topic Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Can you shoot a RAW video with an EOS Rebel T8i?

stevet1 — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:18:40 GMT

My T8i shoots videos in mp4 format, which, as I understand it, is a compressed version, sort of like a jpg.

DPP4 can play these, but they can't be edited. What would I need to be able to shoot RAW videos?

I set RAW as the Picture Quality, but that setting in the Menu System only seems to apply to still photos. That setting does not appear in the video Menus.

Steve Thomas

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

justadude — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:53:05 GMT

Have you tried a different video editor? There are plenty that edit mp4 format. I can't tell you which one is good vs. bad because I don't do much video. When I do I use Adobe Premier Rush, but there are cheaper alternatives.

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

stevet1 — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:49:41 GMT

Gary,

You asked, "Have you tried a different video editor??"

No, not yet. I'm still in the early stages of looking at this.

Steve Thomas

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

stevet1 — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 01:07:45 GMT

Gary,

I did a little reading. One site I ran across said this,

https://blinksandbuttons.net/what-cameras-shoot-raw-video/

Types Of Cameras That Can Shoot Raw Video

"Cameras capable of shooting raw video can be broadly categorized into three groups: professional cinema cameras, mirrorless cameras, and high-end DSLRs."

On the mirrorless side, it looks like Canon first introduced this with the R5.

As far as high-end DSLR's, they talked about the 90D, but you have to use some kind of external recorder.

Steve Thomas

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

AtticusLake — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 13:51:23 GMT

Short answer: DPP4 can't edit your videos because DPP4 isn't a video editor. Shooting RAW video isn't going to help.

You may be confusing different uses of the term "RAW". DPP is a program for editing still photographs,. which are often shot in a RAW format, because RAW basically stores more information to work with when editing.

But shooting and editing video is a completely different world. For someone just starting out in video, I would strongly suggest that you forget about RAW. Yes, some expensive cameras can shoot RAW, but for a beginner, the only thing RAW is going to do for you is create massive files that use up all your disk space. Your camera's mp4 video is fine.

For editing video, you need a video editing app (often known as an "NLE"). Someone suggested Adobe Rush, which seems like a good option, but sadly it has been discontinued. https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/premiere-rush/kb/end-of-life.html

Another option would be Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve. This is a high-end editing app, and so may be a bit much to deal with, but I find it intuitive for editing, and there is a free version which actually works very well. I'm sure there are many other options.

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

Jkarl — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:18:04 GMT

Try Adobe Premiere Elements. It would be a good place to start it works well with .mp4 files.

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

AtticusLake — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:53:51 GMT

Oh good call! I used that way back... didn't realise they were still doing it.

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

Jkarl — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 15:33:14 GMT

I am using the 2024 edition, it is the last of the perpetual license versions. The new versions cost 99 USD for 3 years. years. That is just for The Adobe Premiere Elements package.

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

justadude — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 15:28:28 GMT

Hey Steve,

I was unsure about the RAW, which is why I didn't answer that part. I was just pointing out editing options in case you did stick with the mp4 files.

But now you have me curious about the R8 and R6m2 if either of those cameras can shoot RAW video. I'll have to look. Although my videos are not frequent, they are done on my iPhone 16 Pro currently. If I can do RAW, I'd gladly start using my mirrorless.

...and curiosity got the best of me, so I paused typing this reply, and checked right now. The R8 cannot shoot RAW, but the R6 Mk ll can shoot RAW. So if I get hooked on this, I'm blaming you, Steve! 😂

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

stevet1 — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:04:50 GMT

Gary,

You wrote, "So if I get hooked on this, I'm blaming you, Steve!"

I'll remember that.😁

I don't know why my reply turned it into a solution. After poking around on this question a little, I don't think I would recommend shooting videos in RAW. The file sizes are enormous and almost require a SSD or a cloud solution for storage. They are also slow to load and work with.

Steve Thomas

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

stevet1 — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:22:43 GMT

AtticusLake,

I think DPP4 can handle RAW videos. If you click on the tools tab, right in the middle, there is a selection for opening up a RAW movie tool, but you have to have a RAW video to work with.

As I said to Gary above, after researching my question, I would not recommend the RAW video approach. The storage needs are enormous, and they are slow to load and work with.

I have looked into video editors and right now, I'm using MiniTool Movie Maker. I don't do a lot of video work, so my needs aren't all that complex.

Here's one I did a little while back:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/drn6gg2mqc8w9p0b7lr9x/happy_halloween.mp4-1080p.mp4?rlkey=7ogtlhmo4p7513ztadx5rqfez&st=o27m6gf4&dl=0

Steve Thomas

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

AtticusLake — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:35:13 GMT

> I think DPP4 can handle RAW videos.

Do you mean play RAW videos? The original problem the OP had was editing MP4 videos, and although I don't have DPP installed, the product page really makes it look like it is not a video editor -- for RAW or any other format of video.

As for RAW, I completely agree. There is simply no reason for someone new to video to shoot RAW video, and plenty of reasons not to. RAW is useful for things like VFX work, or maybe if you plan to do serious colour grading. But not for simple use. I've been shooting landscape videos for years in the most compressed format my camera has -- H.265 at 135 Mb/s -- and I'm very happy with the results. You can check them out here if you like: https://moonblink.info/MudLake/beauty

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

stevet1 — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:54:24 GMT

Atticus,

It's nice to see Scotland under clear skies.

Steve

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

AtticusLake — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 20:16:35 GMT

Yeah, I need to pick my shooting days very carefully.... 😉

Re: Can you shoot a RAW video with a DSLR?

justadude — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 15:29:34 GMT

"After poking around on this question a little, I don't think I would recommend shooting videos in RAW. The file sizes are enormous and almost require a SSD or a cloud solution for storage. They are also slow to load and work with."

I did see that the files are huge. But since I do so little with video, the geek in me wants to play around with them for a bit. They would come in handy for random clients who ask me to do video - which I have shied away from in the past. Those videos would only need to be stored by me for a year, same as when I do photos for them.

My iMac only has a 512GB internal SSD, but I have two external 12TB SSD drives connected to it. One as my working drive, the other as a backup. I don't see me filling these with videos, but they give me plenty of room to work on them without bothering with cloud storage.