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DiaPap
Participant
May 12, 2018
Question

SONY A7iii - ARW files not imported to latest version of Lightroom CC

  • May 12, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 3306 views

Hi,

I am trying to import my ARW files to Lightroom 7.3.1. I had 847 photos. Only the 335 of them are imported and I am suspecting that is due too the fact that I accidentally changed from Uncompressed RAW to Compressed RAW.

I tried DNG converter as well but it doesn't convert the same files (the other 512 files remaining).

I also tried to copy as dng during the import process to Lightroom but it doesn't work also.

Please advise, I cannot explain all these compatibility problems to my clients.

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

ssprengel
ssprengel
Inspiring
May 12, 2018

It makes sense that LR and the DNG Converter wouldn't support the same set of photos since both use the latest Adobe raw engine.

The A7III item on Adobe's supported camera list doesn't have an asterisk that indicates only uncompressed raw is supported, but their support for the camera was initially researched with one having firmware 0.01 not 1.01 so it's possible that type of compressed raw didn't exist with the original firmware so maybe they didn't know there was that option.

To verify that it is the file-format that is the problem, not that the photos are corrupted, try opening them in the Sony software that presumably ships with the camera, and do an export of all the photos to JPG.

If the Sony export to JPG succeeds for all the photos then the photo data is ok and it's Adobe that doesn't support something about some of the photos.  If this is the situation then please upload a pair of photos, one that imports and one that doesn't, and someone *might* be able to pass them on to Adobe.  Use dropbox or one drive or google drive and post a share link.

If the Sony export to JPG fails on the same photos that LR fails to import, then the photos are likely corrupted.  Try another card reader or try plugging a cable directly into the camera to use it as a card reader--whichever you didn't do, initially, and see if the photos come across ok the second time.  If so then the card-reader (if that's what you used initially) or the cable (to the camera if that's what you used initially) is the problem, and you should be able to use another reader or cable and get things to work.

If the Sony software does read and export the photos, then for the ones that don't work in LR, use the Sony software to export 16-bit TIFs (and with a ProPhotoRGB colorspace if that's an option) and import those TIFs into LR as substitutes for the raw files.  Setting the shite-balance is best done from raw data so you might want to do that step in the Sony software if there is more than a little adjustment to do, but if the WB adjustment is going to be a slight tweak then it's probably fine to do that in LR from the TIF version of the photo.

D
DiaPapAuthor
Participant
May 12, 2018

Hi and thanks a lot for your complete answer.

I was about to reply to my own post. I could not even view the photos in Imaging edge since I read so many posts about Adobe programs compatibility problems. The conclusion is that somehow my SD card crashed in the middle of the photo shooting (after having tried it to my second camera today).

Maybe it was at the time I accidentally changed to compressed raw but I will never know, since I can do nothing with these files anymore. And I still suppose I changed it accidentally since I have never selected that option before and I saw it today selected. 

Thanks again for your answer

J
Community Expert
Jao vdLCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 12, 2018

> since I can do nothing with these files anymore

You might still be able to extract the embedded jpeg previews from the files using exiftool. Not as good as the raw but might allow you to save some images.

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