Help - Lightroom 4.4 not recognising new RAW files??

[anonymous-user]

Hi all,

Despite using Lightroom 4 on a weekly basis for over 2 years now, I know very little about versions, updates, RAW compatibility etc... I just use it!

Problem is, it won't recognise RAW files from my new camera (Sony RX100 M3).

Naturally I googled this, and found a load of confusing and unhelpful Lightroom Journal/Blog articles by Adobe telling me that the RX100 M3 was supported for RAW via CameraRaw 8.5/8.6 or something??

I checked which version I had of Lightroom and found I was using version 4.4 and CameraRaw 7.4. I then tried to update Lightroom manually, but was told that it it was up to date and that it was up to date and no further updates will be available, which appears to be what Lightroom are saying as well. No further updates to version 4.

So is that it? I will have to buy Lightroom 5 just so I can use the RAW files from my new camera?

I went onto Adobe's site and it looks like it's only £58 to upgrade from LR4 to LR5, but they want me to upgrade my OSX operating system to the latest one before it will work...

I use a 2010 Macbook Pro with 10.6.8 which runs perfect, yet they want me to update my laptop with the latest operating system that has upset many an older MacBook user....

Torture!

[Janesy B]

The bds got me when I moved up to the 70D, I had to go from 4 to 5 to get RAW support.

[LongQ]

NinjaPower said:

Hi all,

Despite using Lightroom 4 on a weekly for over 2 years now, I know very little about versions, updates, RAW compatibility etc... I just use it!

Problem is, it won't recognise RAW files from my new camera (Sony RX100 M3).

Naturally I googled this, and found a load of confusing and unhelpful Lightroom Journal/Blog articles by Adobe telling me that the RX100 M3 was supported for RAW via CameraRaw 8.5/8.6 or something??

I checked which version I had of Lightroom and found I was using version 4.4 and CameraRaw 7.4. I then tried to update Lightroom manually, but was told that it it was up to date and that it was up to date and no further updates will be available, which appears to be what Lightroom are saying as well. No further updates to version 4.

So is that it? I will have to buy Lightroom 5 just so I can use the RAW files from my new camera?

I went onto Adobe's site and it looks like it's only £58 to upgrade from LR4 to LR5, but they want me to upgrade my OSX operating system to the latest one before it will work...

I use a 2010 Macbook Pro with 10.6.8 which runs perfect, yet they want me to update my laptop with the latest operating system that has upset many an older MacBook user....

Yes that's how it goes as all the technology moves forward.

In some cases one may find that older camera models and functions have been deprecated as time passes. Older may not be that so very old either.

The latest version of my editor of choice required a lot more compute power than I had available and was 64bit only (I use windows so had a choice). So - software and hardware upgrade required if I wanted to process RAW images.

Much much faster, better quality and more satisfying though. Silver linings are not unknown.

Or you could use the software provided by the camera manufacturer - though of course for some reason it seems that few do. Strange that ...

Maybe the manufacturers don't care about what they ship as software?

[Simpo Two]

The wonders of digital processing. When I moved from Kodachrome to Fujifilm I didn't need any plugins at all!

I wonder if there could be a 'standard' for RAW files as there is for JPG?


NB I'm not convinced it is always 'technology moving forward', just camera makers being different to keep you buying stuff, and the modern desire to keep changing everything every two weeks.

[LongQ]

Simpo Two said:

The wonders of digital processing. When I moved from Kodachrome to Fujifilm I didn't need any plugins at all!

I wonder if there could be a 'standard' for RAW files as there is for JPG?


NB I'm not convinced it is always 'technology moving forward', just camera makers being different to keep you buying stuff, and the modern desire to keep changing everything every two weeks.

Ah, but did you need new chemical stocks and papers to get the best out of the new films?

There is a sort of RAW standard(s). Adobe DNG. The trouble is it is not just one standard That's what happens with standards. Perhaps especially those controlled by one player in the industry.

I think technology does move forward but then slows. The printer market is an example of that. What more can they deliver that means anything practical and useful to the mass market? No rush to go anywhere.

On the other hand people spend sometimes thousands of pounds on new hardware (not a dig at the OP here - I'm thinking seasoned long term pros, or so they claim) every time Nikon or Sony or whoever come up with a new release and then moan about having to wait, sometimes, whilst the RAW convertor developers catch up or make their first attempts better at producing good output. If that then happens to coincide with a new release they don't want to apply because their raggedy old computer system is currently "stable" or it falls just after a new version of the software of choice has been released and no backwards compatibility is expected or possible, they often leap onto forums and complain about having to pay a few quid for an upgrade. Thousands on cameras and lenses for which the manufacturer provides rubbish software (they say) yet people moan about a few tens of pounds (often, though not always with the old Adobe products where it might well be somewhat more) to get something that gives them the results they feel they want. It's like driving 30 miles to save 2p/ltr on a 50 ltr tank. Why do it?

