The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV is piquing the interest of many photographers for several reasons, but one key feature is the Dual Pixel RAW file format. While the feature nearly doubles the file’s footprint to 72 megabytes, the new format allows photographers to make very small focus adjustments in post (so small that Canon didn’t actually describe it as a focus adjustment).
The problem is that the feature is currently only compatible with Canon’s software, called Digital Photo Professional. According to Adobe spokesman Roman Skuratovskiy, the company is working on adding Dual Pixel RAW file compatibility, but was unable to comment on just when that might be.
The camera’s new RAW file type stems from a video technology. Back in 2013, Canon developed an autofocus system that separates each pixel into two parts to improve video autofocus performance. Now, three years later, Canon is branching that technology into RAW files for stills.
While the technology sounds a lot like a Lytro light-field camera, dual-pixel is on a much smaller scale, for the shots that are just barely out of focus. The 5D Mark IV uses the information generated from splitting those pixels in half to make minor focus adjustments, and even to adjust the bokeh and cut back on any ghosting.
The first photographers to pick up the 5D Mark IV will have to rely on the bundled software to use the features made possible by that dual-pixel technology, and wait for Adobe to announce support in a future Lightroom version.
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