P: (Mac) Direct Camera Connect fails to show previews in Import Dialog

[touheyphoto]

My system has worked perfectly for many years, but I’m encountering strange issues on import in Lr Classic that have recently plagued me. 

When importing via a plugged in thunderbolt cable into my R5s:

- image previews no longer load into the thumbnails, or will load dramatically slower and one at a time. (Whereas they used to snap into each empty thumbnail cells immediately)

- sometimes it will show no photos to import (which was frightening the first few times to see). I’ll cancel and reopen the import prompt which usually works after the second or third try.

- sometimes import window will show photos from other shoot days but not my most recent images. I’ll cancel the import prompt and reopen. Often it’ll all load in after a few tries.

- If I get through these issues, the most difficult part is actually importing. Import can take 5 minutes before starting, if I’m lucky. (It used to start within 10 seconds.) Two out of three times the import completely fails to start. 

Other details: 

- This seems to happen with all three of my Canon R5s

- I’m encountering this issue on my Mac Studio running Ventura 13.3.1

- My Lr Classic (v. 12.3) catalogues and previews are stored on my internal HD

- My photos are stored on a 70TB OWC Thunderbay. (I switched from Drobo 8D fairly recently)

- The same R5 and imported photos load like normal on my MBP when imported. 

- This is happening with multiple LrC catalogues

- This issue started happening for a few weeks, prior to updating to the latest Lr Classic

Since this issue is happening with multiple catalogs and cameras, I was thinking it was either with my Mac Studio that stores the catalogues, or my OWC Thunderbay external since it stores the photos. However since this issue seems to happen before I technically need to select the destination drive, now I’m thinking the issue is my computer where Lr is running. 

Could this be a RAM problem? Has anyone encountered this issue before? 

Any ideas based are greatly appreciated since importing after a shoot has gone from taking 10 minutes of my times to 2 hrs. Hopefully this can help others too.

[johnrellis]

The screenshot indicates you're importing directly from the D850 via a USB cable. Adobe has acknowledged a bug with importing via cables on Mac. See here for known workarounds:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-mac-direct-camera-connect-fails-to-show-prev...

[johnrellis]

"On the left, under Source, if you select Files instead of Device, what happens?"

The camera will only show up under Files if the USB connection has been configured in the camera for mass-storage mode (variously called mass-storage connection or MSC), which gives the OS access to the card in the camera as if it were an external disk (like a USB thumb drive).  The manual indicates that the D850 doesn't support mass-storage mode:

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/359/D850.html

[johnrellis]

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

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-mac-direct-camera-connect-fails-to-show-prev...

[dw24154351]

Hi Richard I gather you were using LrC on Windows before? What version of LrC? 

There has been one report on Windows but the rest of us all seem to be on Mac. (Especially that some bug reports have been merged).

[RAW Photography66]

Hi Guys

When I import images into LR my thumbnails are all grey with no visible image, please see attached screen shot.

I am on a MAC M1 Max, Ventura 13.5

[AxelMatt]

Does only new imported images are showed with grey thumbnails? 

Or does that apply to all images?

Check your monitor profile first: How do I change my monitor profile to check whether it’s corrupted? | The Lightroom Queen

you can also rtry to recreate the previews: How to Rebuild Lightroom Previews to Optimize Speed, Space, and Integrity | PetaPixel

[johnrellis]

Did you not see my reply to your identical previous post?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-mac-direct-camera-connect-fails-to-show-prev... 

It's a known bug, and my reply points you to workarounds.

[dw24154351]

This is in the import workflow. The grid that appears before you download from the camera is failing to render in a sensible time frame. If you double click any image in the grid you will actually see a full screen preview (suggesting camera communication is still functioning) and watching Activity Monitor you see high CPU activity suggesting that a thread is doing something signifincant during this period. On camera powering off, I've seen the grid render but then the camera is now off. However, if you blindly import the images, they are there and the standard Library and Develop grids are functioning as expected.

This bug only relates to the grid shown as part of the import preview. Previously uploaded images do not show either, so it doesn't seem related to caching of previews.

My guess is that they've done something which pushes processing of the thumbnail rendering down a different, now delayed path. They probably have missed signalling the main thread that the user interface needs to be updated for the grid.

It would be nice to know that this bug is officially slated for fix in the next release. I'd call this a fairly significant bug. Hard to see how this missed testing.

