RAF File Format (.raf)

An RAF file holds the unprocessed sensor readout from a Fujifilm camera in a TIFF-based container alongside an embedded JPEG preview and a Fujifilm-specific metadata block, and the same extension covers both the X-Trans bodies and Fujifilm's Bayer-sensor models such as the X-A series, the X-T100 and the GFX medium format line.

.rafImage Files

RAF at a glance#

Full name	Fuji CCD-RAW Graphic File
File extension	.raf
Category	Image Files
Developer	Fujifilm Corporation
MIME types	image/x-fuji-raf
Compression	Varies from file to file
FileFlip support	FileFlip reads this format but does not write it

What a .raf file can hold#

These are the things a RAF file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.

Lossless compression	Yes
Embedded metadata	Yes
Colour profiles	Yes

Strengths and limitations of RAF#

What RAF does well

The 6x6 X-Trans color filter pattern breaks up moire well enough that Fujifilm ships those bodies without an optical low-pass filter
Newer X-series cameras offer a lossless compressed RAF that is smaller than the older uncompressed form without dropping sensor data
One extension covers Fujifilm's whole digital range, from FinePix compacts through the GFX medium format bodies, so a single reader handles the lot

Where RAF falls short

X-Trans arranges its color filters in a 6x6 block rather than the 2x2 Bayer grid, so a converter needs demosaicing code written specifically for it
Fujifilm publishes no RAF specification, so every reader outside Fujifilm's own software is reverse engineered and support for a brand-new body arrives late
Fujifilm cameras cannot write DNG, so any DNG-based archive needs a separate conversion pass after the shoot

RAF is what a Fujifilm camera writes when you set it to raw, so the only decision in the menu is uncompressed against compressed, not the format itself.

Convert RAF to JPEG when the picture has to be shared or printed, or to DNG when you want one raw format across cameras from several manufacturers.

How to open a .raf file#

A .raf file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts RAF into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.

Platform	Programs that open it
Windows	Fujifilm X RAW Studio, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Capture One, RAW FILE CONVERTER EX, Microsoft Photos
macOS	Fujifilm X RAW Studio, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Capture One, RAW FILE CONVERTER EX, Iridient X-Transformer, Preview
Linux	darktable, RawTherapee
iOS	Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop Express
Android	Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop Express
Web	FileFlip

RAF questions people ask#

What software opens RAF files?

Fujifilm's own X RAW Studio opens RAF files, and so do Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw, Adobe Photoshop, Capture One, and the open source darktable and RawTherapee. X RAW Studio is the odd one out because it does the conversion on the image processor inside a Fujifilm camera connected over USB rather than on the computer, which is why its output matches the camera's own JPEG engine exactly.

Why do RAF files look softer in Lightroom than in Fujifilm's own software?

RAF files from an X-Trans sensor carry a 6x6 color filter pattern instead of the 2x2 Bayer grid almost every other camera uses, and a raw converter has to demosaic that pattern with code written for it. Adobe's early X-Trans rendering was widely criticized for smearing fine detail such as foliage. Every current raw processor now ships X-Trans specific demosaicing, RawTherapee's Markesteijn one-pass and three-pass methods being the open source example, so the gap has narrowed a lot since 2012. What is left is mostly a matter of taste, and photographers who still want a different rendering run their RAF files through Iridient X-Transformer before Lightroom sees them.

Does converting RAF to DNG lose anything?

Converting an RAF file with Adobe DNG Converter keeps the sensor data as it was captured, X-Trans mosaic and all, so nothing about image quality changes and the demosaicing still happens later in whatever software opens the DNG. Some Fujifilm-specific fields such as film simulation settings may not survive into a form other software understands. A tool like Iridient X-Transformer works differently: it demosaics the RAF itself and writes an already-processed linear DNG, which fixes the interpretation of the X-Trans pattern in place and takes that choice away from the editor you open it in.

Why does Fujifilm use RAF instead of DNG?

Fujifilm keeps RAF as its own format, as Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic keep theirs, so it can describe new sensors and store its own processing settings without waiting for Adobe to update the shared DNG specification. X-Trans makes that argument sharper, since the 6x6 filter layout needs its own demosaicing treatment. No Fujifilm camera writes DNG in-camera, so converting is always something you do after the fact.

Converting RAF files#

FileFlip does not write .raf files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.

Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.