Pictures from two different cameras wrongly matched as DNG+JPEG in Lightroom Catalog

[madbrain76]

In the process of trying to figure out some catalog issues with wrong file counts, I discovered that Lightroom Classic matched two files, JPEG and DNG, that differed only by their extension, but are actually two completely different pictures. The result is that only the DNG image is shown in the Lightroom catalog, and the JPEG image is completely missing.

I'm not certain how the two images came to have the same nume but different extension. It wasn't from the camera. It may have occurred during renaming in Lightroom, or in Aftershot Pro, which I was using previously. Whatever the reason, it is very problematic.

Even when creating a fresh new catalog, and importing the files in place without renaming, Lightroom Classic makes no attempt to find out if the images are the same subject, and simply matches them as DNG+JPEG automatically.

This should be pretty simple to fix by comparing the Metadata in both files during import, such as camera, lens, and shooting time. In the case I discovered, the images are actually from two different cameras.

This is just one case I tracked by hand in a catalog of about 48,000 pictures. Is there a way in Lightroom to unmatch those images ? Or have Lightroom rename them, so they differ by more than extension, and doesn't match them ?

I am sure it's possible to write a script with Exiftool to deal with this just based on Metadata, but I feel like I shouldn't have to write this. Lightroom should be smart enough not to match pictures from two different cameras as one DNG+JPEG.

[@MNiessenPhoto]

Hi,

You can follow the simple steps explained in this thread:

Solved: Re: LC has combined matching .mov file name and .j... - Adobe Support Community - 11940254

Slightly different issue, but same fix to unmatch DNG and JPEGs.

Hope that helps,

Michael

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Michael Niessen - Photographer, photo-editor, educator

[madbrain76]

Thanks ! That worked.

It's a good solution, though not quite what I was looking for.

I do want do group the DNG + JPEG, but only if they are the same photo, and I feel Lightroom should be smart enough to check the Metadata to ensure that's the case.

[@MNiessenPhoto]

Good to know it worked!

Maybe others who deal with that issue will offer further advice on how to do it. Possibly, using renaming when importing pictures from a specific camera/source (you can have presets) might help.

Personnally, I only shoot RAW with my camera, and files from my smartphone have a completely different naming convention, so I've never had any similar problem.

Indeed, Lightroom should look beyond the filename to group pictures.

Michael

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Michael Niessen - Photographer, photo-editor, educator

[madbrain76]

I do have renaming presets for new photos that I import , but for old photos I was using the old names that After shot had assigned in the past. And since it  didn't  group DNG + JPEG, After shot assigned the same prefix to two different files with different extensions. When I migrated  to Lightroom, that created havoc, but I just found out about it now.

I do shoot  RAW only nowadays in my DSLR (K1 II) and MILC (GX85). On my Note 20 Ultra I shoot JPEG since the 108MP pictures aren't available in RAW.

Looks like I am going to have to write that script to deduplicate the unrelated JPEG and DNG.