P: Data Loss/Corruption in .HIF files when writing XMP metadata

"Will this be reported to development or do I need to do anything else?

It's already in the team's bug-tracking process -- as of 1/20.  They'll get back to you if they need more informtion, but given the bug is easily reproduced with the sample file you provided, I doubt they will.

You can see the status (BUG: Investigating)  at the bottom of the first post. Adobe will update this thread with a new post when the status changes. They rarely comment on when a bug might be fixed.

Will this be reported to development or do I need to do anything else? To me this is serious as I lost a file (which LRC claims to handle) and was not able to recover it.

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Precise steps to reproduce on LR 15.1 / Mac OS 26.2:

1. Download this .hif and import it into LR with the Add option:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/02bp2cd805dk9t69gnns5/corruptible-panosonic-hif.2026-01-21.HIF?rlkey=h491xjc52bu6oua8d0c0mij04&dl=0

2. Observe you can edit the photo in Develop.

3. In Library, select the photo and do Metadata > Save Metadata To File. Observe the black-circled ! on the thumbnail (incorrect):

johnrellis_0-1769029306128.png

I uploaded an uncorrupted file and also a corrupted one. they are not the same image as the original corrupted one is lost.

https://www.filemail.com/d/qvmogzzmaopncvf

Let me know if you need anything else.

Jeff

Updating status

Upload a straight-from-the-camera, uncorrupted HIF to Wetransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive or similar free service and post the sharing link here.  (Adobe won't pay much attention unless they have an original file with which to quickly reproduce the problem.)

A similar bug with Sony HIFs and with AVIFs was fixed a couple years ago:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-sony-hif-images-reading-image-and-writing-metadata-error/idc-p/13771249