[johnrellis]

"This is in the import workflow."

Right, I think that's understood throughout this thread.

[RAW Photography66]

Hi Guys, appologies but I do not know why I didnt see all your replies until today, for some reason I wasnt getting an email informing me of a reply and even though I checked regulararily I didnt see anything...

Anyhow, I must thank each and everyone of you for your assistance but a big thank you to Axel Matt who,s link to the Lightroom Queen nailed it, it was my external monitor colour profile. I changed it and its all visible now.

I recently changed from windows to Mac, everyone says its better, still getting used to it.

Until the next problem.

Thank you all so much.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Greetings all,

Updates for the Adobe Photography Products have been released.  The August 2023 updates contain a fix for this issue. 

If you do not see the update in your Creative Cloud Application, you can refresh it by hitting [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ].

Note: It may take up to 24 hours for your update to be available in your Creative Cloud app.

Thank you for your patience.

[dw24154351]

Thanks for the heads up, @Rikk Flohr: Photography - the refresh hint was needed and is now showing 12.5 being available for me on Mac. Will be able to report back shortly.

[dw24154351]

I can confirm that the LrC 12.5 update fixes the Import preview bug on Mac (Monterey).

Also fixes the Photoshelter upload plugin bug that appeared along with LrC 12.4.

Double "Yay!"

[jcchuang]

Confirming that Lightroom Classic 12.5 fixes the import preview bug on my machine running macOS 13.4 (Ventura).

[markusa95411370]

Confirming that Lightroom Classic 12.5 fixes the import preview bug on my machine running macOS 13.4

[dw24154351]

Following the Help menu link, What's new is still showing June 26, 2023 12.4 details at the top. Nothing for 12.5 yet.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/whats-new.html

[Milton mclain]

This is not just a cable connect problem. I insert my SD card directly into my imac. Previews are not created on import.

Only workaround I have found is to go to develop module and click on individual grey boxes to find images which then show up. Very frustrating.

[johnrellis]

"I insert my SD card directly into my imac. Previews are not created on import. Only workaround I have found is to go to develop module and click on individual grey boxes to find images which then show up. Very frustrating."

I think you're experiencing a different problem than described in this thread. I recommend you start a new thread in Discussions with more detail about what you're seeing, and include full-resolution screenshots (not phone pics) of the entire Import window and then Library after the import completes.  Also do the LR menu command Help > System Info and copy/paste the entire contents here so we can see exactly which versions of hardware and software LR thinks you're running and important LR options that are set.

[Matthias24031869la1o]

I had the same problem with LRC 12.5 and MacOS 13.5.1: No previews on import from SD card or camera.    

Try this: Check if your system settings allow LRC to access removable volumes (e.g. SD card or camera) too.

[touheyphoto]

Just a note that I'm updated to 12.5 and still encountering this issue with all of my Canon R5s. My only workaround is still using the card reader, adding extra steps. 

[touheyphoto]

Just want to follow up. It's been over 4 months since my original post and I'm still encountering this issue. 

I've had to resort to a workaround that, well, works, but has greatly affected my producitivty. 

I'm running LR Classic 12.5 and was hoping the issue would be address, as some users made it seem it had. For me, LrC is still not loading preview thumbs (before imrport) at the normal speed, if at all. The import I'm testing right now has 12 images I'm importing at the recent end of a card with 1000 images. The first chunk of previews loaded, then eventually all after quiting out re entering the import window and waiting 5 minutes. Eventually they loaded and now that the import is started, it's hanging as I write this. I've been waiting 12 minutes for something that takes my CF card reader 8 seconds. 

That's been my workaround: using a CF card reader connected via thunderbolt cable. It takes longer, I have to actually handle the cards now and not confuse them between my 3 identical camera bodies. And then I have to pop the batteries out too since I'm not getting the charging capability that importing via thnderbolt to camera gives you.

What's the status with others here? 

[jcchuang]

@touheyphoto You likely have a different issue than what this thread describes. This particular bug was fixed in 12.5. If you had this bug, the method of downloading didn't matter. (There would have been no preview regardless you're connected by a cable or via a card reader.) The speed didn't matter. (There would have been no preview. Ever.) If you're slowly seeing previews, then it's likely a different issue. Hope you can get it sorted out soon.