Sony-SR2

Sony SR2 Raw Image

image/x-sony-sr2 Released 2005 · by Sony Corporation

The image/x-sony-sr2 MIME type represents the Sony SR2 format, a proprietary raw image format used briefly by Sony before standardizing on the modern ARW format. Introduced in the mid-2000s alongside early prosumer Cyber-shot cameras (such as the highly regarded DSC-R1) and very early Alpha DSLRs, SR2 acted as an evolutionary bridge between Sony's original SRF format and today's ARW. Built upon the standard TIFF container specification, an SR2 file stores uncompressed or losslessly compressed pixel data directly from the camera's image sensor. While completely obsolete for modern hardware, it remains fully supported by most major raw processing software for archival purposes.

Photography & Raw Imaging ✦ HDR Production Ready

Technical Specifications

MIME Type

image/x-sony-sr2

Extensions

.sr2

Container

TIFF-based (Proprietary)

Compression

Uncompressed & Sony Proprietary Lossless

Algorithms

NoneSony Proprietary Lossless

Color Depth

12-bit (Per Channel)

Metadata

EXIF XMP ICC

Capabilities

Transparency

Animation

Progressive Loading

Alpha Channel

HDR Support

Official Specification

Aliases: image/sr2

Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers

File Signature (Magic Bytes)

49 49 2A 00

ASCII: II*\x00

HTTP Headers

Content-Type: image/x-sony-sr2

HTML Accept Attribute

accept="image/x-sony-sr2, .sr2"

Browser Support Matrix

Browser	Status	Min Version
Chrome	Not Supported	—
Firefox	Not Supported	—
Safari	Not Supported	—
Edge	Not Supported	—
Internet Explorer	Not Supported	Legacy

Advantages & Limitations

Advantages

Retains raw, unprocessed sensor data from legacy cameras, allowing modern raw processors to extract vastly superior image quality than what was possible in 2005
Utilizes a standard TIFF container structure, ensuring that community-maintained open-source decoding libraries (like LibRaw) can easily parse and maintain support for it indefinitely

Limitations

Completely obsolete format that has not been utilized in a new camera release in over a decade
MIME detection via magic bytes is unreliable due to TIFF header spoofing, requiring deeper EXIF inspection
Cannot be natively viewed in web browsers or standard operating system image viewers without specialized decoders

Developer Code Snippets

import magic
# Libmagic will identify SR2 files as standard TIFFs due to the shared 49 49 2A 00 header
print(magic.from_file('vintage.sr2', mime=True)) # Outputs 'image/tiff'

const FileType = require('file-type');
const type = await FileType.fromFile('vintage.sr2');
console.log(type?.mime); // Usually resolves to 'image/tiff'. You must rely on the .sr2 extension for precise routing.

import (
    "bytes"
    "net/http"
    "strings"
)
// Native Go HTTP detection reads the TIFF magic bytes and returns 'image/tiff'.
// You must explicitly check the filename extension to infer Sony SR2 intent.
// isSR2 := strings.HasSuffix(strings.ToLower(filename), ".sr2")

$mime = mime_content_type('vintage.sr2');
echo $mime; // Standard PHP setups will resolve this to 'image/tiff' based on the file header.

File Detection Steps

How to programmatically detect a image/x-sony-sr2 file by reading its raw bytes:

1 SR2 files are built on the standard TIFF specification and generally begin with the standard little-endian (49 49 2A 00) magic bytes.
2 Because they share this exact header with standard TIFF files and other raw formats, MIME sniffers will almost universally misidentify SR2 files as 'image/tiff'.
3 To definitively detect an SR2 file programmatically, developers must parse the TIFF header directories and examine the EXIF MakerNote to confirm the Sony manufacturer signature and camera model.

Software Support

S

Sony Imaging Edge Desktop

A

Adobe Lightroom Classic / CC

R

RawTherapee

C

Capture One

Conversion Tools

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JSON API

All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.

GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/sony-sr2.json Open JSON

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Sony SR2 file?

An SR2 file is a legacy proprietary raw image format developed by Sony. It contains unprocessed sensor data and was primarily used in mid-2000s prosumer digital cameras like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1.

What is the difference between Sony SR2 and ARW?

ARW (Alpha Raw) is the modern, current raw format used by all modern Sony cameras. SR2 is an older, obsolete format that served as a stepping stone between Sony's first raw format (SRF) and ARW.

How do I open an SR2 file today?

Standard web browsers cannot open SR2 files natively. However, despite its age, it is still broadly supported by major raw processing engines like Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, RawTherapee, and Sony's own Imaging Edge software.