CR2 to MTS Converter

Convert CR2 to MTS: What This Tutorial Covers

CR2 is Canon's second-generation RAW photo — the unprocessed 14-bit sensor data your DSLR wrote before any white balance or exposure was baked in — and MTS is the AVCHD camcorder transport-stream container that Sony and Panasonic created in 2006. This is an unusual pairing, so this tutorial is for the narrow case where you genuinely need one Canon photo dropped into an AVCHD-style timeline: a title slate or test clip for camcorder-era gear. It also covers the two things people get wrong here — the output is a single motionless frame with no audio, and rendering the RAW bakes its look in permanently — and points you to the conversions most people actually want.

How to Convert CR2 to MTS

1. Upload Your CR2 File: Drag and drop your .cr2 file onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse from your computer. You can queue several Canon photos at once.
2. Set Merge Strategy and Image Duration: Open Advanced Options. Use "Merge strategy" to choose "Merge images" (combine several photos into one MTS) or "Video per image" (a separate file each), then set "Image Duration" to control how long the still shows — from 1/60s per frame up to 10 seconds, with 5 seconds the default.
3. Pick Quality, Background, and Codec (Optional): Under "File Compression" keep the "Preset" on "Very High (Recommended)"; set a "Background Color" (Black by default) to fill any letterbox bars; under "Show All Options" the "Video Codec" defaults to H.264, the codec real MTS files use.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your MTS. No sign-up, no watermark.

Walk-through: What "Render" and "Still Frame" Mean Here

Two one-way things happen, and both are easy to miss:

• The RAW gets rendered first. A CR2 stores raw sensor data with wide editing latitude — you can recover highlights, shift white balance, and push exposure long after the shot. To put it into a video, it has to be developed into ordinary RGB pixels, and the current white balance and exposure are baked in. That latitude is gone in the MTS, so render once and keep the original CR2 as your master.
• The output is one frame held still, not a clip. The MTS shows your single photo as a steady image for the duration you set — no panning, no zoom, no transition, and no audio track. Setting "Image Duration" to 5 seconds simply presents the same frame for 5 seconds.

A few patterns cover most needs:

• If you want it to behave like one video frame at a standard rate, pick a short duration such as 1/60s, 1/30s, or 1/24s.
• If you want a slate that lingers (a title card or intro hold), set 3 to 10 seconds so the photo stays on screen long enough to read.
• If you are converting a batch, "Merge images" places each rendered photo back to back in one MTS in upload order, while "Video per image" outputs a separate file per photo.

Because a motionless frame barely changes between samples, H.264 compresses it heavily, so even a high-resolution Canon photo held for a few seconds usually produces a small MTS.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "The MTS is silent" — Expected. A still-image-to-video conversion writes no audio track. Real camcorder MTS files carry AC-3 or PCM audio, but there is no sound to add from a photo; lay a music or narration track over it in your editor if you need one.
• "The photo has black bars" — Your CR2's aspect ratio doesn't match the chosen output size, so the converter pads the gap with the "Background Color" (black by default) rather than stretching or cropping. Pick white or another color, or match the output resolution to your photo's shape.
• "Colors or exposure look off versus my RAW editor" — The MTS uses the baked-in render, not your editor's interpretation of the RAW. Adjust white balance and exposure in a RAW editor first, export a rendered image, and convert that.
• "My file is .cr3, not .cr2" — This page is tuned for CR2, which Canon DSLRs recorded from around 2005. Newer mirrorless EOS R bodies (from 2018) record .cr3 on the ISO Base Media File Format; use a CR3 converter for those.

When This Doesn't Work — and What to Use Instead

For almost everyone, turning a CR2 into MTS is the wrong target. If you only want a viewable, shareable picture, convert to an image with CR2 to JPG and keep the original .cr2 as your editable master — no video wrapper, far smaller file. If you need a video clip for a modern timeline, web upload, or phone playback, use CR2 to MP4 instead, since MP4 plays natively almost everywhere while MTS does not. Reach for MTS only when an AVCHD-based camcorder or editing workflow specifically requires that container — and note that some software expects the camcorder's PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/ folder layout, not a loose .mts file, so you may need to place the output there or import it through your editor's AVCHD path.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the MTS clip have any motion or sound?

No. The conversion takes one CR2 photo and displays it as a static image for the duration you set. There is no panning, zoom, or animation, and the output carries no audio track — it is a silent, single-frame still rendered into an MTS video. If you upload several photos and choose "Merge images," they play back to back, but each frame is still a static image shown for its set duration, with no transitions between them.

Which video codec does the MTS output use?

H.264. MTS is the AVCHD transport-stream container, which by design carries H.264 (AVC) video, so this converter defaults to H.264 — the same codec real Sony, Panasonic, and Canon camcorder MTS files use. Under "Show All Options" you can switch the "Video Codec" to alternatives the container also accepts, such as H.265, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or DivX, though H.264 is the most compatible with AVCHD-era gear.

Do I lose the RAW editing latitude when I convert CR2 to MTS?

Yes. A CR2 stores unprocessed 14-bit sensor data, which is why you can recover highlights, shadows, and white balance after the shot. To put the photo into a video, the converter renders it first — demosaicing the sensor data and baking in white balance, exposure, and tone. Once that rendered frame is inside the MTS, the latitude is gone, exactly as it would be in a JPEG. Keep your original .cr2 if you may still want to edit it.

Should I convert CR2 to MTS, or to MP4 or JPG?

Choose by where the file will go. MTS makes sense only for an AVCHD camcorder workflow or an editor that specifically expects that container. If you want a clip that plays natively on phones, browsers, and modern editors, CR2 to MP4 is the safer video target. And if you only want a viewable picture rather than a video at all, CR2 to JPG is the right tool — far smaller, and supported everywhere.

Why won't my MTS file open in some players or import into my editor?

MTS is an AVCHD transport stream, and some camcorder-oriented software expects the full PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/ folder structure rather than a single loose file. A plain .mts plays fine in cross-platform players like VLC, but a dedicated AVCHD import path may not see it until the file sits in that folder layout. If your editor won't import it directly, play it in VLC to confirm it's valid, then either use the editor's generic file import or convert to CR2 to MP4 for a container with far broader support.

How are my files handled during conversion?

In our testing, a single full-resolution Canon CR2 held for 5 seconds at the "Very High" preset produced an MTS only a couple of megabytes in size, because a motionless H.264 frame compresses heavily. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, rendered and packaged into MTS on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.