Anyway, back to topic and the OP's question.

Yes you need to update.

Or you load the latest version of DPP, convert the RAW files to TIFF or JPG and then do your final editing in anything that recognises TIFF (well, most TIFFs anyway) or JPGs (but avoid some of the more esoteric JPG standards that may not be universally supported since time immemorial.

Obviously Adobe (for example) don't want you to have this problem which is why they would like you to take a perpetual support subscription payment model so that neither you nor they need be concerned about lump sum upgrade costs in the future. So long as you stick with them and are ok with what they decide to offer and when they decide to offer it.

Whether that is good or bad entirely depends on your point of view.

[Morbid]

I had the same issue when I upgraded to a Canon 70D, but with PS not LR. After a bit of 'Googling' I found the free Adobe DNG converter. This converts the RAW files to DNG files that could then be used in PS - it might work for you in LR too. It's free and simple to use - but it does take a little extra time to convert the files. I tend to set it converting the files while I go and do something else.

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp...

Might be worth a try if you want to delay updating LR?

[Simpo Two]

LongQ said:

Ah, but did you need new chemical stocks and papers to get the best out of the new films

No, all I needed was a few of those big envelopes with a picture of a happy family on the front

[anonymous-user]

Morbid said:

I had the same issue when I upgraded to a Canon 70D, but with PS not LR. After a bit of 'Googling' I found the free Adobe DNG converter. This converts the RAW files to DNG files that could then be used in PS - it might work for you in LR too. It's free and simple to use - but it does take a little extra time to convert the files. I tend to set it converting the files while I go and do something else.

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp...

Might be worth a try if you want to delay updating LR?

Thanks, I'll have a look at that

I was in no way complaining about the cost of having to upgrade lightroom, you will note I said it's 'only £58', it was just I was more irked at the forced upgrade because of new camera RAW data.

But... It's progress...

[LongQ]

Simpo Two said:

LongQ said:

Ah, but did you need new chemical stocks and papers to get the best out of the new films

No, all I needed was a few of those big envelopes with a picture of a happy family on the front

Ah, yes. I still have a collection of those although a few seem to have gone missing over the years as "Management" has "tidied up".

Should have had a few more but some went missing in the post.

[LongQ]

NinjaPower said:

I was in no way complaining about the cost of having to upgrade lightroom, you will note I said it's 'only £58', it was just I was more irked at the forced upgrade because of new camera RAW data.

Sometimes it can be a bit more than that.

For example Canon provide their own software and an SDK that offers tethering facilities for direct connection and camera control via a computer. However with a recent release of the latest versions of both they dropped support for "older" cameras - the most obvious being the original Professional Grade 1D body. Don't quote me but I think that extended to the 1D Mk2. So if it's 10 years old (or 7 years in the case of the last of the 1D mk2) facilities become unavailable with software updates needed to work with Operating System updates and so on. You can't even rely on keeping old copies of the software as there is no guarantee they will work on new machines. In fact there is more likely a guarantee that they won't! Keeping old machines may not be an option either since they will fail and become uneconomic to repair.

Canon also used to allow remote control of some compact and bridge cameras via a USB tether. Then they dropped the support for that. Same story, you have to be using software built with the old SDK and that is not certain to run on new machines with new firmware and OS components. No doubt Nikon are much the same and afaik Sony don't offer much at all.

Still - none of that is unique to the camera industry. The built in instant and expensive obsolescence in current car manufacturing is just as cynical and perhaps even more expensive!

[tim-b]

NinjaPower said:

Morbid said:

I had the same issue when I upgraded to a Canon 70D, but with PS not LR. After a bit of 'Googling' I found the free Adobe DNG converter. This converts the RAW files to DNG files that could then be used in PS - it might work for you in LR too. It's free and simple to use - but it does take a little extra time to convert the files. I tend to set it converting the files while I go and do something else.

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp...

Might be worth a try if you want to delay updating LR?

Thanks, I'll have a look at that

..

This will work, I had the same issue last year when I got my 5Dmk3. It's a bit of a pain as it takes a while to convert the files (if you have a lot of them) and takes double the space, although you can delete the original raw files afterwards, keeping just the new DNG raw files. I don't know exactly what you lose by reverting to an 'older' raw format but I'm pretty sure it's just extra bumph that won't have any bearing on the actual image.

I got fed up of it after a few events and ended up taking advantage of the photoshop&lightroom CC offer, so yeah, they got me in the end .