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touheyphoto
Inspiring
May 2, 2022

P: (Mac) Direct Camera Connect fails to show previews in Import Dialog

  • May 2, 2022
  • 75 replies
  • 12537 views

My system has worked perfectly for many years, but I’m encountering strange issues on import in Lr Classic that have recently plagued me. 

 

When importing via a plugged in thunderbolt cable into my R5s:

- image previews no longer load into the thumbnails, or will load dramatically slower and one at a time. (Whereas they used to snap into each empty thumbnail cells immediately)

- sometimes it will show no photos to import (which was frightening the first few times to see). I’ll cancel and reopen the import prompt which usually works after the second or third try.

- sometimes import window will show photos from other shoot days but not my most recent images. I’ll cancel the import prompt and reopen. Often it’ll all load in after a few tries.

- If I get through these issues, the most difficult part is actually importing. Import can take 5 minutes before starting, if I’m lucky. (It used to start within 10 seconds.) Two out of three times the import completely fails to start. 

 

 

Other details: 

- This seems to happen with all three of my Canon R5s

- I’m encountering this issue on my Mac Studio running Ventura 13.3.1

- My Lr Classic (v. 12.3) catalogues and previews are stored on my internal HD

- My photos are stored on a 70TB OWC Thunderbay. (I switched from Drobo 8D fairly recently)

- The same R5 and imported photos load like normal on my MBP when imported. 

- This is happening with multiple LrC catalogues

- This issue started happening for a few weeks, prior to updating to the latest Lr Classic

 

 

Since this issue is happening with multiple catalogs and cameras, I was thinking it was either with my Mac Studio that stores the catalogues, or my OWC Thunderbay external since it stores the photos. However since this issue seems to happen before I technically need to select the destination drive, now I’m thinking the issue is my computer where Lr is running. 

 

Could this be a RAM problem? Has anyone encountered this issue before? 

 

Any ideas based are greatly appreciated since importing after a shoot has gone from taking 10 minutes of my times to 2 hrs. Hopefully this can help others too.

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    75 replies

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    C
    charlieh6415140
    Known Participant
    June 21, 2023

    Mac OS 12.6.6

    Nikon Z8 - shots in lossless compressed RAW

    When importing to LR classic via a USB cable the thumbnails in the import window are blank. If I click on the blank a larger window showing the picture shows as it should. This is a nuisance - the blank boxes do not allow quick un-checking of any unwanted shots.

      johnrellis
      johnrellis
      Legend
      June 21, 2023

      There have been some other recent reports about grey thumbnails in the Import window when importing via a USB cable. In general, importing via cable hasn't gotten much love from Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft in the past many years and there has been a steady stream of reports about problems that haven't been addressed.

       

      As a workaround, use Finder to copy some of the files from the camera to your Desktop.  If the problem doesn't occur when importing from the Desktop, consider using a card reader instead.

      C
      charlieh6415140
      Known Participant
      June 21, 2023

      Thanks John. I have to say I import via cable as a matter of course from a Lumix compact and have never encountered this problem. I imported files from XQD cards (from a D850 and Z7) via a card reader and these never gave a problem. So maybe a card reader is the way to go. I just put an XQD card in my Z8 took a quick test shot and imported it using an XQD card reader - no problem at all, the thumbnail popped up as it should. I will get a CFX type B reader (the USB cable that came with the camera is really too short for comfortable work anyway).

      S
      spudnut
      Participating Frequently
      June 16, 2023

      v12.4

      Mac Ventura 13.4

       

      Previews are no longer showing since updating to version 12.4 All I see is a gray box where the preview should be seen. This always worked fine until the update, and my importing methods have not changed. What could be causing this issue? Thanks.

        iancundell
        iancundell
        Inspiring
        June 17, 2023

        I'm seeing this too. Or rather not seeing it. .cr2 files.

        GoldingD
        GoldingD
        Legend
        June 5, 2023

        Might have missed this, but..

         

        1. Try outside of LrC to copy the images from the Canon 5R to your desired destination using your via camera to computer via cable method.
        2. If that behaves, then try importing into LrC via Add.

         

         

        1. If the above fails, try taking the CFexpress or SD card out of the camera, place it into a card reader, then try to copy to the desired destination.
        2. Then import via Add.

        Wondering if you have a problem with any of:

         

        • Your cables
        • The Thunderbolt port
        • LrC
          J
          juhanio37042457
          Participant
          May 24, 2023

          Howdy!

           

          Since Adobe does not have actual customer support, i have come to you in this great time of need.

           

          For some reason, I can no longer see the preview images of my photos anymore when I'm importing them from my camera, but instead I can only see blank images. This makes importing photos from a long session incredibly difficult and  frustrating, because I have to import all images, and then one by one go through them in the editing view. 

           

          Here are the detes:

          I connect my camera to my computer via USB, and open lightroom -> klick Add photos, and select my cameras SD card. In this view i have previously been able to preview the images, and select the ones that i actually want to import without any hassle, but now instead i see files as blank as my soul.

           

          If anybody has similar issues, or knows how to fix it, I'd be more than happy to hear about a possible solution to this previously nonexisting problem.

           

          Thanks in advance!

            Sameer K
            Community Manager
            Sameer KCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            May 24, 2023

            Hey, @juhanio37042457. Welcome to the Lightroom Community. I'll help you figure this out.

            What version of Lightroom & the operating system are you working on? Do the image import as expected even when you don't see the previews?

             

            Try these variations & share the results:

            • Try changing the SD card reader or how you connect the SD card to the computer's USB port.
            • Are these JPEG, RAW, or JPEG+RAW images? Try copying the images to the internal drive via the file explorer & check if the previews appear at import.
            • Try restarting the computer with the SD card plugged in.

             

            Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
            Sameer K

            A
            aaronc5495944517100615
            Participant
            May 2, 2022

            Something strange is happened with Lightroom Classic all of a sudden. I can't see thumbail previews of photos in import mode. I haven't changed any settings it just happened.

             

            I've tried updating, restarting, deleting previews file, unchecking 'don't import duplicates', creating a new catalogue but nothing works...any folder I choose in the navigator in 'import mode' no thumbnail previews are created so I can't import photos.

             

            This is only happening in 'import mode' I can see thumbnail previews in 'library mode'

             

            Any ideas what could be the issues?

              Sameer K
              Community Manager
              Sameer KCommunity Manager
              Community Manager
              May 2, 2022

              Hi Aaron,

               

              Thanks for reaching out. I'd love to help you figure this out.

              Could you please share the specific version of Lightroom Classic from Help > About Lightroom Classic and the specific version of macOS? Has this started to happen recently since an update of the macOS or Lightroom Classic?

               

              Where are you importing from, a location on the internal storage, or from an external drive? Does this happen with a specific file format, JPEG or RAW?

               

              If you are importing from an external source, you can try to change the connecting USB port or change the cable (if any).

              You can also ensure Lightroom Classic has correct and complete permissions on the macOS by following the steps I have shared in this article: 🔎 Quick Tips: How to give Full Disk Access to Lightroom Classic on macOS

              Afterward,

              • Search for Disk Utility from Finder's spotlight search or magnifying glass.
              • Run 'First Aid' diagnostic on the external drive. Check this to learn more: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210898
              • Restart the computer.

               

              Let us know if this helps,

              Thanks!

              Sameer K

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