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Need help?Convert ERF to Video Online
Turn an Epson RAW still into a short video clip and choose the container yourself — the "Video File Extension" list on this page covers 32 targets, from MP4, MOV and MKV to WebM, AVI, WMV, MPEG and MXF. An ERF is a single photograph from an Epson R-D1 rangefinder, so what you get is a freeze-frame: the developed image held on screen for a duration you set, with no motion and no audio track. That is genuinely useful for slates, title cards and dropping a still onto a timeline that will only accept a movie file — and completely wrong if you simply wanted a viewable photo, in which case ERF to JPG is the page you want.
How to Convert ERF to Video
- Upload Your ERF File: Drag the
.erfonto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. Several R-D1 frames can be queued and encoded with the same settings. - Choose an Output Format: Open the "Video File Extension" list and pick your target explicitly — this page does not assume one for you, and each container brings its own default video codec (see the table below).
- Set Image Duration, Resolution and Background Colour: "Image Duration" decides how long the frame stays on screen and defaults to 5 seconds per frame; "Video resolution" defaults to "Keep original"; "Background Color" defaults to White and fills any letterbox bars.
- Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the clip. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark.
Which Output Format Should You Pick?
| If you want… | Choose | Video codec that target defaults to |
|---|---|---|
| The widest playback on phones, editors and TVs | MP4 | H.264 |
| An Apple-ecosystem clip or a QuickTime edit | MOV or M4V | H.264 |
| A flexible open container for desktop players | MKV | H.264 |
| An open, web-native clip | WebM | VP9 |
| The smallest modern stream | HEVC or AV1 | H.265 / AV1 |
| DVD-authoring or older broadcast tooling | MPEG, MPG, M2V, VOB, MXF | MPEG-2 |
| A legacy Windows Media pipeline | WMV | WMV 2 |
| An older AVI-based workflow | AVI, DIVX, XVID | MPEG-4 / DivX / Xvid |
| A viewable photo rather than a clip | ERF to JPG | Not a video at all — usually the right answer |
What the Other Controls Do
Because the source is a still image, this page shows a deliberately reduced option set: there is no audio codec (a photograph has no soundtrack), no trim control (there is no timeline to cut), and no bitrate or target-size modes.
| Control | Default | Effect on an ERF still |
|---|---|---|
| Image Duration | 5 seconds per frame | Clip length, from a single frame at 60 fps up to 10 seconds |
| Merge strategy | Merge images | Several uploaded ERFs become one clip; "Video per image" writes a separate file per photo |
| Video resolution | Keep original | Scales the roughly 6-megapixel frame; also the main size lever on MPEG-2 targets |
| Background Color | White | Fills letterbox bars when the output frame shape differs from the photo's 3:2 |
| File Compression | Quality Preset, at Very High (Recommended) | Biases quality against size on codecs with a constant-quality mode, such as H.264, HEVC, VP9 and AV1 |
| Video Codec | Set by the container you chose | Can be overridden — for example WebM also offers VP8 and AV1 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ERF file, and why do so few tools convert it?
ERF is the Epson RAW Format, a TIFF/EP-based container whose sensor data is stored bit-packed rather than as a plain image (documented by libopenraw). Only Epson's R-D1 rangefinder line ever produced it: the 6.1-megapixel, APS-C, Leica M-mount R-D1 introduced in March 2004, plus its successors the R-D1s of March 2006 and the Japan-only R-D1x and R-D1xG of April 2009. Epson then left the camera market, so ERF is a small, closed corner of the RAW world and most converters never implemented it.
Does converting a single ERF to video create any motion or sound?
No, on both counts. One photograph produces a freeze-frame: the developed image held on screen for the "Image Duration" you set, with no pan, zoom or transition. There is no audio either — a still carries no soundtrack, so the Audio Codec control is hidden entirely for image sources and the output is silent whichever container you choose.
Which output format is selected when the page loads?
Pick one deliberately from the "Video File Extension" list rather than relying on what appears first. This page is the generic ERF-to-video entry point and offers 32 containers side by side, so the safest habit is to select your target before converting. If you know you want MP4 or WebM, the dedicated ERF to MP4 and ERF to WebM pages start you there.
Which codec will my clip actually use?
That follows the container. MP4, MOV, MKV, M4V, TS, MTS, M2TS, 3GP, 3G2 and AVCHD default to H.264; HEVC to H.265; WebM to VP9; OGV to VP8; AV1 to AV1; MPEG, MPG, M2V, MXF and VOB to MPEG-2; AVI to MPEG-4; WMV to WMV 2; FLV and SWF to the Flash codec; DivX, Xvid and MJPEG to their namesakes. The "Video Codec" dropdown lets you override within whatever the container legally allows.
Why can't I set a bitrate or a target file size here?
Because those modes are hidden for image sources, where they have no meaningful input: a still has no source bitrate to scale from and no duration until you choose one. What remains is Quality Preset plus the constant-quality modes, which work on codecs that support a quality target. On MPEG-2 targets even those have little effect, so change "Video resolution" instead — that page-level detail is covered on ERF to MPEG.
Will I lose image quality going from RAW to a video file?
Yes, unavoidably. The ERF holds unprocessed sensor data that must be demosaiced before anything can display it, and that render bakes in white balance, exposure and tone — the editing latitude that is the entire reason RAW exists. The frame is then scaled to the output resolution and compressed by a lossy video codec. Keep the .erf as your master and treat the clip as a delivery file.
Can I turn a set of R-D1 photos into a slideshow?
Yes. Upload them together and leave "Merge strategy" on "Merge images": each photo is shown for the Image Duration you picked and the results are joined into one clip. Switch to "Video per image" if you would rather receive a separate video file for each frame. There are no transitions or crossfades — each still simply cuts to the next.
What happens to my uploaded files afterwards?
They are uploaded over an encrypted connection, decoded and encoded on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours along with the videos they produced. Nothing is shared or made public, there is no sign-up and no watermark. The realistic limit when converting a batch is upload time rather than anything on your machine.