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Question

Lightroom Mobile and Raw files in Camera Roll

Forum|Forum|11 years ago
April 11, 2014
19 replies
75350 views

I made a new collection in Lightroom Mobile. I tried to add some files from my camera roll. The raw files in my camera roll do not show up when I click on the Add from Camera Roll button. Is working with raw files in the camera roll not an option in Lightroom Mobile? My NEF files from my mac have synced over just fine.

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scienceman78

Participant

I don't know if you know about this, but my android phone allows for the direct import of RAW files into LR mobile... probably is available on iOS at this point...

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Jao vdL

Community Expert

LR mobile on iOS imports raw just fine indeed but you can't circumvent the system camera roll when importing from a sd card. That is an Apple restriction. Apps cannot access an sd card reader for some reason. You can directly shoot raw files from Lightroom circumventing the camera roll though.

raw01

Inspiring

You need to shoot Jpeg + RAW if your camera has that option.

I shoot Jpeg+RAW. Import the photos to the iPad and it brings everything in, Jpeg+RAW.

I then import from camera roll to LR Mobile and LR Mobile displays a little RAW label over the RAW pictures. In fact it doesn't actually show me the Jpegs.

So I bring those in and edit. When the images sync back to my desktop they are indeed the original RAW files.

I've never tried bringing a RAW only file in.

theartfuldiva

Participant

I am unable to import photos from Photos on my MacBook Air. I tried importing from my i-phone6 camera roll - it takes forever and only 3 out of 75 photos were actually imported. I have not had this problem in the past. I'm not sure what do to about it.

greule

Community Manager

Did I get it right that Lr Desktop fails to import your camera roll photos when you have your mobile device connected to your MacBook via usb? Which version of Lr Desktop are you usering? _ Guido

theartfuldiva

Participant

LR 2015.3 release Camera Ra 9.3

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Dash_

Participant

So I just discovered something some might find useful:

After uploading a RAW file from my Nikon to my iPad, I cropped it in the iOS photos app. (Very slightly, not even enough to cut off much at all, but to just register a change)

Then, behold! Lightroom sees the file. What happened?

I at first thought iOS simply created a JPEG version...but I guess I was wrong.

Upon opening the file in LrM, I noticed all the different white balance options reserved only for RAW files and not available when working with JPEG.

So I check above at the file name, and what do ya know- it's an NEF file.

(Maybe somebody more techie can breakdown exactly what went on.)

[See attached photo of my daughter.]

I haven't explored what it exports as yet.

But I hope if anyone TRULY needs a native, quick, solution to get a 'small amount' of photos [RAW] to make it into LrM, this may help so you don't have to shoot in RAW+JPEG at all times.

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Slabbbe

Participant

Thanks, Great tip!

Works for me with Canon Cr2 files too. Including syncing the complete file to desktop LR

M

Mike Cumberbatch

Participant

I've been using raw2dng on my android LG G4 to convert sony arw files (a6000) to full res dng then auto import into LR. Only been using it for a couple of weeks but works very well. Files are synchronised and imported into desktop LR full size. Comparing images converted using raw2dng vs ACR, the dngs look identical at the pixel level. The process is quite quick. Takes about a minute to convert 10 images.

C

cyclopic fun

Inspiring

Thanks for that info Mike. Sounds like a good work flow. I'll checkout raw2dng

C

cyclopic fun

Inspiring

I really would like LR mobile to be able to import and read RAWs. I'd rather carry my 8" tablet than a laptop in the field and not have to shoot in jpg and RAW. I don't expect serious editing capability just a means to review my shots. I'd also be happy with Light room building a jpg from the RAW and importing it into the program. I don't want to sync shots to the cloud. If I get my collections confused on various devices that's my problem to be sorted out when convenient.

robgendreau

Inspiring

As you've probably noticed, RAW is tough on ANY mobile device. Very few apps on either iOS or Android deal with it effectively. Perhaps a Windows tablet would be a better choice; laptops too are getting smaller and lighter. But really small tablets are a compromise, and it's unlikely they'll do well with RAW. Even the camera manufacturer's apps don't deal with RAW via the camera's wifi. Meanwhile, since you don't wanna use cloud synching, Mylio would be your best bet.

C

cyclopic fun

Inspiring

Thanks for your comments. I've tried out Photo Mate 3 today and I think it will eat LR mobile's lunch with photographers who want to view RAWS and make simple adjustments while travelling light.

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sparksdjs

Participating Frequently

I have found one iPad app that works well with RAW - Filterstorm Neue. I can import into the Photos app and then access and process them with Filterstorm.

