P: Import seems to misinterpret EXIF date time

[Erik273195059rt3]

My setting: Ventura 13.0.1 (on M1 MacBook) and LR Classic 12.0.1

When I import *new* images from an iPhone, the import dialog shows *all* images (see separate bug report) and: 

1. it shows images in an abritrary order despite the option "sort by date". It seems as the sort takes some other information, but not the true datetime.

2. when it come to organize the images into subfolders by date, the images are moved to the wrong folders!! For example, I have not taken any picutre today, but the dialog shows 48 images to be inserted to the folder 2022-11-27. Looks like random behavior....

The import works fine in 11.x and before. I did not change any settings.  

Best regards,

Erik

[John R Ellis]

Which method are you using to import from your Iphone into LR?  Which model Iphone and version of Ios?

[Erik273195059rt3]

I'm importing images from the iPhone using a USB cable. The iPhone a 13 Pro Max with iOS 16.1.1. 

[John R Ellis]

LR has been having problems accessing cameras via USB cable in Mac OS 13:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic/ct-p/ct-lightroom-classic?page=1&sort=latest_replie... 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-unable-to-import-from-direct-connected-nikon... 

Mostly Nikons but some other brands as well. Perhaps your issue has the same underlying cause.

[Joro11]

Same problem here.

On import from iPhone 12 into lightroom Classic on Macbook i have LT rename my photo's with the date of capture in it an place them into a date-folder. The date in the file name is correct, the date of the folders seems related to last accessed date rather than the date of capture.
In the iPhone the date is correct. On import with Apple Photo's the dates are also correct.

So LIGHTROOM CC misplaces the photo's.

[John R Ellis]

@Joro11:

1. Which version number of Mac OS?

2. Which version number of LR (do Help > System Info)?

3. Are you importing via a USB cable connected to the phone?

[Joro11]

Thanks for your reaction. 

• macos = 13.0.1
• LR = 12.0.1
• i am using USB to import (is there another way? When I connect the iPhone over WiFi to my Mac it is not visible in LR)
• phone = iPhone 12 Pro Max
• ios = 16.1.1
• In the import screen, when sorting by capture time, I see the photos in the order I last viewed them. Even with photos from years ago. Then on import LR puts those photos in the folder of the day I viewed them.

[John R Ellis]

It does look like Mac OS 13 introduced changes (bugs?) in the OS library for accessing cameras via USB that are screwing up LR (and other software, including Nikon's own utilities).  Unfortunately, I can't investigate myself because I'm not updating my computer to Mac OS 13 yet and I can't get my test virtual machine running 13 to recognize the USB connection.

For iPhones, a workaround is to use LR mobile and enable Settings > Import > Auto Add From Camera Roll.  Then enable sync between LR Classic and LR Cloud. Once set up, it usually works smoothly and seamlessly (though as with everything LR, there are infrequent glitches you can read about here).

The other workaround is to use the Mac's Image Capture to copy the photos to disk and then import into LR from there.

[Joro11]

Thanks for confirming there must be a bug. Hopefully Apple repairs this soon. Will Adobe be reporting this to Apple?

I will be trying your suggestions for import. 

And again I have the feeling a product (Macos 13.0.1) has been launched without proper testing.

John

[Erik273195059rt3]

Dear all,

new versions are out: Lightroom Classic 12.1, MacOS Ventura 13.1 and iOS 16.2. Unfortunately, reading photos from an iPhone via USB cable still does not work as expected:

1. rather than date of capture photos are sorted into folders by date of last access or so

2. duplicates are not recognized

... annoying! 

Import from an SD card works fine, there is no general problem. Yet it would be nice to see some reaction from Adobe, e.g. putting the issue on the list of known bugs. 

Erik

[KunaBob]

This very serious issue was pointed out to Adobe months ago but it persists. A new LRC was just issued (12.1) with the same problem. Also, a new Apple iOS was released last week (16.2)--no change, still doesn't work. Curious how many thousands of LRC catalogs have been totally messed up because of this.

[John R Ellis]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography, please consider moving into Bugs.

There people here have reported that importing directly from an iPhone via USB cable into LR 12 / Mac OS 13 puts the photos into incorrectly named dated folders. I can't test this because I can't get a Mac OS 13 virtual machine to recognize the USB connection to the phone.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@John R Ellis  I've done a couple of sets of imports (iPhone 13, and iPhone 14) to 2022 MBP on 12.6.2 and to 2021 MBA 13.0.1. Connect via Lightroom via Lightning to USB-C cable.

Capture Date, Date Time Original, Date Time, Digitized and Date Time values all show values as expected. 

In all cases, the folders match the Capture Date and are placed in the correctly named folders.

I would need better step-by-step instructions for inducing the failure in order to acknowledge it as a bug.

[KunaBob]

Suggest you review case ADB-26779272-Y3J7 in which I invested over 2 hours with a support tech, over 2 days,  who, after remotely working on my M1 iMac running Ventura 13.1, confirmed the bug and said it had been referred as such. This case was closed on the basis that the next LRC upgrade would correct the obvious issue, which it did not.

