# Canon C-RAW vs RAW: 45% Smaller Files, Measured on 20 Cameras > We measured 110 Canon CR3s: C-RAW ran a median 45% smaller on the 20 cameras with both modes. Where it differs (deep shadows) and when to shoot RAW. - Canonical HTML: https://revelraw.com/blog/canon-craw-vs-raw.html - Markdown mirror of this page: https://revelraw.com/blog/canon-craw-vs-raw.md - Published: 2026-11-10 - Language: English - Machine-readable site index: https://revelraw.com/llms.txt · Full site as one file: https://revelraw.com/llms-full.txt Published November 10, 2026 · [Daniel Tello](https://revelraw.com/about.md) · RevelRaw **C-RAW vs RAW:** C-RAW is Canon's Compact RAW, a lossy setting that keeps full resolution and the .CR3 extension. In RevelRaw's November 2026 test of 20 Canon cameras, C-RAW files were a median 45% smaller than RAW (31 to 59%). We found no mid-tone or highlight difference our test could detect; only near-black shadows changed, on some cameras. Shoot C-RAW unless you push deep shadows hard. Search "craw vs raw" and you get forum threads and savings quoted anywhere from 30% to 50%. We measured instead, on all 110 Canon CR3 files in the public raw.pixls.us archive (26 cameras). Shooting Sony? Its cRAW is a different format, covered in [our Sony RAW compression test](https://revelraw.com/blog/sony-compressed-vs-uncompressed-raw.md). To open a CR3, see [how to open CR3 files on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-cr3-files-on-mac.md). Open your CR3 files free on a Mac. RevelRaw · Your first full-quality export is free · macOS 26 or later · Apple M1 or later [Open CR3 files free](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6773942240?pt=120914369&ct=BlogCanonCrawVsRaw&mt=8) ## How much smaller is C-RAW than RAW? 45% across 20 cameras Across the 20 Canon cameras with a RAW and a C-RAW file shot at the same ISO, the C-RAW was a median 45% smaller. Every C-RAW was smaller than its RAW partner, from 31% on the PowerShot SX70 HS and EOS M6 Mark II to 59% on the EOS R5. | Camera | C-RAW smaller by | RAW | C-RAW | ISO | Same scene? | Canon manual | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Canon EOS R5](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4694/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R5%20-%203:2.CR3) | 59% | 40.63 MB | 16.82 MB | 100 | Same | 52% | | [Canon EOS R7](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/5633/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R7%20-%203:2.CR3) | 58% | 32.31 MB | 13.51 MB | 100 | Same | 49% | | [Canon EOS-1D X Mark III](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4655/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS-1D%20X%20Mark%20III%20-%203:2.CR3) | 52% | 21.29 MB | 10.17 MB | 100 | Subject moved | n/a | | [Canon EOS R6](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4662/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R6%20-%203:2.CR3) | 51% | 22.90 MB | 11.21 MB | 100 | Same | 49% | | [Canon EOS R6 Mark III](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/8961/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R6%20Mark%20III%20-%20RAW%20(3:2).CR3) | 51% | 34.61 MB | 17.10 MB | 100 | Same | 51% | | [Canon EOS R5 Mark II](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/7881/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R5%20Mark%20II%20-%20RAW%20(3:2).CR3) | 49% | 54.44 MB | 27.53 MB | 640 | Same | 57% | | [Canon EOS R8](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/6585/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R8%20-%203:2.CR3) | 49% | 28.78 MB | 14.61 MB | 200 | Subject moved | 49% | | [Canon EOS R](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4515/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R%20-%203:2.CR3) | 48% | 31.61 MB | 16.35 MB | 100 | Same | n/a | | [Canon EOS M50](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4657/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20M50%20-%203:2.CR3) | 48% | 28.35 MB | 14.85 MB | 100 | Same | n/a | | [Canon EOS 250D (Rebel SL3)](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/3386/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20250D%20-%20RAW%20(1:1).CR3) | 