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.

[aaronc54959445]

Something strange is happened with Lightroom Classic all of a sudden. I can't see thumbail previews of photos in import mode. I haven't changed any settings it just happened.

I've tried updating, restarting, deleting previews file, unchecking 'don't import duplicates', creating a new catalogue but nothing works...any folder I choose in the navigator in 'import mode' no thumbnail previews are created so I can't import photos.

This is only happening in 'import mode' I can see thumbnail previews in 'library mode'

Any ideas what could be the issues?

[Sameer K]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for reaching out. I'd love to help you figure this out.

Could you please share the specific version of Lightroom Classic from Help > About Lightroom Classic and the specific version of macOS? Has this started to happen recently since an update of the macOS or Lightroom Classic?

Where are you importing from, a location on the internal storage, or from an external drive? Does this happen with a specific file format, JPEG or RAW?

If you are importing from an external source, you can try to change the connecting USB port or change the cable (if any).

You can also ensure Lightroom Classic has correct and complete permissions on the macOS by following the steps I have shared in this article: :magnifying_glass_tilted_right: Quick Tips: How to give Full Disk Access to Lightroom Classic on mac...

Afterward,

• Search for Disk Utility from Finder's spotlight search or magnifying glass.
• Run 'First Aid' diagnostic on the external drive. Check this to learn more: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210898
• Restart the computer.

Let us know if this helps,

Thanks!

Sameer K

[aaronc54959445]

Hi.

Lightroom Classic version 11.3.1. Mac - Big Sur 11.6.5

I've allowed permissions as detailed and restarted computer.

Still the same issue cannot import photos from Mac internal HD...e.g. desktop folders with photos in (no file formats recognised)...no matter which folder I choose on my HD there are no thumbnail previews in 'Import mode'

The issue started in the last week...was working fine last week.

[Sameer K]

Thanks for sharing the details.

Have you tried updating the macOS to macOS version 12(Monterey) or later?

Follow the steps mentioned in this article to reset Lightroom Classic's preferences (prefer using method 2): https://helpx.adobe.com/in/lightroom-classic/help/setting-preferences-lightroom.html

Let us know if this works,

Thanks!

Sameer K

[p.t.]

Similar issue (no thumbnails on imports preview window).  Except I'm on Windows 10.  This is LRC v12.0.1.  Once imported, the images are fine and I can see thumbnails, so its doesn't break my workflow, but just generally reduces my confidence in Lightroom.

Note the video images without thumbnails are a different issue (video codecs on Windows don't support Pixel video format).  The bug here is the lack of previews on all the imags below the videos).

Sometimes I can have luck "loading" the previews if I move my mouse over the missing preview.  So it seems like Lightroom has "fetched" the preview image, and just forgot to put it on the screen.  (That hack-around didn't work this time.) 

[juhanio37042457]

Howdy!

Since Adobe does not have actual customer support, i have come to you in this great time of need.

For some reason, I can no longer see the preview images of my photos anymore when I'm importing them from my camera, but instead I can only see blank images. This makes importing photos from a long session incredibly difficult and  frustrating, because I have to import all images, and then one by one go through them in the editing view. 

Here are the detes:

I connect my camera to my computer via USB, and open lightroom -> klick Add photos, and select my cameras SD card. In this view i have previously been able to preview the images, and select the ones that i actually want to import without any hassle, but now instead i see files as blank as my soul.

If anybody has similar issues, or knows how to fix it, I'd be more than happy to hear about a possible solution to this previously nonexisting problem.

Thanks in advance!

[Sameer K]

Hey, @juhanio37042457. Welcome to the Lightroom Community. I'll help you figure this out.

What version of Lightroom & the operating system are you working on? Do the image import as expected even when you don't see the previews?

Try these variations & share the results:

• Try changing the SD card reader or how you connect the SD card to the computer's USB port.
• Are these JPEG, RAW, or JPEG+RAW images? Try copying the images to the internal drive via the file explorer & check if the previews appear at import.
• Try restarting the computer with the SD card plugged in.

Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
Sameer K

[GoldingD]

Might have missed this, but..

1. Try outside of LrC to copy the images from the Canon 5R to your desired destination using your via camera to computer via cable method.
2. If that behaves, then try importing into LrC via Add.

1. If the above fails, try taking the CFexpress or SD card out of the camera, place it into a card reader, then try to copy to the desired destination.
2. Then import via Add.

Wondering if you have a problem with any of:

• Your cables
• The Thunderbolt port
• LrC

[spudnut]

v12.4

Mac Ventura 13.4

Previews are no longer showing since updating to version 12.4 All I see is a gray box where the preview should be seen. This always worked fine until the update, and my importing methods have not changed. What could be causing this issue? Thanks.

[iancundell]

I'm seeing this too. Or rather not seeing it. .cr2 files.

[Ian Lyons]

Make sure that LrC has been granted 'Full Disk Access' as described in below linked tutorial

Note that I've also attached a screenshot for 'Ventura Privacy & Security' 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/quick-tips-how-to-give-full-disk-access...

[spudnut]

Ian, thanks for your response. I had already done that and it did not result in any change to the issue.

[iancundell]

Yeah, it's nothing to do with that - nothing in my setup has changed since 12.3 and Full Disk Access has been enable since I set tthis machine up under 12.1.

[johnrellis]

See if this article helps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/lightroom-gives-error-preview-cache.html

[spudnut]

John, unfortunately removing the preview file made no difference. Thanks for your post.

[Per Berntsen]

Exactly where are you not seeing previews?

Is it in the import dialog, Library or Develop?

[DdeGannes]

What Lightroom Classic module are you working in when you're not seeing the image displayed?
When you're working in the Develop Module the Preview files are not displayed.

[spudnut]

I am following the same procedure importing from my camera as I have been doing for several years of using Lightroom. Library tab, import button. The previews have always loaded as the images are imported from the card in the camera. Since the update they don’t show the preview; the gray boxes appear rapidly as they are not showing any visuals. When I copy the preview files to a hard drive, the images appear as normal when copied over. Hope that is helpful to understand the issue.

[johnrellis]

Are you referring to the Import window or in Library Grid view after the import completes?

[spudnut]

I’m referring to the previews that are no longer displaying when the camera is connected, turned on, and I click the import button. The grid of images appears in the Library tab. The images have not yet been copied from the camera card to the computer.

[Per Berntsen]

This happens to me occasionally, and is usually fixed by mousing over the thumbnails, or clicking one of them.

If that doesn't help, try to copy the images from the camera card to a folder on your hard drive with the Finder.

Then import using the Add option in the import dialog.

[spudnut]

Thank you for trying to help me find a solution. Mousing over the previews doesn’t help. I am getting a card reader tomorrow to see if that solves this. Someone else said that worked for them. Thanks again.

[johnrellis]

"The images have not yet been copied from the camera card to the computer."

So deleting the previews won't address that issue -- that only affects Library Grid view (after the images have been imported).

"When I copy the preview files to a hard drive, the images appear as normal when copied over. ... I am getting a card reader tomorrow"

Good. There has been a steady, low volume of complaints over the last many years about importing via USB cable, and it doesn't seem like it gets much attention from Adobe, Apple, or Microsoft. There are also longstanding capture-date bugs when importing via cable.  And importing via a card reader is usually significantly faster than cable.

[charlieh6415140]

Mac OS 12.6.6

Nikon Z8 - shots in lossless compressed RAW

When importing to LR classic via a USB cable the thumbnails in the import window are blank. If I click on the blank a larger window showing the picture shows as it should. This is a nuisance - the blank boxes do not allow quick un-checking of any unwanted shots.

[johnrellis]

There have been some other recent reports about grey thumbnails in the Import window when importing via a USB cable. In general, importing via cable hasn't gotten much love from Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft in the past many years and there has been a steady stream of reports about problems that haven't been addressed.

As a workaround, use Finder to copy some of the files from the camera to your Desktop.  If the problem doesn't occur when importing from the Desktop, consider using a card reader instead.