[John R Ellis]

I finally managed to get importing via USB cable working with LR 12.1 on Mac OS 13.0 (running as a virtual machine on a 2019 Macbook Pro Intel).  I wasn't able to replicate the problem either.  

[KunaBob]

Rick--have you reviewed the case number that I provided yet? I need to use my 35,000+ image catalog--it's currently just a brick waiting for resolution. Thanks, Bob

[Joro11]

Please view some old photos on your iPhone and do the import again. You will find those old photos being at the very end when sorting the import screen on capture date. It means to me that the capture date is not what is says. It is more likely the last-viewed date.

[KunaBob]

Hi Joro11. Adobe already attempted to import the 2204 photos and 91 videos on my iPhone into my 35K image/video catalog. 99% of the images on my iPhone are already in the catalog, but Import did not recognize any of them so it imported all photos. Fortunately the Adobe tech created a new folder under the main folder where all the dupes are resident, so all the photos could be identified and removed when it was clear that LRC had no clue they were duplicates. Sure wish Adobe wold review all the work done on the Case # I showed above and get this fixed--I have been unable to Import anything from my iPhone for months now.

[John R Ellis]

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

@Rikk Flohr: Photography,  I tried importing via USB cable from another Iphone with many more photos, and I observe the Mac OS 13 problem with misdated folders in spades.  I imported 416 photos, and 379 were placed in misdated folders, including JPEGs and HEICs.  When I do the same import on Mac OS 12, the photos all imported into correctly dated folders.  The capture dates of the misfiled photos range from yesterday to 2010.

Tested on LR 12.1 / Mac OS 13.1 and 12.6.1 / Macbook Pro (Intel 15" 2019) / IOS 15.6.1 / Iphone 11 Pro.

Details of testing:

1. I imported using a USB cable with these options:

2. I used the Any Filter plugin's Sort command to export a CSV of the imported photos with these fields:

3. I used Excel to compare the EXIF capture date of each photo with the folder into which it was imported.  See the attached sheet.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Updating status - adding bug number

[birgero61998161]

Ich benutze Lightrom Classic 12.1 für Mac OS mit Ventura 13.1.

Seit dem Update von Version 11 auf 12 habe ich ein Problem beim Importieren von Fotos vom iPhone per USB-Kabnel. 

Ich habe eingestellt, dass die Bilder in Ordner mit dem Aufnahmedatum inportiert werden. Dies hat bisher immer bestens funktioniert. Aber nach dem Update erzeugt das Programm beim Importieren Ordner mit Datumsnamen, die teilweise überhaupt nichts mit dem Aufnahmedatum zu tun haben.

Wenn ich dagegen die Fotos zunächst in einen gemeinsamen Ordner importiere, sie zunächst wieder aus Lightroom entferne und dann aus diersem Ordner nochmal importiere, stimmen die Ordnernamen.

Dieses Prozedere ist ja nun wirklich umständlich und ich frage mich, wie ich dies vermeiden kann.

Ich habe im englisch-sprchigen Forum gelesen, dass dies ein bekanntes Problem beim Importieren mit USB-Kabel sei. Frage ich mich nur, warum es vor dem Udate bei mir geklappt hat!?

[John R Ellis]

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Two workarounds I know of:

- Use the Mac Image Capture utility to transfer the photos from the phone to a temporary folder on your computer. Then import into LR from the temporary folder.

- Install the LR Mobile app on your phone, in the app's Settings > Import > Auto Add From Camera Roll, set the options Photos and Videos.  In LR Classic's Settings > Lightroom Sync, set these options:

Then turn on Cloud Sync (the cloud icon in the upper-right corner).

[John R Ellis]

Google translation: "I am using Lightrom Classic 12.1 for Mac OS with Ventura 13.1. Since updating from version 11 to 12, I have problem importing photos from iPhone via USB cable. 

I have set the images to be imported into folders based on the date they were taken. This has always worked well so far. But after the update, the program creates folders with date names when importing, some of which have nothing to do with the recording date at all. If, on the other hand, I first import the photos into a shared folder, first remove them from Lightroom and then import them again from this folder, the folder names are correct. This procedure is really cumbersome and I'm wondering how I can avoid this. I read in the English-speaking forum that this is a known problem when importing with a USB cable. I'm just wondering why it worked for me before the update!?"

Mac OS 13 introduced this specific problem with importing from Iphones via USB cables:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-import-seems-to-misinterpret-exif-date-time/... 

See this post for workarounds:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-import-seems-to-misinterpret-exif-date-time/...

[John R Ellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with the existing bug:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-import-seems-to-misinterpret-exif-date-time/...

[ninskij15348687]

I have the same issue. Frustrating. Apple says it's Adobe's issue, and vice versa. Multiple calls to them later, still stuck.

[ninskij15348687]

Have similar issues using two differen iphones via usb to my mabook- all with updated OSs.

Everything jumbled and hard to discern what goes where. Also some instances of file misnaming of dates,

with no clear logic behind why they are renamed.