46% | 26.96 MB | 14.62 MB | 100 | Same | n/a | | [Canon EOS 90D](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4649/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%2090D%20-%203:2.CR3) | 45% | 35.39 MB | 19.51 MB | 100 | Same | n/a | | [Canon EOS R100](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/7896/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R100%20-%20RAW%20(3:2).CR3) | 44% | 28.17 MB | 15.71 MB | 640 | Same | 42% | | [Canon EOS R6 Mark II](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/6402/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R6%20Mark%20II%20-%203:2.cr3) | 44% | 29.40 MB | 16.47 MB | 100 | Same | 49% | | [Canon EOS RP](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/4674/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20RP%20-%203:2.CR3) | 44% | 27.44 MB | 15.42 MB | 100 | Same | n/a | | [Canon EOS R50](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/6648/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20R50%20-%20RAW%20(3:2).CR3) | 40% | 31.85 MB | 19.12 MB | 100 | Same | 48% | | [Canon EOS M200](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/8469/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20M200%20-%20RAW%20(3:2).CR3) | 39% | 28.78 MB | 17.61 MB | 100 | Sky differs | n/a | | [Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/3509/nice/Canon%20-%20PowerShot%20G5%20X%20Mark%20II%20-%20RAW%20(1:1).CR3) | 38% | 26.70 MB | 16.53 MB | 125 | Same | n/a | | [Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/6053/nice/Canon%20-%20PowerShot%20G7%20X%20Mark%20III%20-%203:2.CR3) | 32% | 31.33 MB | 21.37 MB | 125 | Same | n/a | | [Canon PowerShot SX70 HS](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/3276/nice/Canon%20-%20PowerShot%20SX70%20HS%20-%20RAW%2C%204:3%20(4:3).CR3) | 31% | 29.89 MB | 20.69 MB | 100 | Same | n/a | | [Canon EOS M6 Mark II](https://raw.pixls.us/getfile.php/3713/nice/Canon%20-%20EOS%20M6%20Mark%20II%20-%20RAW%20(3:2).CR3) | 31% | 48.41 MB | 33.58 MB | 640 | Framing differs | n/a | MB is 1,000,000 bytes; sizes are medians where a camera has several pairs. "Same scene?" is our check by eye. "Canon manual" is the saving in Canon's own spec table, for the nine cameras listed there. Camera names link to the CC0 RAW files on raw.pixls.us. Method in brief: 110 public-domain CR3 files, tested on November 10, 2026 on macOS 27.0.1. [How we tested](https://revelraw.com/blog/canon-craw-vs-raw.md#method). ### Our 45% against Canon's 49% Canon's manual tables put C-RAW at 42 to 57% smaller, a median of 49% across 18 cameras. On the nine cameras in both Canon's tables and our sample, our median was also 49%, but single cameras landed up to 9 points above Canon's figure (the R7, 58% against 49%) and 8 below it (the R50, 40% against 48%). Our overall median is lower because the sample adds compacts and older bodies. Count only the raw sensor data, without the preview JPEG and metadata, and C-RAW was about half the size, 49 to 51% smaller. ### What decides the saving Cameras whose RAW files are already heavy for their pixel count saved least: the three PowerShots 31 to 38%, the R5 and R7 58 to 59%. Each camera shot one scene, so camera and subject can't be fully separated. **On a card, that's close to twice the frames.** With our R6 Mark III pair (34.61 MB RAW, 17.10 MB C-RAW), a 128 GB card holds about 3,700 RAW frames or 7,500 C-RAW. Our [RAW storage calculator](https://revelraw.com/raw-storage-calculator.md) works it out for your camera, and the [RAW file size study](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-big-is-a-raw-file.md) compares other brands' compact modes. ## Does C-RAW lose image quality? None our test could detect in mid-tones or highlights In mid-tones and highlights we found no difference between C-RAW and RAW that our test could detect. It resolves differences of about 5 to 10%, judged against two RAW frames shot back to back, and two C-RAW frames, on the EOS 250D and PowerShot SX70 HS. The result comes from same-scene pairs, shot at the same exposure, that lined up well, on eight cameras: the EOS 250D, EOS R, R5 