Can You Stitch Together RAW?

[Bernoulli]

If I shoot a panorama in RAW (CR2), is there any way to stitch the resulting images together and still have a RAW for editing?

[SkipD]

No. A RAW file is never changed when using it and is not editable by any conventional photo manipulation software.

One must "convert" a RAW image file to an editable photo file format before any changes can be made. The original RAW file is left untouched, though there is often an additional file made which holds the choices made in the conversion process.

There is no reason to NOT use a RAW format when shooting anything. Just use a good non-compressed file format when working with your images and save the incremental results often so you can back up to the last step if you need to.

[Bernoulli]

Thanks Skip, that's what I was afraid of.

What's my highest-fidelity format for saving the stitched images then, 16 bit TIFF?

[luigis]

You can use Hugin to stitch two RAW files and then save as a 16 bit TIFF.

[SkipD]

You can use Hugin to stitch two RAW files and then save as a 16 bit TIFF.Does the Hugin software do its thing during a conversion process?

[tzalman]

There are several programs available that are not primarily RAW converters but rather have a diffent purpose, such as HDR blending/mapping or pano stitching, that have added a RAW conversion "pre-stage" as it were, in order to widen their appeal. The converter is almost inevitably Dave Coffin's DCRaw, but used for only a default conversion. Therefore you have little if any opportunity to edit at the conversion stage, only later in RGB.

[luigis]

Hugin works in 16 bits if that is your concern, you never convert to 8 bits during the process.

Does the Hugin software do its thing during a conversion process?