RawCam – Raw DNG Camera

RawCam is a minimal camera for sensor-pure DNG photos and clean video capture. No AI postprocessing, no Smart HDR, no tone mapping, no noise reduction. Shoot RAW, open the photo in your favorite RAW editor, and process it yourself.

WHY RAW

The standard Camera app runs every shot through a heavy AI pipeline before saving. That pipeline is great for sharing-ready photos, but it bakes its decisions into the final JPEG and the original sensor data is gone. In low light or high dynamic range scenes, that's two or three stops of recovery you can never get back.

A DNG file preserves the unprocessed sensor data. You decide how to expose, sharpen, color, and denoise it later, in Lightroom, Capture One, Darkroom, or any other RAW editor.

WHAT YOU GET

• RAW mode — saves a single 12MP DNG with zero processing

• RAW+JPG mode — saves both a clean DNG and a processed JPEG simultaneously, useful for comparison

• Video mode — records HEVC video to Photos, with extra formats shown only when the current device supports them

• Tap to focus anywhere on the preview

• Long-press to lock focus

• Manual exposure controls for ISO and shutter speed

• EV compensation for auto exposure

• Separate focus and exposure targeting

• AF/AE lock from the tools grid

• White balance controls with presets and Kelvin adjustment

• Lens selector with RAW availability

• Pinch-to-zoom and quick lens zoom selection

• Optional grid, horizon level, and self-timer

• Optional aspect guides and steadier photo capture

• Volume-button shutter

• Three-shot RAW exposure bracketing

• RawCam roll for recent in-app photos and videos

• Last-shot details for lens, ISO, shutter, EV, white balance, and clipping

• App Shortcut for Shortcuts, Siri, Spotlight, and Action Button launch

• Flash with off, on, and auto modes

• Rear-camera focused capture, with front-camera switching removed to avoid mirrored or distorted RAW previews

• Live histogram with orange edge bars for clipped shadows or highlights

• Zebra stripes when highlights are clipping

• Portrait orientation, designed for one-handed use

PRIVACY

RawCam doesn't collect anything. There's no account, no login, no analytics, no advertising, no third-party tracking, and no server. The app makes zero network requests. Photos and videos save directly to your photo library and never leave your device.

ABOUT THE 12 MEGAPIXEL CAP

Apple caps third-party RAW capture at 12MP. The 48MP full sensor readout is reserved for the system Camera app. This is a platform limitation that applies to every third-party camera, not a RawCam limitation.

OPEN SOURCE

RawCam is open source under the MIT license. The full source lives at github.com/madebysan/rawcam.

SUPPORT

Found a bug or have a request? Email me directly. The support page link below has FAQs and a contact address.