Mark II, R6 Mark II and R6 Mark III, and the PowerShot G5 X Mark II, G7 X Mark III and SX70 HS. Pixel-level noise in C-RAW came out at 0.94 to 1.05 times RAW's on seven of them, and 0.97 to 1.02 on the G5 X Mark II, which we measured more coarsely. Two frames of the same mode differed by 0.96 to 1.06. Fine detail landed at 94 to 104% of RAW's (controls 95 to 106%). Over larger patches, noise ran 0.87 to 1.09 against controls of 0.94 to 1.10, a wider spread that the recheck traced mostly to exposure matching. ### Where C-RAW differs: near-black shadows In RevelRaw's November 2026 test, C-RAW stored 24 to 39% less pixel-level variation than RAW in the covered strip at the sensor's edge, which never sees light, on 6 of 8 Canon cameras (ISO 100 to 200). The RAW frames were shot within seven minutes of the C-RAW ones. The EOS RP, and the R100 at ISO 640, showed no reduction. On the 250D, three RAW frames matched each other within 0.2% and two C-RAW frames within 0.4%, so shot-to-shot variation can't explain it. The amounts are far too small to see until you brighten the file a lot. Real scenes showed it too, below about 0.2% of white (roughly nine stops down): about 30% less variation on the R6 Mark II, and 12% less on the G7 X Mark III, near the limit of what the test resolves. On the R5 Mark II and SX70 HS there was no difference beyond the controls; the 250D and R5 frames had too few pixels that dark to measure. **Less variation isn't an improvement here.** The covered pixels see no light, so the sensor's output is the same in both modes. A smaller spread means the stored values were changed, and any detail that fine would go with it. Brightened four stops, the R6 Mark II's C-RAW shadow has softer grain that clumps into slightly coarser blotches. In a comparably dark crop from the R5 Mark II, we couldn't see a difference. ![A dark car wheel arch brightened four stops: the C-RAW on the left has a smooth, slightly blotchy texture, the RAW on the right a finer, even grain.](https://revelraw.com/images/canon-craw-vs-raw-r6ii-shadow-1600.jpg) *Canon EOS R6 Mark II at ISO 100, C-RAW (left) and RAW (right) of the same scene, brightened four stops. One green channel of the raw data, no demosaicing or noise reduction, enlarged 2×. CC0 files from raw.pixls.us.* This fits Canon's own warning. Its [RAW guide](https://www.usa.canon.com/learning/training-articles/training-articles-list/raw-image-fundamentals) says that if you "significantly under-expose a RAW image, and then lighten it… noise levels will typically increase more in C-RAW files". Canon hasn't said precisely how C-RAW makes files smaller, and we don't know the mechanism. Away from the deep shadows, [DPReview](https://www.dpreview.com/articles/0483301097) couldn't find a difference in its base-ISO studio shots and called its ISO 12,800 shots "all but identical", and Canon says that "differences in RAW vs. C-RAW images are usually very slight." ## What is C-RAW? Canon's Compact RAW, full resolution, same .CR3 C-RAW is Canon's Compact RAW, an image-quality setting on the camera. Canon USA is firm about the name: C-RAW "stands for Compact RAW (it is not 'compressed RAW!')". The menu shows it as CRAW. **Full resolution.** "Compact RAW files still use the full pixel resolution from your camera's image sensor," Canon says, and both modes had identical dimensions on all 20 of our cameras. **Lossy.** Standard Canon RAW is losslessly compressed. Canon USA's guide avoids the word lossy, but [Canon Europe's](https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/infobank/image-file-types/) doesn't: "C-RAW uses lossy compression – that is, it discards some image information." [The-Digital-Picture](https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Cameras/Canon-C-RAW-Image-File-Format.aspx) reports Canon told it the same. **Checking which you shot.** Both are `.CR3`, and the container labels both "CRAW". An EXIF reader that shows Canon's maker notes, such as ExifTool, lists Canon's Quality setting as CRAW or RAW. **Which cameras have it.