New Camera Raw File Issues - Help Please

[jenniferw52221136]

I just upgraded to the Sony A99ii camera.  I've been using the A77 and A100.  For some reason I'm unable to even preview the RAW files on my computer for this new camera and my Lightroom 5.4 is to old of a version to open it.  I tried to update it, because according to the Adobe Camera Support chat, version 2015.8  / 6.8 version has it.  I tried to upgrade my version to that but an error popped up saying there's an error with application manager.

Is there anyway to update my LR 5.4 version?  And are there any files that will let me preview my photos?  My currrent photos program lets me open files from file explorer and scroll through them.

[Per Berntsen]

jenniferw52221136  wrote

The top photo, on the DNG converter I selected preference camera raw 5.4 or better.  On the bottom image I converted to DNG selecting camera raw 7.1 or larger. 

There is no reason to set compatibility to anything else than 7.1 unless you have a very old version of Lightroom (which you don't).

On this photo I'm zoomed in 4:1

At this magnification you will see pixelation and noise in any image, so doing this is pointless.

To evaluate image quality, use 1:1, which is the only view that gives you a true representation of the image – one image pixel is represented by one screen pixel.

Whenever I want to check an image for sharpness, noise, possible problems like moiré and chromatic aberrations, and general image quality, I examine every part of the image at 1:1, and that tells me everything I need to know.

Like others have said, converting to DNG doesn't change the image portion of the raw file.

I have routinely converted all my work to DNG for 10 years, and have never had any problems - the DNGs are identical to the original raw files in every way.

I don't know how long it's going to take to get the replacement back so I'm losing days on my free trial.  Is there anyway to pause it or cancel it and restart when I get it back?

Once you have started a trial, there is no way to stop it.

You should be aware that development of Lightroom 6 has stopped – 6.14 is the final version, and there will be no more updates.

I recommend subscribing to the Photography plan, which will give you Lightroom Classic and Photoshop for $10 a month.

Lightroom Classic is the successor to Lightroom 6, and is updated regularly with new features and support for new cameras.

Also, I've noticed in File Explorer I can't see the previews of the DNG files.  I had to download something from sony so I could see the raw files preview  Is there a program for the DNG files so you can see them in explorer and open from explorer?

I never use Explorer to view raw files, so I cannot answer that. (there might be a codec you have to download)

But you cannot open a raw file in Lightroom by double-clicking it – you have to import it first.

So I suggest that you import all your photos in Lightroom, rather than trying to view them in other applications.

[jenniferw52221136]

Thanks for all the help.

I always view my raw files before I import into Lightroom.  I don't want to upload 50 photos of an Eagle session, I got through each photo, pick the sharpest one, and then I import to LR.  With the way my A77 was, I could scroll through the files, zoom in and the image would sharpen showing me what a jpeg would look like to check sharpness.  It appear that doesn't happen with the newer raw files when you zoom in.  It's blurry and hard to tell which ones are sharp.  That's something crucial I think needs fixed but that's not an adobe matter.  I only have a few pics from the new camera to play with in LR6.  I may go take a couple more before I send back so I can experiment until new camera gets here.

Still looking to see if there's a way to view DNG on Explorer.  I found online where they have downloads to solve that on Windows XP and 7, but I have Windows 8.

[JP Hess]

Do a web search for a DNG codec. It's just a little "driver" you need to install that will enable your OS to recognize DNG files.

[elie_dinur]

       jenniferw52221136     Jun 10, 2018 6:27 AM  (in response to Per Berntsen)   

I always view my raw files before I import into Lightroom.  I don't want to upload 50 photos of an Eagle session, I got through each photo, pick the sharpest one, and then I import to LR.

I agree with you and it is the way I always work. It is a workflow I adopted back in the days of LR 2, ten years ago, because I wanted to review, judge, rank and cull my Raw photos while they were still on the memory card, before transferring them to the PC, and the thumbnails in LR's Import dialog were absolutely horrible at that time. (The Import page was improved a couple years later in LR 3.) Nowadays culling is even more important to me because I always shoot triplets - three shots at a time - and I select the keeper on the basis of a combination of ETTR exposure and sharpness. The app I use for this is one of my favorite bits of software and I would highly recommend it. It fits smoothly into a LR > PS workflow as the first step, it is cheap, and it offers several features that you won't find almost anywhere else; key among them a Raw histogram for seeing the real exposure, and focus peaking of edges, detail or both for easily and accurately judging pre-processing sharpness at 1:1. It is called FastRawViewer:

https://www.fastrawviewer.com/?utm_source=program&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=FRV

[Abambo]

It is quite ineffective checking the files on the memory card. I import all the files and make a walk through to the files: I flag those that are good (P like pick)! I mark those that need to get deleted (x like eXclude)! Then I delete those exluded and develop those picked.

The reason for this being more effective is access speed is better with the harddisk then the memory card connected to the computer via USB(3).

[jenniferw52221136]

Anambo,

If I'm working with say a family portrait session or wedding, I upload all into LR then go through them.  But I do more Fine Art & travel a lot.  I'm not going to upload 5000+ pics from a trip when I'll probably only pick say 200 that I want to edit & put on my website (only upload approx 2 images a day). Instead, I quickly go through & pick the best & move those to a specific file in my explorer. Then when I'm ready to work on a photo (which I pick & choose) or group of photos I import those.

[Abambo]

I’m doing that in-camera during the image check.

If your workflow works for you then that is OK for me.

[Abambo]

You do not preview your raw files but the embedded JPEG, which is not the same. I do not doubt that you are happy with your workflow, but I find it highly impractical.

[ssprengel]

It depends on what you're looking for when rejecting photos and what the reject rate is.

If you're doing action shots or other moving subjects, e.g. pictures of birds in flight or children's sports outdoors at night without super-expensive glass and camera bodies, many photos can be blurred or out-of-focus and using a preview is fine for that.

[Just Shoot Me]

As stated by others converting to DNG should not change the image data at all.

Are you using the 10.3 converter found here?

Adobe - Adobe Camera Raw and DNG Converter : For Windows : Adobe DNG Converter 10.3

Adobe - Adobe Camera Raw and DNG Converter : For Macintosh : Adobe DNG Converter 10.3

[jenniferw52221136]

Got my replacement camera back and, back to experimenting with it.

I'm looking for the DNG Codec download so I can see the file previews in explorer.  I found a discussion topic for it, but when I clicked the link, it went to the standard download file for PS, LR, ect. I didn't see the codec file.  I use Windows 8.  Is that download still available?

[Abambo]

No guaranty that this works, but you could look here: Re: DNG CODEC for Windows 7?