Shooting raw with the Google Pixel 6


IMG_20220507_221258.dng.xmp (12.0 KB)


IMG_20220507_221258_01.dng.xmp (10.2 KB)

1 Like

open camera has a lot more controls but the DNG files from my 3aXL using the stock app are imo quite a bit nicer …and using gain maps really improved the image…

EDIT

If you search the forum for gainmaps…you will see a few threads. I think there is a user with a PR to add this support to DT… not sure of the status. That same user has a script called DNGpreprocess that will apply the gainmap and save a new DNG that you can use with DT.

Art supports it now…you go to the flatfield correction and hit embedded auto and it will apply the correction…

Smartphone DNG have a strong vignette and this is nicely corrected and the rest of the image is relit…

Here is one discussion

3 Likes


google.pixel.6.pp3 (15.6 KB) RawTherapee 5.8 Development

I only used the Base and Look table and not the embedded Tone curve from the colour profile that came with Adobe’s DNG converter (this one: Google Pixel 6 Rear Main Camera Adobe Standard.dcp).

BTW: I’m not sure if I’m allowed to provide this profile here for all to use, even though Adobe DNG Converter is free to download/use, so I refrain from doing so right now. @patdavid / @paperdigits: Am I/are we allowed to? Might be something that others are interested in as well.

EDIT: After reading Pat’s reply about adding this profile: the camera specific DCP used in the above edit

The cameras in phones are now capable of producing remarkable results when one considers the minute size of the sensors.
My try in GIMP after I created three different exposures from the RAW and blended them with Enfuse. (Always worth trying for high-contrast subjects, as it is so quick and easy.)

These DNG are different than the native ones shot in the google app. So for example I don’t think automatch curve works with these…it will on the ones in the native app. It looks like open camera is really using a tiff wrapped in the dng (contains no preview)…at least in a different way than the native app. Also I think but I would have to check that you can use embedded as the profile with the native DNG and get access to the Adobe base table and the look table and tone curve…this is likely the same as using the dng as a dcp also so you might not need the “Adobe” profile for these DNG like you might for another raw format…I forget who shared that with me but you can load the dng as a dcp to access that if you don’t have the dcp file… this won’t work with the open camera files again as they are closer to a tiff than the dng that google creates natively…

It seems to work in this case, I just did not like what it did to this image: Darker shadows are too crushed and highlights to harsh in this image (my opinion). This is the main reason I did not use it. This profile does have a nice Base and Look table, makes the colours just a tad warmer and probably more real.

One of the up sides of RawTherapee: Being able to use these external DCP profiles and selectively use the parts that are embedded. If you use darktable you need to create an icc from these dcp profiles if you want to use them, but I have no idea if you get the complete package (which would include the embedded tone curve). @ggbutcher talks about how right here. Never tried this myself, I want the flexibility that the DCP gives me when in RawTherapee.

I don’t have any experience with photographing using a mobile and apps and open camera so maybe I’m just lucky here that this specific Adobe DCP profile, even though it is for this specific mobile phone, works.

Ah I will check again I was using Art but in the past on my Pixel 3a the open camera images have no embedded preview and as such I never found that automatch tone curve would work… for sure you can get the adobe info using the embedded selection again at least in Art and comparing to the dcp or the image dng loaded as a dcp …it all looks the same…

The gainmaps are a nice image correction as well…nothing yet in DT but Art can apply them…takes away the harsh vignette in the images…wont see much in this image…but a daylight one will show that nicely …its done in the flat field in Art…not sure RT has it yet although there was mention of a fork…

Confirmed…automatch does not work for me for the OP image in ART

Confirming that for me the open camera DNG provided has no auto match response or option for embedded profile that you will see using the native camera app… my version of RT is not too old…

image

Oh, but automated does not work in RawTherapee either. You do need to use the Custom section in the Colour Management module. This will open up some extra options in ART (which are always displayed in RawTherapee). Both have Tone Curve and Look Table not selected out-of-the-box.

This from ART (Latest master):

Screenshot_2022-05-08_18-53-44

This is what I am talking about …for me embedded should give you that exact set of options…but it will not with the Open Camera DNG…also you can simply load the file it self as a DCP when you have a proper DNG but the one created by open camera is a deviation from the standard in some way… I will post versions of both from my pixel so you can see… I have conflated 2 issues… the curve and the color management… when comparing the DNG files…

Embedded should be enable…

Not here

Same with ART but when you use a native DNG…it will read those parameters directly…

image

I think I understand what you are saying but aren’t we now in the obscure(?) what’s actually inside a DNG territory?

I’m assuming that there’s a RAW inside, which needs a profile applied by the editor, and I get the feeling that you see it as a TIFF, which has the info embedded.

You might be right, having access to a Google phone, though. If this is the case I do wonder why Adobe provides a set of DCP profiles for this camera…

1 Like

I will have to go back and see but it seems RT might not be able to use the embedded in either DNG where as ART can for the native camera app DNG and also ART can apply the gain maps…

EDIT: Art will also normally use embedded data for lens corrections with these DNG but again will not using open camera

Not trying to dis the open camera app…as it has a crazy range of features compared to the native one…just pointing out that there are differences…

image

Exactly and likely the better question…

exiftool -a -u -s -g1 image.dng

Not sure about the Pixel 6, but for the older Pixel phones, the Google Camera app always creates a computational RAW stacked from multiple raw frames from the camera, and it embeds an Adobe DCP profile in its DNG files, ignoring any color profile that comes from the hardware’s camera driver. The Open Camera app takes a single raw frame from the camera and stores that in the DNG file, along with the color profile from the camera driver. It is possible to use any DNG shot with Google Camera as a DCP file in ART/RT to apply that profile to DNGs shot with a different app.

In all cases there should be a valid GainMap in the DNG file, and it is important to apply it to have accurate color over the entire image. I do have a PR open for Darktable to support this and need to make sure it’s all ready for 4.0.

3 Likes

Not the 6 but the 3aXL…but if anyone is interested in the difference …here are raw and jpg from each app…

IMG_20220508_125423.dng (23.3 MB)


PXL_20220508_165443575.dng (14.1 MB)

RAw/JPG Pixel

Open Camera DNG are washed out by comparison for me at least

Looking forward to that

Interesting…as you say the google DNG has the Adobe info embedded and so explains why ART can access that… Open camera is quite different and for some reason using D55…

opencamera.txt (3.9 KB)
google.txt (6.8 KB)

Thanks for the explanation and your PR against Darktable. That opencamera raw looks very similar to the raws I got from the Pixel 6 and also my old Nokia 7 Plus. It’s fixable but having the gainmap applied automatically probably helps.

I’ve since played with the settings in the Google app as well and found the option where it saves the raw file. Those are indeed a bit nicer. I wonder if there’s any benefit at night with combining multiple layers for noise.