** Canon introduced C-RAW with the EOS M50 in 2018. Its online manuals list Compact RAW for 19 cameras, and our sample has C-RAW files from 10 more, including the EOS R, RP, 90D and three PowerShots. ## Does C-RAW shoot faster? It buys buffer depth, not frame rate No Canon manual we read says C-RAW changes frames per second. What it changes is how many frames you get before the camera slows to write to the card: | Camera and shutter | Card | RAW burst | C-RAW burst | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | EOS R5 Mark II, mechanical shutter / electronic first-curtain | 325 GB CFexpress | 230 | 580 | | EOS R5 Mark II, mechanical shutter / electronic first-curtain | 128 GB SD UHS-II | 95 | 580 | | EOS R8, electronic shutter, 40 fps | 32 GB SD UHS-II | 56 | 100 | | EOS R8, electronic shutter, 40 fps | 32 GB SD UHS-I | 51 | 98 | Approximate frames at ISO 100 in High-speed continuous plus, with the cards Canon lists, from Canon's online manuals for the [R5 Mark II](https://cam.start.canon/en/C017/manual/html/UG-10_Reference_0110.html) and [R8](https://cam.start.canon/en/C013/manual/html/UG-10_Reference_0100.html). The gain is biggest where the card is the bottleneck. On an SD card the R5 Mark II goes from about 95 RAW frames to 580, the same as on CFexpress, and at 40 fps the R8's burst almost doubles. ## 12-bit vs 14-bit RAW: the shutter and drive mode decide, not C-RAW Where Canon states a bit depth, it follows the drive or shutter mode. The [EOS M50 Mark II manual](https://cam.start.canon/en/C007/manual/html/UG-11_Reference_0090.html) lists RAW and C-RAW together as "14 bit (14 bit A/D conversion\*1), Canon Original", with the footnote "For continuous shooting and Silent Mode, 12-bit A/D conversion is used." The [EOS-1D X Mark III manual](https://cam.start.canon/en/C001/manual/html/UG-09_Reference_0100.html) ties 12-bit to the electronic shutter. No Canon source we found says C-RAW itself reduces bit depth. The files can't settle it either. All 110 report the same 14-bit scale, a container value that says nothing about how the sensor was read out. ## C-RAW limits: two cards, Dual Pixel RAW, converting later **No RAW on one card and C-RAW on the other.** The [R5](https://cam.start.canon/en/C003/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0030.html) and [R5 Mark II](https://cam.start.canon/en/C017/manual/html/UG-03_Shooting-1_0030.html) manuals, among others, say "recording separately to \[RAW\] and \[Compact RAW\] is not available for RAW images." **Dual Pixel RAW works with C-RAW**, as the [R8 manual](https://cam.start.canon/en/C013/manual/html/UG-04_Shooting-1_0040.html) confirms. In our files, Dual Pixel C-RAW from five cameras came out 1.43 to 1.78 times the size of plain C-RAW. **No converting to C-RAW later.** We know of no Canon tool that turns an existing RAW into C-RAW. Converting C-RAW to DNG doesn't save space either. dnglab 0.8.0 kept the raw data unchanged in all seven files we tried, but with its default settings, which also store the original inside, the DNGs were 2.2 to 3.3 times the C-RAW's size. An R6 Mark III's 17.1 MB C-RAW became a 48.5 MB DNG, bigger than its 34.6 MB RAW. More in [our DNG vs RAW test](https://revelraw.com/blog/dng-vs-raw.md). ## Does C-RAW open on a Mac? All 51 of our C-RAW files did Yes. On macOS 27.0.1, the Mac's built-in RAW support decoded all 51 C-RAW files in our set at full size, from 21 Canon cameras, and none of the results was the embedded JPEG. Quick Look rendered all six we tried. [Apple's macOS 27 camera list](https://support.apple.com/en-us/127493) footnotes no Canon camera. Preview and Photos use the same built-in support, so they should open C-RAW wherever they open that camera's RAW. **Which other editors open C-RAW?** [RawTherapee 5.9](https://github.com/RawTherapee/RawTherapee/blob/5.9/RELEASE_NOTES.txt) (November 2022) added support for compressed CR3 files, and darktable has read CR3 since [version 3.8](https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable/releases/tag/release-3.8.0) (December 2021). [DxO's supported-camera list](https://www.dxo.com/supported-cameras/) notes mRAW, sRAW and Dual Pixel exclusions on some older Canons, and none for C-RAW. For Lightroom, Capture One or any other editor, check its supported-camera list for your body. **Some "C-RAW artifacts" were software bugs.