CR2 to HEIC Converter

How to Convert CR2 to HEIC Online

1. Upload Your CR2 Files: Drag and drop or click "Add Files" to select Canon CR2 RAW files straight off your CF/SD card or computer — exports from a 5D Mark III / IV, 6D, 7D Mark II, 70D / 80D / 90D, or any Rebel body. Batch is supported, so a whole shoot can convert in one pass.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Default is Very High (Recommended) — visually indistinguishable from the source for normal viewing. Choose Highest if you want HEIC copies that hold up to 100% pixel-peeping, High for everyday iPhone and iPad viewing, Medium / Low for the smallest files when you only need lightweight previews. You can also set a target percentage of original or an exact file size in KB / MB.
3. Resize and Set DPI (Optional): Pick a Resolution Preset (4K, 1440P, 1080P, 720P, down to 360P), scale by percentage, or enter custom width × height — handy for shrinking 50 MP 5DS R or 30 MP 5D Mark IV CR2s down to a phone-friendly 12 MP. DPI presets (72, 96, 150, 200, 300, 400, 600, 1200) and Compression Speed control encode time vs final size.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files process in your browser session and download individually or as a ZIP — no sign-up, no watermark, originals stay on your machine.

Why Convert CR2 to HEIC?

CR2 (Canon Raw Version 2) is Canon's proprietary RAW format, introduced in 2004 with the EOS 350D and used by every Canon DSLR through about 2018 — 5D / 5D Mark II / III / IV, 6D / 6D Mark II, 7D / 7D Mark II, 60D / 70D / 80D, and the Rebel T-series. Each CR2 carries 14-bit sensor data and runs 20-30 MB per frame, ready for non-destructive edits in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP4), Lightroom, Capture One, or DxO PhotoLab. HEIC (Apple's filename for a HEIF container using HEVC compression, adopted as the iPhone default in iOS 11 in 2017) is the modern mobile photo format — typically about 1/10 the size at indistinguishable viewing quality, and the native format for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iCloud Photos. Common reasons photographers convert CR2 to HEIC:

• Shrink Canon shoots for iCloud Photos — A 28 MB CR2 becomes a 2-3 MB HEIC at Very High quality. A 500-photo wedding from a 5D Mark IV drops from roughly 14 GB to ~1.4 GB, fitting comfortably in iCloud's 50 GB plan instead of forcing the 200 GB tier.
• Browse Canon RAWs natively on iPhone and iPad — iOS Photos opens HEIC instantly and swipes through them at full speed; CR2 requires a third-party RAW viewer and stutters on 50 MP 5DS R files. Converting your edited keepers to HEIC lets them sit alongside regular phone snaps in the same timeline.
• AirDrop and iMessage edited shots without the size hit — CR2 files are too large to AirDrop quickly and iMessage either rejects them or strips them down. HEICs transfer in seconds and preserve the look you set in DPP4 or Lightroom.
• Reclaim Mac and iPhone storage — A photographer's archive of 5,000 CR2s at 26 MB each is ~130 GB. The HEIC equivalent at Very High preset lands closer to 13 GB — roughly a 10× reduction without visible loss for non-editing use.
• Send proofs to clients on Apple devices — Clients on iPhone or iPad open HEIC previews instantly; sending CR2 forces them to install Canon DPP4 or an Adobe converter. Use HEIC for proofs and keep the CR2s as your editable masters.
• Unify Canon archives with iPhone shots — If you mix Canon CR2 captures with iPhone HEICs in the same library, converting the CR2s to HEIC makes the whole timeline render the same way on every Apple device, with no third-party RAW plugins.

CR2 vs HEIC — Format Comparison

HEIC Quality Preset Quick Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose RAW editing flexibility by converting CR2 to HEIC?

Yes — that is the fundamental trade-off. CR2 carries 14-bit unprocessed sensor data so you can re-tune exposure, white balance, and highlight recovery in DPP4, Lightroom, or Capture One. HEIC stores a developed image: the conversion bakes in the current rendering. The professional workflow is to keep the CR2 masters in cold storage (NAS, external drive, or Backblaze) and convert HEIC copies for viewing, sharing, and Apple-device libraries. If you ever need to re-edit, go back to the CR2.

