All about SRF files

SRF (Sony RAW File) is a proprietary RAW image format from Sony that was introduced in January 2004 with the legendary Cybershot DSC-F828. It was Sony’s first attempt to establish a RAW format, but it was quickly replaced by SR2 (as early as 2005) and eventually by ARW (2006). As a RAW format, it contains, like other RAW formats, the unprocessed data from the camera sensor.

Technical Details

SRF is based on the TIFF format. The raw data is stored with 12-bit color depth per pixel, and some of the metadata is encrypted. SRF uses no compression, and the maximum resolution supported is 3360×2460 pixels. Only two cameras use the SRF format: the DSC-F828 and the DSC-V3. The F828 has two special features that still make it popular today: a 4-color sensor with an RGBE filter array (Red, Green, Blue, Emerald), which is designed to provide better color accuracy for cyan and blue tones with an additional blue-green channel. Additionally, the camera can be used for excellent infrared photography simply by positioning a magnet.^[1]

[1] Heise: F-828 IR Trick

Last updated on 23. March 2026 by Sören with the experience of more than 128,060,735 converted files since 2013.