** Some builds of an open-source decoder used by darktable, and of the dnglab converter, mis-decoded high-ISO C-RAW, leaving stair-stepping in an ISO 25,600 R6 Mark II file. The decoder's developers patched [the bug](https://github.com/LibRaw/LibRaw/issues/624) in January 2024 and [darktable 4.6.1](https://github.com/darktable-org/darktable/releases/tag/release-4.6.1) shipped the fix, so update an older build before blaming the format. RevelRaw, the Mac RAW editor we make, opens C-RAW too: version 4.10 decoded all 51 C-RAW files in this test, from 21 Canon cameras and including Dual Pixel and HDR PQ shots, at full resolution on macOS 27. It runs on macOS 26 or later with Apple M1 or later. Open your CR3 files on this Mac in the next minute. RevelRaw reads CR3 straight from Finder, no plug-ins or converters. Your first full-quality JPEG export is free. macOS 26 or later · Apple M1 or later [Open CR3 files free](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6773942240?pt=120914369&ct=BlogCanonCrawVsRaw&mt=8) ## C-RAW or RAW? Pick by what you shoot - **Sports, birds and wildlife:** C-RAW, for the deeper buffer. - **Weddings and events:** C-RAW, or RAW if you often brighten underexposed frames from a dark venue. - **Travel and everyday:** C-RAW. About half the card and backup space, and Canon calls the differences "usually very slight". - **Landscape and architecture:** RAW. The buffer rarely matters on a tripod, and you may lift deep shadows in a high-contrast scene. - **Astro and night:** RAW. Near-black tones are the picture, and that's where we measured a difference (at ISO 100 to 200; we had no high-ISO pairs). We haven't tested how AI denoise handles C-RAW shadows. - **You often rescue underexposed frames:** RAW. That's the case Canon warns about. - **RAW on one card and a smaller copy on the other:** C-RAW can't do it. Pair RAW with JPEG or HEIF if your camera allows. Unsure? Shoot a session both ways, push the darkest part of a frame four stops and look at 100%. ## How we tested: 110 Canon CR3 files **Files.** On November 10, 2026 we downloaded all 110 Canon CR3 files in the [raw.pixls.us](https://raw.pixls.us/) archive (26 cameras, all CC0), checked each against the archive's fingerprint, and read each file's mode from Canon's Quality setting with ExifTool. That exposed an error in our own earlier size study, whose label parser had counted three standard RAW files as C-RAW; that study's C-RAW figures have now been corrected. **Sizes.** We paired each camera's full-resolution C-RAW and RAW files from the same session and ISO, without Dual Pixel or crop-mode files, which gave 20 cameras. By eye, 16 pairs show the same scene. Sizes are exact byte counts. The saving tracked how much data each camera's RAW spends per pixel (Spearman correlation 0.84); ISO showed only a weak link (0.29). **Image quality.** We compared one green channel of the raw sensor data, decoded with an open-source RAW decoder, after lining frames up and matching exposure, and measured noise and fine detail by tone and in the covered strip at the sensor's edge. Mid-tone and highlight results leave out pairs with different shutter speeds, poor alignment or a moving subject. On the R8, the covered strip showed 39% less variation in C-RAW, but the scene's darkest tones showed none (0.98 times RAW). An independent recheck recomputed the sizes from the per-file data, re-read the quality numbers and re-measured one pair from the source files. **Mac and conversion.** macOS 27.0.1's built-in RAW support (Quick Look on six), and seven conversions with dnglab 0.8.0. **Limits.