Executive Summary
.TIF and .IIQ, available on P+ digital backs, are only file extensions. They do not change the format of the file (which is always the Phase One Raw Format).
Historical Context and More Detail
Phase One was producing raw-shooting digital camera systems since 1998. At that time (and for several years thereafter) most Macs and PCs did not come with any software that could read a raw file (any raw file). Phase One made their program Capture One (then it was known by a different name) available for free for users (and their clients, print houses, assistants, retouchers etc), but at that time the world in general was less knowledgeable about digital photography workflow and downloading software from a website was not as ubiquitous. This presented major file-management issues; if a photographer gave a client/retoucher/etc a raw file the client, unless they had Capture One already installed, could not even tell what the photo was of, let alone process the RAW to a JPG or TIFF.
So Phase One, very smartly, made their raw file a “tiff compatible” file. This is a technicality only. Basically the final file is a valid TIFF of a very small preview of the image, with a “note” at the end of the file with the entire raw data. When opened in a program that does not support the Phase One Raw file format that program would see the TIFF-compliant preview and, at least, be able to show what the picture was of (although it would not be able to actually view the raw data). When opened in a program that does support the Phase One Raw file format that program would view the actual raw data and allow the normal viewing/processing of the actual image.
However, those days are long since gone. Every Mac and most PC’s now come with software, by default, which can view raw files, and the OS itself can now often view the embedded thumbnail or even the full raw format. So Phase One is transitioning to using .IIQ as their raw file format extension. This is only being done to avoid the common confusion that new users have regarding the format of their files. At Capture Integration we get at least a few calls each year where the user is confused that their back is shooting a “tiff file” when in fact it’s shooting a raw file with an extension of “.tif”. From this point of view the change is going to reduce a lot of confusion. However, power users will want to know that nothing is changing about the format of the file itself, and, if and when necessary a user can simply rename a file to have an .IIQ or .TIF file extension and that doing so will have no impact on the raw file format itself. This might be needed for devices or software which are not “smart” enough to realize the .IIQ file has a preview it can use.
Extensions used by each back:
- P series digital backs can only shoot with an extension of .TIF (unless shooting tethered).
- P+ series have a menu setting (menu > configuration > file extension) that allows shooting with a .TIF or a .IIQ file extension
- IQ series digital backs can only shoot with an extension of .IIQ