P: Samsung Expert Raw DNG output shows green/over exposed photo in Lightroom

[Joseph38360771om2u]

It looks like something with Lightroom is incorrectly processing Samsung s23 ultra expert raw photos. They now immediately turn green when opened in Lightroom. This was not the case before. The bottom are photos that were done before and the top are what happens to them now.

 

[flyingdogfish]

I have the excactly same problem.

[flyingdogfish]

On Lightroom classic the problem seems to only occur when using lossy compressed DNG format. See https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/lossy-compressed-dng-files-from-samsung-galaxy... .

You can set the type of DNG format in settings of Samsung Camera Raw app.

[flyingdogfish]

DNG files from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra get a very strong green tint after import. At first they look normal, but after a few seconds they turn green. This bug was not present in the previous version and previously imported images are not affected. After some poking around I discover the problem appears when using lossy compressed DNG.

[moved from bugs to discussions according to the community rules - Mod.]

[johnrellis]

Please upload one of the problem DNGs to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and include the sharing links here. Without a sample file, Adobe is unlikely to pay attention.

[flyingdogfish]

Update: I tried importing some older images and there was no problem.

I was wrong, the problematic DNGs are the lossless ones, not lossy, for some reason lighroom identifies new lossless DNG as lossy.

The problem seems to actually come from Samsung and its software update from June 24th. Anyway, as a workaround I disabled lossless DNG on my phone for now.

[Sameer K]

Hey, @Joseph38360771om2u & @flyingdogfish. Welcome to the Lightroom Community. I'll help you figure this out.

There were reports of Color Banding issues with ExpertRaw images that were shot using an older version of the app back in 2023. An update was released for the Expert Raw app by Samsung (v3.0.06.28) around 28th June.

Please check and confirm If you've started experiencing this since the update from Samsung. If yes, please report this behavior via Samsung's support channels.

If you've taken these images before above-mentioned date, please share a few sample images as suggested by @johnrellis & we'll look into it.

Thanks!
Sameer K

(Use '@mention' to tag me when you reply)

[Eugen38751249qo17]

@Sameer K 

@Joseph38360771om2u 

@flyingdogfish 

@johnrellis 

I have the same problem with my Samsung S23, with photos taken AFTER 28th of June update to the Expert Raw App, the photos were also taken in LOSSLESS RAW and when I opened them on Lightroom Mobile they were regular for one second then turned green. Then I tried it on Lightroom Classic on PC, still the same problem.

 

 in the mobile screenshot, photos below the city long exposures(which are the pictures I noticed the problem with), are also RAWs, but they were taken with the pro mode in the regular camera app. Please help

[johnrellis]

@Eugen38751249qo17, @flyingdogfish, @Joseph38360771om2u, to date no one has shared a problem DNG. Unless Adobe has access to a sample DNG, they're unlikely to devote much attention to the issue. Upload it to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and include the sharing link here.

[Joseph38360771om2u]

I sent them to support through email contact and it got escalated, never to
be heard from again.

[johnrellis]

"I sent them to support through email contact and it got escalated, never to be heard from again."

Adobe support is hit or miss on all but the most basic of issues (more miss than hit). Submitting a bug report in this forum that contains easy-to-reproduce steps with sample files is much more effective.

[Eugen38751249qo17]

@Joseph38360771om2u @johnrellis @Sameer K @flyingdogfish 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15x-h2MZCrm__b1mtjHMIGzLKqd1wsh4k

this is a google drive link to 4 problematic DNGs

[johnrellis]

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

@Eugen38751249qo17, I dug into the first of your problem DNGs, 20240720_210626.dng, and the evidence strongly indicates this is a problem with the DNG itself, not LR's rendering (see below).  There have been many reports over the past year or two of problems with DNGs produced by Samsung's Expert Raw app:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?sort_by=-topicPostDate&advanced=false&a... 

This post in the Camera Raw forum suggests that uninstalling Expert Raw and reinstalling the latest version fixes these symptoms (but only for photos taken after reinstallation):

https://community.adobe.com/t5/camera-raw-discussions/samsung-dng-looks-fine-through-windows-photos-... 

