MIME Database / Compare Formats / canon-cr3 vs Sony-ARW

canon-cr3 vs Sony-ARW Format Comparison

canon-cr3

Canon RAW 3

image/x-canon-cr3

Sony Alpha Raw Image

image/x-sony-arw

Sony-ARW

A complete technical comparison of Canon RAW 3 and Sony Alpha Raw Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature	canon-cr3	Sony-ARW
Transparency (Alpha)	✕ No	✕ No
Animation Support	✕ No	✕ No
Progressive Loading	✕ No	✕ No
HDR Support	Yes	Yes
EXIF Metadata	Yes	Yes
ICC Color Profile	Yes	Yes

Canon RAW 3

image/x-canon-cr3

Extension

.cr3

Container ISOBMFF (ISO/IEC 14496-12)

Compression Lossless / Lossy (C-RAW)

Algorithm

Canon Proprietary LosslessCanon Proprietary Lossy (C-RAW)

Color Depth 14-bit (Per Channel)

Developed by Canon Inc.

Released 2018

Magic Bytes

00 00 00 18 66 74 79 70 63 72 78 20

Full canon-cr3 reference →

Sony Alpha Raw Image

image/x-sony-arw

Extension

.arw

Container TIFF-based (Proprietary)

Compression Uncompressed / Lossless Compressed / Lossy Compressed

Algorithm

NoneSony Proprietary LosslessSony Proprietary Lossy

Color Depth 12-bit (Per Channel), 14-bit (Per Channel)

Developed by Sony Corporation

Released 2006

Magic Bytes

49 49 2A 00

Full Sony-ARW reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser	canon-cr3	Sony-ARW
Chrome	✕	✕
Firefox	✕	✕
Safari	✕	✕
Edge	✕	✕
IE (Legacy)	✕	✕

canon-cr3

canon-cr3 Strengths

Maintains 14-bit uncompressed sensor data, offering massive flexibility for recovering shadows and highlights in post-production
The new C-RAW format offers roughly 40% smaller file sizes than uncompressed raw with virtually indistinguishable quality loss
Utilizes the modern and extensible ISOBMFF container, moving away from archaic TIFF limitations

Limitations

Being a proprietary format, it requires frequent software updates to third-party editing tools (like Lightroom or Capture One) every time a new camera model is released
Completely unsupported in web browsers and standard operating system image viewers without specialized raw codecs
Larger file sizes than in-camera JPEGs, requiring more storage space and processing power

Sony-ARW

Sony-ARW Strengths

Retains absolute maximum sensor data, enabling massive shadow recovery and highlight protection compared to compressed in-camera JPEGs
Embeds high-quality JPEG previews and robust metadata, allowing photographers to match in-camera color science (like Creative Looks) perfectly during raw processing
Utilizes the standard TIFF container structure, ensuring broad compatibility with open-source decoding libraries (like LibRaw)

Limitations

Proprietary format means it requires constant updates to raw processing engines every time Sony releases a new camera model
Sony's historically controversial lossy compression algorithm (often called 'star eater' due to spatial filtering artifacts) was a drawback for astrophotography in older ARW versions, though largely resolved in newer models with uncompressed/lossless options
Cannot be directly embedded into web pages or used in standard HTML/CSS contexts