LR Classic damaging Nikon D700 NEF files on import (including camera/disk, copy/move/add)

[theSmurflessOne]

MacOS Catalina.current, MacBook Pro 2019,  LR Classic 10.1.1 release, Camera Raw 13.1 - no Adobe updates listed available

Importing NEF photos taken by my Nikon D700 causes them to be corrupted at varying locations in the file. Images straight from camera or imported via Apple Image Capture are undamaged.

Experiments:

• Import directly from camera to LRC, files damaged (initial discovery)
• Copy to disk using Image Capture, then import via copy to LRC, files damaged, LRC import hangs but can be cancelled.
• Copy to disk using Image Compare, then import via move to LRC, files damaged, LRC does not hang.
• Copy to disk using Image Capture, then import via Copy as DNG, LRC converts without the damaged areas, but claims the original is unsupported or damaged and will only show the embedded preview.

Comparing "damaged" vs. "not damaged" is done in macOS Finder by using the quick preview feature, binary diffs show differences as well. Example screenshot of damaged photo:

The damaged area is not deterministic - repeated imports will change where it is damaged and whether it gets "more green", "funky pattern over green", slid horizontally with more of previous damage patterns, etc. 

[dj_paige]

This is an error caused by malfunctioning hardware, which is known to be able to corrupt images. Lightroom CLassic never writes to the image portion of your photo.

Comparing to views from other software is irrelevant because the other software will show you the JPG preview embedded in the file, which is often fine when the RAW itself is corrupted.

[theSmurflessOne]

as in... graphics chip?

[theSmurflessOne · Accepted solution]

It seems something else is at play here after more experiments - I discovered that seems more related to the NAS intentnionally corrupting the images, which just happens to be where I store everything that LRC imports. I'll resume troubleshooting with them (and order an external USB drive).

[dj_paige]

The problem can be any piece of hardware that touches the photo. You have to try to troubleshoot this by using different hardware, and if possible, use an entirely different computer.