** Most cameras have one pair and one scene, mostly at low ISO. We didn't test highlight clipping, high-ISO pairs, or Lightroom, Capture One or RevelRaw on these files. **Cite this:** RevelRaw, "CRAW vs RAW: 45% Smaller on 20 Canons", November 10, 2026, https://revelraw.com/blog/canon-craw-vs-raw.html Open your CR3 files on this Mac in the next minute. RevelRaw reads CR3 straight from Finder, no plug-ins or converters. Your first full-quality JPEG export is free. macOS 26 or later · Apple M1 or later [Open CR3 files free](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6773942240?pt=120914369&ct=BlogCanonCrawVsRaw&mt=8) ## FAQ ### Should I shoot C-RAW or RAW? Shoot C-RAW for sports, wildlife, events and travel. Files are about half the size, and the deeper buffer takes an EOS R5 Mark II on an SD card from about 95 RAW frames to 580. Shoot RAW for astro, night and landscapes, or whenever you'll lift deep shadows a lot. That's the one place RevelRaw's November 2026 test measured a difference, at ISO 100 to 200. ### What is Canon C-RAW? C-RAW is Canon's Compact RAW, an image-quality setting that records a smaller, lossy RAW file at full resolution with the same .CR3 extension. In RevelRaw's November 2026 test, C-RAW was a median 45% smaller than RAW from the same camera, across the 20 Canon cameras with both modes. ### Is C-RAW lossless? No. Standard Canon RAW is losslessly compressed, but Canon Europe says "C-RAW uses lossy compression – that is, it discards some image information." Our files agree. In the masked strip at the sensor's edge, C-RAW's values had 24 to 39% less pixel-to-pixel variation than RAW on 6 of 8 cameras, which can't come from the sensor itself. ### How much smaller is C-RAW than RAW? About half. Across 20 Canon cameras in RevelRaw's November 2026 test, C-RAW files were a median 45% smaller than RAW, from 31% (PowerShot SX70 HS) to 59% (EOS R5). Canon's manual tables list 42 to 57% smaller, a median of 49%. ### Does C-RAW have more noise than RAW? Not in mid-tones and highlights. In our well-aligned pairs we found no difference our test could detect (it resolves about 5 to 10%). Near black, C-RAW stored less pixel-level variation on some cameras, a sign the values were changed. On the R6 Mark II, the one camera where we could see it, the grain pushed four stops looks softer and slightly blotchier. Canon warns that badly underexposed C-RAW files gain more noise when brightened. ### Does C-RAW increase burst or buffer? It increases the buffer. Canon's manuals list deeper bursts in C-RAW: about 230 RAW frames versus 580 C-RAW on an EOS R5 Mark II with a CFexpress card, and about 56 versus 100 on the R8 at 40 fps. Frames per second stay the same. ### Is C-RAW 12-bit or 14-bit? Where Canon states a bit depth, the drive and shutter mode set it. Canon's EOS M50 Mark II manual lists RAW and C-RAW together as 14-bit, with 12-bit A/D conversion for continuous shooting and Silent Mode. No Canon source we found says C-RAW changes the bit depth. ### Can I record RAW to one card and C-RAW to the other? No. Canon's manuals for dual-slot cameras such as the R5 and R5 Mark II say that recording separately to RAW and Compact RAW is not available. ### Can I convert RAW to C-RAW later? No. C-RAW is a capture setting, and we know of no Canon tool that converts an existing RAW file. Converting C-RAW to DNG doesn't save space either: in our test, dnglab's DNGs were 2.2 to 3.3 times the C-RAW's size. ### Can a Mac open C-RAW files? Yes. On macOS 27.0.1 the Mac's built-in RAW support decoded all 51 C-RAW files we tried at full size, from 21 Canon cameras, and Quick Look rendered all six we checked. Apple's camera list puts no C-RAW restriction on any Canon camera. Preview and Photos use the same built-in support, so they should open C-RAW wherever they open the camera's RAW. ### Is Canon C-RAW the same as Sony cRAW? No. Sony uses the name cRAW for its own compressed ARW mode, a different format from a different company. Canon's C-RAW is Compact RAW, stored in .CR3 files, and test results for one don't carry over to the other. Related reading: [What is a CR3 file?](https://revelraw.com/blog/what-is-a-cr3-file.md) · [Open CR3 files on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-to-open-cr3-files-on-mac.md) · [How big is a RAW file?](https://revelraw.com/blog/how-big-is-a-raw-file.md) · [Sony compressed vs uncompressed RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/sony-compressed-vs-uncompressed-raw.md) · [DNG vs RAW](https://revelraw.com/blog/dng-vs-raw.md) · [Canon RAW on a Mac](https://revelraw.com/canon.md)