How to use Samsung Expert RAW to get the best photos
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Toward the end of last year, Samsung released a new app for the Galaxy S21 Ultracalled Expert RAW. This app gives users complete control over the device cameras, much like Pro Mode, but with an added benefit: The RAW photos it outputs still benefit from multi-frame HDR. These can then be imported into an app like Lightroom, where you may use all that RAW data to tweak the image and get the look you want.
Using Expert RAW might seem daunting to those new to the format, but once you’ve used it a few times, it quickly becomes second nature.
The apps you need
Before you get started, you’ll need to download Expert RAW and an app capable of editing RAW image files. Expert RAW currently supports theSamsung Galaxy S21 Ultra,S22 series, andZ Fold 3. The app is supposed to be coming to the S20 Ultra, Note 20 Ultra, and Z Fold 2,but that expansion has been delayed.
As for the photo editor, we recommend Adobe Lightroom. If you download it from the Galaxy Store rather than the Play Store, you’ll get a version that allows you to edit Expert RAW images without an Adobe subscription, which is a great deal. This is the app Samsung has in mind regarding Expert RAW, so it’s best to stick with it. You can download both apps from the Galaxy Store using these links:
Download Expert RAW from the Galaxy Store
Download Adobe Lightroom from the Galaxy Store
Taking a photo in Expert RAW
When you open Expert RAW, you’ll find a similar UI to the Pro Mode in Samsung’s regular camera app. Everything is set to auto by default, with the phone changing the shutter speed, focus, white balance, and ISO for you. You’ll most likely use this most of the time, as we’ve found the app’s automatic adjustments to be reliable.
If you want to tweak one of these settings, tap the appropriate option from the right of the screen and then drag the slider to the desired setting. When adjusting the focus, the device paints a green marker over the part of the image you’re focussing on, which comes in handy if you’re trying to get a small object in pin-sharp focus.
If you want to return one of these options to its automatic mode, tap it again and then press theManualbutton at the bottom of the screen. This turns the automatic settings back on for this parameter.
You have access to all the rear cameras, but it’s possible to’t use Space Zoom. On the S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra, you have a maximum of 10X zoom, which should be more than enough for most situations.
Once you’ve taken your photo, it saves two versions: a regular JPEG and a RAW file. A future update will add the ability to only save images in RAW, but that isn’t available at the time of this writing. You can tell which image is which, thanks to the RAW indicator in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Beneath the photo, you’ll find a Lightroom button that imports the photo for editing, a share button, and the delete option. When you want to edit the photo you just took, press theLightroombutton.
Editing in Lightroom
After tapping the Lightroom button, the photo is imported, and the app opens on the library page. It can take ten seconds or so for Adobe to import the image correctly, so be patient if it doesn’t show up immediately. When everything is ready, tap theAll Photosbutton at the top, then click the image.
The editor has plenty of options for getting the desired look and style. The auto mode works well most of the time, but there are some fringe cases where it gets things wrong. you could tweak the settings yourself, even if you use auto mode first.
Lightroom is usually a paid app, but when you use Expert RAW, you can use a lot of its functionality for free. The only things still off-limits are masking, healing, and geometry. Everything else is up for grabs, including the optics menu.
You’ll find a toggle in the optics menu to enable lens correction. Switch this on, and click the name of your phone below it. Here you can scroll through a massive list of Samsung devices that Adobe has lens profiles for. Find your phone, in this case, an S22 Ultra, and choose the relevant camera.
With that done, the app corrects the lens distortions based on the technical specifications of your camera lens, and it does a great job. The differences are small but noticeable, and it’s possible to alter the lens correction yourself if you prefer.
When your photo looks just right, click theSharebutton at the top of the screen and then choose export. You can choose the file type, change the dimensions, and compress the image. You may want to check out the watermark function in this menu. You can add an “Expert RAW” watermark so that you can see which images are from here and which are from the regular camera.
Do the photos look better?
The images below are examples using Expert RAW. The images on the left are unedited, and the ones on the right are edited. Each photo is watermarked to make that clear.
In the case of the cakes and the town street, the differences are minor. The lighting was challenging, with dim, yellowed lighting inside the café and an overcast sunset out on the street. All these images needed was color correction and adjustment of the highlights, shadows, and saturation. The difference isn’t big, but the edited images look better to the eye. Editing them in RAW instead of a JPEG out of the regular camera app is always better.
Moving on to the pier and clock tower, you can see what editing in Expert RAW is truly capable of. The original photos had overblown highlights and awful grain in the shadows. Pulling down the highlights, removing as much grain as possible, and balancing the shadows and exposure result in dramatic and appealing photos. Both were taken in pitch black darkness, with only the illuminated clock and pier lights helping us see where we were going.
Taking them in Expert RAW and then balancing everything in Lightroom creates a usable image without needing a tripod, something the Night Mode on an S21 Ultra would never have been able to do (these were taken before the phone was upgraded).
Should you use Expert RAW?
That depends. If you want a nice snap for Instagram and don’t take photos in tricky lighting, there isn’t much point. But if you’re interested in photography, and like to keep a library of photos as memories to look back on, then you should try it. It isn’t difficult to get to grips with, and some photos you create will look stunning.
Expert RAW is an excellent gateway into the realm of photography, and being able to do it on a phone rather than an expensive camera makes it all the more accessible. Are you ready to get started? We have more tips onhow to take and edit RAW photos on Android.
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