How to Shoot Open-Gate RAW Video on Older iPhones (RAW Cam App)
If you think shooting 4K open-gate RAW video on iPhone requires the latest iPhone 17 Pro, ProRes RAW, and an external SSD — you’re wrong.
Right now, you can shoot true 4K open-gate RAW video on older iPhones (yes, including an iPhone 14 Pro) and record internally using a brand-new app called RAW Cam.
Not ProRes RAW.
Not Apple Log.
Not Apple’s image pipeline at all.
This is CinemaDNG RAW video, with full access to Camera RAW controls in DaVinci Resolve — meaning you can:
- Bypass Apple’s aggressive ISP entirely
- Recover clipped highlights properly
- Disable sharpening and noise reduction
- Convert footage to ARRI LogC, Blackmagic Film Gen 5, or any professional colour space
- Get results that genuinely rival — and in some cases beat — ProRes RAW from the iPhone 17 Pro
And yes… one of the comparison shots in the video above was captured on an iPhone 14 Pro, internally, in RAW. Most people guess wrong.
The App That Changes Everything: RAW Cam for iPhone
This is all possible thanks to RAW Cam, a new iOS app that enables:
- True open-gate RAW video
- Internal recording
- CinemaDNG output
- Support for any iPhone running iOS 17 or later
That includes older and cheaper iPhones like:
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 14 Pro
In other words: phones that don’t support Apple Log and were previously stuck with heavily processed video.
RAW Cam doesn’t just tweak Apple’s pipeline — it removes it.
What “True RAW Video” Actually Means (And Why It Matters)
True RAW video captures the Bayer sensor data before Apple’s Image Signal Processor (ISP) gets involved.
That means none of this is baked in:
- Sharpening halos
- Noise reduction smearing
- Aggressive tone mapping
- Oversaturated colours
- Contrast curves you didn’t ask for
What you get instead is minimally processed sensor data — massive in file size, but incredibly flexible.
The payoff:
- Better highlight retention
- More usable dynamic range
- Cleaner colour separation
- Complete control in post
If you’ve ever compared iPhone native video to a cinema camera and thought “why does this look so crunchy?” — this is why.
In the video above, I show RAW video from an iPhone 14 Pro next to native iPhone video from the same phone. The difference is… not subtle.
It’s honestly shit cam vs cinema cam.
Isn’t Apple Log or ProRes RAW Good Enough?
Apple Log on the iPhone 15, 16, and 17 Pro is a big improvement over standard Rec.709 or HLG — no question. I'd go so far as to call it GREAT.
But let’s be clear:
- Apple Log still goes through Apple’s ISP
- ProRes RAW still goes through Apple’s ISP
There is always processing happening before you ever touch the file.
RAW Cam removes that processing entirely.
That’s why an older iPhone shooting CinemaDNG RAW can sometimes produce a cleaner, more gradable image than an iPhone 17 Pro shooting ProRes RAW.
It sounds insane — until you see it.
CinemaDNG + DaVinci Resolve = Full RAW Control
Because RAW Cam outputs CinemaDNG, you get full Camera RAW controls inside DaVinci Resolve (which is free).
That means you can:
- Decode highlights properly
- Recover clipped channels
- Control sharpness (or set it to zero)
- Adjust exposure non-destructively
- Choose your own working colour space
And here’s the real magic: you can convert iPhone footage to ARRI LogC, Blackmagic Film, or P3-D60, then apply professional cinema LUTs designed for real cameras.
That’s why the results look ridiculous for something shot on a phone.
Why This Matters So Much for Older iPhones
If you’re on an iPhone that doesn’t support Apple Log, RAW Cam is a total game-changer.
It effectively turns older iPhones into legitimate RAW cinema cameras with better highlight behaviour and vastly reduced over-processing.
For the first time, older iPhones aren’t just “usable” — they’re desirable.
My iPhone 14 Pro went from borderline paperweight to something I genuinely want to shoot with again.
The Real Limitations (Read This Before You Go All-In)
RAW video on iPhone is incredible — but it’s not magic, and it’s definitely not for everyone.
- Recording is extremely demanding: older phones may only manage 4–5 minutes of 4K open-gate before dropped frames.
- The live preview is not accurate: iOS shows a tone-mapped preview, not the RAW image. You must rely on clipping indicators.
- No electronic stabilisation: you’re limited to optical OIS or sensor-shift only.
- No on-device playback: footage must be viewed on a computer.
- File sizes are huge: roughly 12GB per minute in 4K open-gate.
- Autofocus during recording is limited: even manual focus pulls can destabilise recording.
- No vignette correction: you’ll fix that in post.
If any of that sounds painful, apps like Blackmagic Camera or Mavis Camera are still excellent choices.
But if your goal is maximum image quality, RAW Cam is absolutely worth experimenting with.
Should You Shoot Everything in RAW?
Absolutely not.
RAW is slower, heavier, and far less forgiving. But when image quality actually matters — controlled shoots, cinematic projects, grading-heavy workflows — once you shoot real RAW video, it’s very hard to go back.
Especially on older iPhones that never had Apple Log in the first place.
Final Thoughts
RAW Cam has quietly done something huge: it made true open-gate RAW video possible on older iPhones, internally, without an SSD — something even the iPhone 17 Pro can’t do with ProRes RAW. Additionally, it brings the innovate .MCRAW format to iOS, letting iPhone users tap into the power of this format with tools like MC Fuse.
RAW on iPhone has a long way to go. But RAW Cam v1.0 is incredible and points to an exciting future.
