The RAF file (.raf)

RAF is the raw format of Fujifilm's digital cameras, today the X-series (X-T, X-H, X-Pro, X-E, X-S and X100 models) and the GFX medium-format cameras. Set the camera to RAW or RAW + JPEG (Fujifilm calls it FINE+RAW) and every photo is saved as a .raf.

Like any raw file, a RAF holds one value per photosite, recorded behind a red, green or blue filter, before the camera has made a picture. Demosaicing, white balance, the film simulation (Provia, Velvia, Classic Chrome and the rest), sharpening and noise reduction are all applied later, by whatever software opens the file. The camera's choices are stored as settings, so you can change them afterwards.

• Film simulations aren't baked in. Lightroom and Capture One, among others, offer camera-matching profiles with the same names; Fujifilm's own X RAW Studio uses the camera's processing, so it matches exactly.
• It looks flat at first in editors that start from neutral settings, compared with the camera's JPEG.
• A JPEG is inside for previews, along with the Exif data.
• Not for sharing. Browsers and most phone apps can't show RAF. Export a JPG, HEIF or PNG.

Almost every camera sensor uses the Bayer pattern: a 2 × 2 block of one red, two green and one blue filter, repeated across the sensor. In January 2012, with the X-Pro1, Fujifilm introduced X-Trans, which repeats a 6 × 6 block instead, arranged irregularly so that every row and every column contains red, green and blue.

Demosaicing estimates the two missing colours at every photosite from its neighbours. With X-Trans, the neighbours of the same colour are further apart and the pattern repeats less often, so converters need different algorithms. DxO, which added X-Trans support to PhotoLab 5, calls the process "far more complex" and notes that far fewer research papers exist on it than on Bayer. That's why the same RAF can look noticeably different from one program to the next, above all in fine, random detail such as foliage.

Under RAW RECORDING, Fujifilm cameras offer up to three types. The X-Pro2's manual lists the first two; newer models add a lossy one. The GFX100's manual gives these figures:

The GFX100 can also record 16-bit raw in single-frame shooting; Fujifilm gives 45 to 100% (lossless) and 30 to 40% (compressed) for those. Lossless compression costs nothing in quality, so it's a safe default. Before switching to compressed RAF, check that every app in your workflow supports it: Apple's raw support list for its 2025 systems marked many Fujifilm models, including the X-H2S, X-Pro3 and GFX 100 II, as supported for uncompressed RAF only.

• Fujifilm X RAW Studio (free, Windows and macOS): connect the camera with USB, and the software sends each RAF to the camera, whose processor converts it to JPEG or TIFF with the camera's own processing and settings you can adjust. Results match the camera's own JPEGs exactly, and Fujifilm says conversion takes about as long as taking a photo. The catch: it only converts files from the same model as the connected camera, and runs on the camera's battery.
• In the camera: the playback menu's RAW CONVERSION does the same for a single photo, without a computer.
• Editors: Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop (Camera Raw), Capture One, DxO PhotoLab, Affinity Photo; free and open source, darktable and RawTherapee.
• Just looking: macOS Photos and Preview for supported cameras; on Windows 10 and 11, Microsoft's free Raw Image Extension for Photos and File Explorer thumbnails.

# which camera? the model name is plain text in the header
head -c 60 DSCF0001.RAF | strings

# save the embedded JPEG (the camera's own rendering)
exiftool -b -PreviewImage DSCF0001.RAF > DSCF0001.jpg

# render the raw data with darktable
darktable-cli DSCF0001.RAF DSCF0001.jpg

For older software that doesn't know your camera, Adobe's free DNG Converter turns RAF files into DNG, which older Lightroom and Photoshop versions open.

• The camera is newer than the app. Every new model needs explicit support. Update, or convert with Adobe DNG Converter.
• It's a compressed or lossless RAF the app can't decode. If uncompressed files from the same camera open, that's the cause. Update the app or change RAW RECORDING.
• X RAW Studio says the file isn't supported. It only converts files shot with the same model as the camera connected.
• Colours don't match the camera. Choose the film simulation profile in your editor (for example Camera Classic Chrome) instead of a generic profile, or convert with X RAW Studio.
• Smeared or oddly textured foliage. An X-Trans demosaicing issue. Try another converter or its detail-enhancing option, and reduce sharpening.

Many Fujifilm photographers shoot RAF + JPEG: the JPEG for its film simulation straight away, the RAF for the photos that need more work.

A RAF can't run code, but its metadata, inside the embedded JPEG's Exif block, can reveal more than you mean to share:

• Camera serial numbers, including an internal serial number in the Fujifilm maker notes, linking photos to one body.
• Location, when the camera took it from a phone.
• Face recognition data on models with that feature: ExifTool lists tags for face names and categories registered in the camera.
• Copyright and author text from the camera menu, and every setting.

Inspect with exiftool -a -G1 photo.raf. When it matters, share an exported JPEG with metadata stripped rather than the RAF itself.