That aligns with Adobe employee @Sameer K's advice that the most recent version of Expert Raw fixes some previously reported issues with DNGs.  

Unfortunately, the Samsung app isn't recording a human-intelligible version number in its DNGs (as reported by Exiftool), so I can't tell from your sample DNGs which version produced them.

Examining the DNGs

Here's the JPEG preview embedded in the DNG by the camera app (which LR initially shows after import) and LR's much-different rendering:

 

The Rawdigger app lets you examine the raw data in each of the red, green, and blue channels. It shows that the sky and highways have blown-out highlights in each of the RGB channels:

The Rawdigger data aligns with LR's rendering, indicating there's a problem with how the Expert Raw app is recording DNGs.

Exiftool shows that the DNG uses JPEG XL compression, and LR says "Lossy Compression: Yes" in the Metadata > DNG panel.

[Eugen38751249qo17]

@johnrellis @Joseph38360771om2u @flyingdogfish so I cannot recover these DNGs? are they ruined?

[johnrellis]

@Eugen38751249qo17: "so I cannot recover these DNGs? are they ruined?"

It does appear that the raw data is invalid -- both Rawdigger and LR show the DNGs highlights as completely lost, and no one on these forums have posted anything to the contrary.  You can extract the full-sized 4000 x 3000 JPEGs embedded by the camera using the Exiftool command line:

exiftool -b -previewimage file.dng > file.jpg

[Eugen38751249qo17]

@johnrellis @Joseph38360771om2u @flyingdogfish  Now I am REALLY glad I checked the setting save both RAW and JPEG

[flyingdogfish · Accepted solution]

@johnrellis 

I can confirm reinstalling expert RAW fixes the problem in newly created images. Thanks!

[guilhermer56884397]

I had the same issue. The solution is: uninstall expert raw on galaxy store then reinstall it. The problem will disappear.

[Covah31852031n2uw]

I noticed I had the same issue on all my raw photos I've been taking this summer with my S21 Ultra. I wanted to check them on my computer where they turn all green when/overexposed when I open them in Photoshop and I did not save .jpg as a backup. I also photographed multiple objects for photogrammetry during a trip where I was counting on being able to use the extra information in the raw data to produce a clean mesh.

I mean if the photos truly are lost this sounds like a major fu**up by Samsung? There must be a lot of people affected, maybe some just don't know it yet? And in that case thank you for ruining several hundred photos Samsung...

Is there no other way of recovering the files at all? I tried running them through the DNG converter application but the resulting file had the same issue.

[johnrellis]

@Covah31852031n2uw: "Is there no other way of recovering the files at all?"

See my post above:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/samsung-expert-raw-green-...

[Jiwa38982426rf4n]

Hello everyone! 

I have a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the latest lightroom Version. 

On my last trip, I took some raw photos. Once I import them to lightroom mobile they get overexposed and with a green tint. Its not a matter of preset or editing. This happens once the photo is loaded in lightroom.

I never expirienced anything like this before. The photos get unusable, you cant edit them back on their original colors etc. 

Seems like its some kind of file reading error? I dont know how to fix. I tried re install, nothing changed.

All the photos of that trip get this treatment.

I tried to import some old photos, and they are read as they're supposed to. But not any newer that I capture.

Here is a screenshot. 

[Eugen38751249qo17]

read everything above and you will find your answer:)

[Arvid Terzibaschian]

Just for the sake of completion: I am able to recover those files with faststone image viewer. It loads them and shows them "in a good looking way", I can also adust brightness curves and then export to jpg etcetc.

[Arvid Terzibaschian]

here is one example, it worked flawless a few months ago, only difference in exif in file header is samsung version (cannot attach file, so uploaded here

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qWFtMNJlIuYo8IWi8hTMEHAEBjqDVXwo?usp=sharing)

[johnrellis]

@Arvid Terzibaschian: "I am able to recover those files with faststone image viewer. It loads them and shows them "in a good looking way", "

Faststone is displaying the embedded JPEG preview, which is not corrupted. Another way of accessing the embedded JPEG preview is by using Exiftool, as described above:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/lightroom-mobile-samsung-...