Can your computer open a HEIF image?

[lunaticitizen]

Apparently my camera can record images in the HEIF format in addition to the regular JPEG format.

Unfortunately I'm not able to open the files using Microsoft Photos. My OS is the Windows 10 Pro Version 20H2.

I googled a bit and some said you have to have this official extension from Microsoft, but unfortunately it didn't help.

I wonder if you guys can see HEIF images on your computer?

It's this image.


This one was with the camera set to record in the HEIF format with 4:2:2 chroma subsampling.
https://LeoCDNendpoint01.azureedge.n...1/DSC04709.HIF

Actually I also tried 4:2:0 but still no luck.
https://LeoCDNendpoint01.azureedge.n...1/DSC04710.HIF

Btw I just realized that I can't upload HEIF images to either Flickr or Google Photos. Oh well.

[Manfred M]

Leo - HEIF is an Apple format that is not automatically supported outside of the Apple world, including web browsers. It if not part of the Microsoft package of supported formats, although one can download this from the Microsoft website.

I would not recommend using it for sharing images as it is going to be problematic for most users.

[lunaticitizen]

Manfred, I was under impression that most web browsers have already supported HEIF.

I also thought that since the iPhone uses HEIF, and since I have configured so that all my iPhone pictures uploaded automatically to both Google Photos and Flickr, the two services must have supported uploading HEIF.

I was dead wrong. No browser supports HEIF natively, and apparently Google Photos app and Flickr app convert HEIF to JPEG first on the iPhone before uploading them to their respective services.

If you can't view HEIF natively on your computer, I'm wondering why HEIF is even an option on the camera.

[Manfred M]

If you can't view HEIF natively on your computer, I'm wondering why HEIF is even an option on the camera.

Marketing - just something else that costs little to implement that they company can identify as a "feature" on the camera.

[lunaticitizen]

There is also an official HEIF to JPEG converter from Sony.
https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/heif/en/

So maybe the use case is when you want to save space on your internal SD cards since HEIF files are much smaller than JPEG ones. Maybe for people who shoot thousands of images per session?

Then you can batch convert them later to JPEG or TIFF.

Latest Canon cameras also have this feature (record in the HEIF format), I believe.

Nikon might follow with the upcoming Z 9.

[DanK]

Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom read HEIF/HEIC files, if I’m not mistaken, so you can convert them to JPEGs to post that way.

I have my iOS devices set to store in JPEG format, so I can’t speak from experience, but from what I have read, HEIF isn’t just marketing. It uses a superior compression algorithm that produces smaller files and better image quality, from what I’ve read. Of course, if you’re converting to JPEG, that’s not of much value.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Paul Rutter]

I ran into this problem for the first time recently when presented with some HEIC images from my daughter's iPhone. I found iMazing's HEIC Converter (available as freeware) for Windows or MAC worked fine in converting them to JPEGs (I was using the Windows version). It's available at:
https://imazing.com/heic

[lunaticitizen]

Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom read HEIF/HEIC files, if I’m not mistaken, so you can convert them to JPEGs to post that way.

I have my iOS devices set to store in JPEG format, so I can’t speak from experience, but from what I have read, HEIF isn’t just marketing. It uses a superior compression algorithm that produces smaller files and better image quality, from what I’ve read. Of course, if you’re converting to JPEG, that’s not of much value.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Apparently Adobe only supports HEIF files created by IOS devices. I couldn’t import them with Lightroom.
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc...s-support.html

The only application I have that can open them is Fast Raw Viewer. I would’ve preferred native Windows solution though.

[lunaticitizen]

I ran into this problem for the first time recently when presented with some HEIC images from my daughter's iPhone. I found iMazing's HEIC Converter (available as freeware) for Windows or MAC worked fine in converting them to JPEGs (I was using the Windows version). It's available at:
https://imazing.com/heic

Thank you Paul. Sony also has their own converter, as I wrote above. I don’t know if it works with files from the iPhone, though.

[lunaticitizen]

OK, I just tried the Sony converter. It successfully converted my HEIF file to a JPEG one, and the file size doubled as a result. The application is simple really, we just have to drag and drop the file(s).





I also tried converting iPhone's HEIC file but it didn't work. Even without converting to JPEG, the file was already readable with Microsoft Photos, though. Its thumbnail is also visible on File Explorer.