A

Anonymous

I‌'ve had iPads since the first gen, exploring the idea of using one as a laptop-replacement. One thing I've learned is that the approach to software is quite different between iOS and a desktop-based system. IOS software exists across a broad family of apps, rather than a few big-hitting programmes. IOS photo-editing apps all have their strengths and weaknesses and no individual app does everything well.

regarding an ipad-first workflow, I think the approach depends on what your goal is.

- Do you, for example, want to finesse your images on one of the desktop programmes back at the studio/office, perhaps preparing them for print, but just want to save some time by starting that process in the field?

- Are you an "Instagrammer" who wants to do live, on-location publishing of images, having done some enhancement first, but with the option of doing further work on these images back at the studio/office?

- Do you need to create production-quality images in the field for showing to / use by a client, with no access to the office back home?

In the first case, I think the Lightroom Mobile workflow is fine. You can make basic adjustments to the images and have those adjustments synched to the cloud, then apply them to your raw files back in the office, saving a huge amount of time. LR Mobile's weakness is that it doesn't allow local adjustments using brushes or gradients, but these can be added back in the office.

In the second case, you may need those local adjustments in order to produce something of the right standard for publishing. In that case apps such as Filterstorm Neue or Photogene will allow local adjustments on raw or jpegs, and Snapseed will work with jpegs. (Not sure about raw).

In the third case, I suppose it depends on the demands of the job, but in the most demanding of cases, I'm not sure the ipad based workflow is there yet. A laptop, with its connectivity and ease of file-management, may be better.

I just had a week's holiday in Morocco, taking the Fuji X-E2 and an ipad pro with camera connection kit. I guess you could say I was in the second situation. I'd intended to use the Lightroom Mobile workflow to pre-select and pre-process the images, while exporting a few back to the camera roll for use with Instagram. I actually ended up mostly using Snapseed to edit some of the images for Instagram, and left the rest on the memory cards for dealing with back home. It was a holiday, after all!

J

jakobp8578603

Participant

I'm sorry but I don't think that is was is happening. I'm using a Leica M240, and as far as I know, that camera only produces a really low res jpeg for the DNG. I have also compared the dynamic range of the Leica JPG in Lightroom with the RAW image, and there is certainly more information in the RAW (much more detail in the highlights etc.).

I looked around a bit, and found this article: http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/adobe-lightroom-mobiles-photo-editing-tools-now-available-android/#ixzz3nlepqfVh

They state:

"The mobile version is a stripped down, easy-to-use version of the desktop software, but Adobe says the experience is similar and just as powerful. For those already familiar with Lightroom on the desktop, the app contains the tools in the Basic Panel, native presents, and the ability to view and edit RAW (DNG) files. The Android version of Lightroom Mobile is nearly identical to its iOS counterpart, so if you’ve been using it on an iPhone or iPad, it’s the same experience..."

So maybe it is only because I get DNG files straight from the camera, instead of some companys' proprietary RAW format... I'll try to import some RAW files into Lightroom from my Canon or Fuji camera, and see if that works...

J

jakobp8578603

Participant

I cannot really recognize a lot of what has been said in this thread... I am able to import RAW DNG files from my camera, through the Camera Connection Kit, to my aging 3rd gen iPad. They are imported to the camera roll, from where I can import them into Lightroom Mobile. In LR Mobile, I can push and pull the same amount of exposure stops as on my MacBook Pro, which tells me that it is working on the RAW image (I don't shoot JPG+RAW, only RAW, so there shouldn't be a JPG to edit anyway). Everything is synced with the cloud and my laptop LR (again, this takes a while on my slow connection and slow iPad).

So this all works quite well, an I'm considering buying an iPad Mini 4 for an upcoming 3 week vacation, just to be able to do some rough sorting, editing and keywording when I have some down time (my iPad 3rd gen is too slow to enjoy working on).

Am I really the only one who can get this to work...? ;-)

J

Jao vdL

Community Expert

Jakob, in your workflow, Lightroom mobile will not pull in the raw file but will take the jpeg preview that your camera embedded in the raw file. The same one that the Photos app on your iPad shows since that too cannot actually interpret the raw data but simply uses the jpeg preview. All cameras embed a jpeg in the raw files for easy display. There is no difference in the interface in the range of the sliders. You would not see any difference between a jpeg and a raw in Lightroom mobile.

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Mike Cumberbatch

Participant

Syncomatic works quite well. It adds an extra layer to the the workflow but is useful when I want to travel very light and edit my photos on the go (my iPad is much smaller and lighter than my laptop). I use my android phone to back up all my RAW images to a HDD and import just JPEGs to my iPad. I can then synchronise the LR mobile edits with the original RAW files when I get home. The main drawback with this is adding keywords and captions, as you cannot yet do this with LR mobile.

Syncomatic - Sync files with same name or time

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