Support HEIF still photos from Sony cameras in Premiere

Sony cameras such as the a6700, FX30, A7sIV can capture photos in HEIF format, with a .HIF file extension. These files are supported by current versions of Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom, and Photoshop. However they are not supported in Adobe Premiere. 

HEIF is the standard format of the Apple / iPhone ecosystem since 2017 (iOS 11). It is a superior alternative to JPEG for Sony shooters along with / instead of RAW. Sony HEIF supports 10-bit color 4:2:2 and HLG color space for HDR. 

A HEIF photo taken on an iPhone 12 with .HEIC file extension will open correctly in Premiere. However trying to import an HEIF photo from a Sony FX30 with .HIF file extension results in “File format not supported” error in Premiere 26.2.2.

If I rename the .HIF Sony photo to .HEIC or .HEIF file extensions, then Premiere will allow them to import, however the photo never appears in the Source or Preview monitor, instead it just shows black.

Please support Sony .HIF photos in Premiere, as they are already supported in other Adobe products. They are supported in Davinci Resolve 20 and Final Cut Pro 11 as well. The Sony .HIF photos open perfectly in MacOS Sequoia 15.7.7 Preview app and Photos app.

The only workaround to get these photos into Premiere is to export them from Photoshop, Lightroom, or Apple Photos into another format like TIFF that supports > 8-bit colors and HLG. 

Until Premiere supports Sony .HIF files, this seems like the perfect opportunity for me to finally learn Resolve.

Sample .HIF 4:2:2 HLG HEIF photo from Sony FX30 is attached, and Premiere errors. FX30 firmware v6.0.1. (Your website wouldn’t allow uploading a .HIF file extension, so I put it in a .zip file.)