Camera Raw Plug-in Ver 10-4 Canon Powershot G1X DNG Shows Dark and Green

[Rollin Hill]

Level 10-4 of the Camera Raw plug-in installed on my Bridge/Photoshop CC 2018 programs.  When I load the RAW images from the Powershot G1X into my system, I have them converted to DNG files.  When I open the DNG file in Camera Raw, the image is extremely dark and has  deep green hue.  There is no problem with the DNG files from my Canon 5D.  I reinstalled Camera Raw level 9-12-1 and there is no problem.  Something changed in the profile for the G1X.  I have tried all the various options in Camera Raw 10-4 but no change. Out of curiosity, I opened a G1X image in 104, did the auto options and closed it to see what it looked like in Bridge.  The image back in Bridge looked "normal" - i.e. not dark and no green hue.  It appears that the problem is in the image display in Camera Raw. 

[JP Hess]

Have you tried NOT converting to DNG and just importing the CR2 file to compare? That shouldn't make a difference, but it would be interesting to do just for comparison.

[Rollin Hill]

Jim Hess, per your suggestion I tired using Camera Raw 10-4 against the CR2 Canon RAW file without converting it to a DNG format.  I also did some additional testing.  Here are the results.

First thing to note is that I have two machines.  My primary graphics workstation is running Windows 10 Professional 64 bit.  It was migrated from Win 7 to 10 and this does make a difference as there are some residual items from Win 7 left over that, for instance, allows me to run an older app that requires an early version of a MS library to install and run.  The other machine is new and came with Win 10 Pro 64 bit installed.  The older app will not install as it cannot find a indicator showing the older version of the MS library was installed, probably a directory entry. 

Now the testing.  I shot a new RAW image for the test.

Older graphics machine:

1. CR2 file opened with no problems in Camera Raw (CR) 10-4..

2. DNG file opened but image was dark and had a very strong magenta cast (on some images, it is a dark green cast.)  Once I opened the image in CR and then quit (via Done or Cancel) and then reopened it in CR, all was fine.  It is like opening it forced some change to the file.

I then tried this on the newer PC and both the CR2 and the DNG file were fine.

I decided to play a bit more and went back to the older PC and recaptured the CR2 and DNG files to start over.   Before doing this I had reinstalled CR 10-4 (for about the 5th time.)

1. Now both the  CR2 and DNG files open fine.

2. However some older DNG files on the machine still open initially with either a strong magenta or green cast.

3. If I open in CR then close and reopen, CR is fine.

4. To make sure something else was not affecting the process, I shot another image and tried using it.  Again, things now appear to work on the new DNG file but older DNG files.  Older DNG files that have not been processed before still open with a magenta or green cast on initial open.  (I have no good explanation for this.)

One final note.  I shoot both a Canon 5D and the Canon G1X.  There are no problems with the DNG files produced from the 5D, only the G1X. 

My guess is that with the 10-4 release, there is a problem processing the Canon CR2 files from the G1X and that an open/close in Camera Raw fixes something in the file so that a second open works. 

[ssprengel]

Can  you upload one of those DNGs that has issues to somewhere like dropbox or onedrive or googledrive and post a public-share link, here?

[Rollin Hill]

I have created 4 files in this Dropbox folder:  Dropbox - G1X DNG Test - Simplify your life https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k4wxi9ig4m52g6b/AADfLBT1mLP31ZR4nDVXiKnfa?dl=0

Before doing it, I did some more testing.  I created a test folder and copied 4 DNG files from some tests in 2012 and 4 from a recent trip in June that have not been processed.  I also used the G1X to create 4 new images.  I then copied these files to a new directory before doing anything.

1. 2012 images opened in Camera Raw 10-4 with magenta cast first open.  Canceled and then reopened and image opened with no cast.

2. 2018 June images opened with cyan cast on first open then opened with no cast after a cancel.

3. New camera images opened with no cast on first open.

I then switched to the folder that had the copies I made before opening the first set.  All opened with no cast.  I even tried renaming some to make sure that Bridge/Camera Raw was not remembering settings based on the file name.  Still opened with no cast.  I even exited Bridge/Photoshop and then relaunched them with no change.

I created the Dropbox folder and copied 2-2012 DNG files and 2-2018 June files that have not been opened in Camera Raw as far as I know.  I am not sure how they will behave if multiple people copy then to their computers and then open them. 

As it now stands I can live with level 10-4 as it now appears that new G1X files are fine and I can handle with having to double open old images that have never been opened to get around the problem.  Still confused as to why DNG files from June 2018 have a problem but the ones from today do not.  I suspect that the June files were loaded/converted to DNG files by prior levels of Camera Raw/Bridge/Photoshop as I just upgraded all levels last weekend which could affect the DNG file contents/structure. 

[ssprengel]

I don't see any color issues with any of them in Bridge or ACR, unless they are so subtle I don't notice.

Does your view of them in Bridge look the same as mine?

Did you update the embedded preview before uploading so I won't see what you saw?

[Rollin Hill · Accepted solution]

Yes, the images appear fine in Bridge.  The images on the Bridge panel have always looked good.  It was only when I opened them in Camera Raw that the color cast showed and it was not subtle but rather a vivid color cast over the entire image.  I did some more testing and here is what I found.

1) The only DNG files with a problem were captured to the PC before I had upgraded the release levels on Bridge, Photoshop and Camera Raw. 

2) On the files that had the color cast in Camera Raw if I did anything to the CR window with the image open, the color cast went away.  That includes opening the file in Photoshop, hitting the Done or Cancel buttons, or even resizing the CR window - found the latter this morning when trying to take a screen clip of the window showing the color cast.

3) I tested a new set of files this morning saving one set with CR 9-12-2 installed and then another set with 10-4 installed to see if the CR plug-in level at the time of capture to the PC with the conversion from CR2 to DNG format was causing the problem.  There was no impact as all opened with no color cast.

Based on the above, I have to conclude that the prior levels of Bridge, Photoshop and/or Camera Raw caused the problem and that doing anything to a DNG file using the new levels will resolve the problem as once touched the color cast goes away.  Once I updated the products, I have not been able to recreate the problem. I did a screen grabs showing an older DNG initially open in CR 10-4 with a green/cyan cast and then a second showing the same image reopened after doing a Cancel to show that the color cast went away.   Dropbox - Color Cast - Simplify your life

At this point I am happy to close this out as I cannot recreate the error on the current levels of the code and the solution is simple - open in CR, Cancel, reopen in CR.  And this only is needed on any older DNG files that were never processed which are very few. 

[Rollin Hill]

My thanks to all who provided suggestions.