Which Canon cameras produce CR2 files?

Every Canon DSLR from 2004 through about 2018 wrote CR2 in RAW mode — 5D / 5D Mark II / III / IV, 5DS / 5DS R, 6D / 6D Mark II, 7D / 7D Mark II, 60D / 70D / 80D, and the Rebel T-series (T3i through T7i). Newer Canon mirrorless and DSLR bodies (R, RP, R5, R6, R7, R8, R10, R50, R100, 1D X Mark III, 90D, 250D, M50) shoot CR3 instead. If your camera is from 2018 or later and writes .CR3 files, see CR3 to HEIC instead.

Will my HEIC files open on Windows or Android?

Windows 10 and 11 support HEIC after installing the free HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store (Apple covers the codec license). macOS, iOS, and iPadOS open HEIC natively. Modern Android (10+) handles HEIC in the Photos / Gallery apps. Older Windows 7 / 8 systems and many Linux desktops still need a third-party viewer or codec. If your audience is mixed-platform or older, consider CR2 to JPG instead for universal compatibility.

How much smaller will my HEICs actually be?

For typical 20-24 MP CR2s from a 5D Mark III, 6D, or 80D, expect roughly 90% reduction at Very High preset — a 26 MB CR2 lands around 2-3 MB as HEIC. For 30 MP CR2s from a 5D Mark IV or 50 MP from a 5DS R, a 35-65 MB file lands around 4-8 MB. Highly detailed scenes (foliage, fine fabric, busy backgrounds) compress slightly less; flat areas like sky or studio backdrops compress more. Choosing Highest preset roughly doubles file size compared to Very High but is closer to lossless visually.

Does conversion preserve EXIF, GPS, and color profile?

Yes. EXIF metadata (camera body, lens model — EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III, EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 — aperture, shutter, ISO, capture date, GPS if your body recorded it) and embedded ICC color profiles transfer to the HEIC output. iPhone Photos and macOS Preview will read the right capture date so the photos slot into the correct chronological place in your library, and the color profile keeps tones consistent on Wide-Gamut and P3 displays.

Does this match what Canon DPP4 or Lightroom would output?

Close, but not identical. Canon DPP4 applies the in-camera Picture Style (Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Faithful, Neutral, Monochrome) and any custom curves you set on the body. Lightroom applies Adobe's default RAW interpretation. The inline conversion uses neutral demosaicing defaults — colors are accurate but not "Canon-rendered" with Picture Style baked in. For client deliverables where color science matters, edit in DPP4 or Lightroom first and export to HEIC from there. For quick iCloud uploads and personal libraries, the inline conversion is great.

What about 14-bit color depth — does HEIC preserve it?

HEIC tops out at 10 bits per channel (HEVC Main 10 profile), versus CR2's 14-bit RAW data. For viewing on phones and tablets the difference is invisible. For master archives where you may push tones aggressively in future edits, keep the CR2. The HEIC is a delivery format, not a master format.

Should I convert to HEIC or HEIF?

The byte content is essentially the same — HEIF is the container standardized by MPEG, HEIC is Apple's specific filename for HEIF using HEVC compression. iOS, macOS, and Windows treat them identically. Pick HEIC when you need the file to slot cleanly into Apple Photos, AirDrop, or anything that filters by extension. If you prefer the .heif extension, use CR2 to HEIF instead.

Can I batch convert an entire Canon shoot?

Yes — drop in folder-fulls. Each CR2 converts in your browser session (limited only by your CPU and memory) and downloads as a ZIP. For multi-gigabyte shoots, processing is browser-side so there's no upload bottleneck — the limit is your machine's RAM, not network bandwidth. A 2,000-frame wedding archive from a 5D Mark IV stays entirely on your machine.

Will the HEICs import cleanly into Apple Photos and iCloud?

Yes. Drop the converted HEICs into Photos on Mac or import via the Photos app on iPhone / iPad and they appear as native HEIC images. Date-taken EXIF determines their slot in the timeline, so older CR2s from a 2012 5D Mark III land in the correct chronological place. Once they sync to iCloud, they show up at full resolution on every device signed into the same Apple ID.