to process images to taste.

That being said, I wondered if the Note 4 has finally acquired the ability to shoot in RAW format. Interestingly, trying to install a couple of apps from Google appstore that are advertised to save images in RAW format left me with the message that my device is not compatible with those apps.

That's what took me here to the good folks of androidcentral, hoping to find some answers whether the Note 4 hardware can or cannot produce Raw images and if a ROM-Mod might eventually solve this problem.

Thanks in advance for all good advices!

Best

David

 

[nahoku]

As far as I know, the Note 4 is capable of raw (it has to be, right?), however Samsung has probably disabled the output... or the carriers have. In MM, there is no raw output available on the Note 4.

Beyond that, this is a phone camera. Even my 10 megapixel Canon G11 takes better photos than this puny Note 4 lens. No matter the specs of the Note 4 camera, the glass is the problem. If you're into photography, then you know what I mean. However, the Note 4 is more capable at shooting lower iso than my G11. It can go down to iso 40 in bright/good light. This is outstanding for a phone as far as I'm concerned as lack of noise is very good. On the other hand, higher iso settings basically suck, especially when shot in Auto mode... and again its due to glass. My opinion on clarity and sharpness... I don't see a problem, given this is a phone camera.

I think your expectations might be too high for a phone camera. I can tell you that I don't expect my Note 4 to even outperform my G11 and so I use my G11 for almost every occasion, especially indoors where I need flash (external).

I can give you no answers concerning apps or roms as I never even looked into it.

 

[prebert]

That being said, I wondered if the Note 4 has finally acquired the ability to shoot in RAW format.

I am also interested in this feature. My understanding is that the manufacturer needs to implement camera2 API in order to support RAW format. I believe that camera2 API was introduced with Android 5.0 (Lollipop). I currently am using a Note 4 (SM-N910A) on AT&T running Android 5.1.1, and it does not support RAW format. I am eagerly expecting Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) to be released over the air (OTA) and I hope (not holding my breath) that it supports camera2 API.

 

[MrMELTDOWN]

I don't believe Marshmallow brings RAW capability to the Note 4. I again ran this app called "Manual Camera Compatability" after installing 6.0 and it's still not available. And yes, camera2, it's a Samsung failure to fix this according to developers of manual camera apps . Other manual controls are not available either such as shutter priority. This is my biggest complaint with the Note 4 and a major drawback IMO. I've tried a few of the premium camera apps but certain manual camera controls are still not available. I recently installed "Adobe Photoshop Light room". This app my hold some promise but I haven't had a chance to dive into it yet.

Posted Via My Note 4 With Armor Coated Bullet Proof Otter Box

 

[sparksd]

I can also confirm that the Sprint Note 4 with 6.0.1 does not support RAW.