LR import issues with Nikon D800 photos
I just imported an 85K image catalog from Lightroom Classic 9.2.1. I've imported this catalog before using betas of CO 20 13.1, but haven't experienced this problem before. One of my folders contains several thousand images I took in Myanmar (Burma) in late 2013 with two different D800 bodies and different lenses. After importing the raw images into CO 20 (13.1 non beta), they come in totally black, but when examining the Exposure tab, the images imported as Exposure -749, Contrast -330 (i.e. pitch black). I can recover the images by double clicking on each slider to reset them to 0, but that is a lot of extra work for images that appear quite normal in LR Classic 9.2.1.
I don't see this problem with the Nikon D810, D850, D500 or Z6; this is limited to photos taken with the D800. I think there is a serious import bug with the way it is reading the NEF files from the D800.
Anyone else seeing this problem. I've got hundreds (thousands) of examples of this, and it is truly annoying to have to adjust each photo individually in a limited time range. I'm sure there is a way to do it via a bulk adjustment, but it is plain annoying to have this problem on a camera long discontinued.
-
There are no values that low.
Clearly there is some issue with those files.
If you select one and tell C1 to regenerate the Preview what happens?
Did the D800 have any special modes that might not have been supported?
Did you import any of those files when testing prior to the 20.1 release?
0 -
I've imported these before in C1 12 as well as in C1 20, prior to 13.1 release. Nikon D800 has no special modes that aren't common to all subsequent Nikon D8x or Z series cameras. Regenerating the preview doesn't work to improve the image. The image comes in at those large negative exposure and contrast values, but is restored to its "as taken" form once I double click on Exposure and Contrast to return them to 0. They read fine in every other raw converter (LR, PS, Raw Power, Luminar 4, On One 2020, DXO 3, Exposure 5. The only program that doesn't import and then read them correctly is CO 20, 13.1 release. I think the problem is with CO, not with the files.
0 -
OK.
Can I ask why you are importing them again if you have done so before? Even in V12.
Did you not go with V12 in the end?
Were the C1 V20 imports not used?
It does seem odd, that's certain.
I would suggest you "Submit a Request" and deal with it as a Support Case.
I think there are too many variables in play to spend time guessing possible causes. You might find someone else with some files also importing from prepared and cleansed LR catalogues but they may not turn up in good time to help you with your current task.
0 -
Because (1) I still haven’t abandoned LR for my day-to-day photo management
(2) I beta test a significant number of photo applications
(3) when I test, I always start by importing the LR catalog since it is more up to date than the catalogs of software I test but don’t use exclusively.
(4). Once 13.1 was released, I wanted to give it a fair test, so I blew away all previous C1 catalogs and treated it the same way any new user would work. The problem I described did not exit in beta versions of 13.1.
i can easily file a support issue. Just wondering if others who have D800 raw (14 bit lossless compressed files) have encountered similar issues.
0 -
Marc
I have many D800 and D850 files in C1 and I've never seen this.
Question - and I apologise if you've already addressed this - have you tried loading some of these problematic files into C1 directly? ie: have you tried importing a folder of images while instructing C1 to leave them where they are? If so, did the same problem occur?
I'm suggesting this as it would identify either the files themselves or the LR import as the source of your problem.
Good luck with this
Shane
0 -
Well, this approach quickly narrows the problem down. There is an issue with importing the LR catalog limited to photos I have taken with the D800. I imported the same folder of D800 images directly into C1 20 (13.1) without using the LR catalog import routine. The images import directly without any issues. This means that something in the C1 routine for importing LR catalogs is going wrong with, specifically, D800 images. For inexplicable reasons, the routine has no problems with D300s, D500, D700, D810, D850, Z6 or Z7 NEF files.
0 -
Weird.
Ok - one alternate hypothesis (and I know this is no help) - LR is doing something weird in its treatment of the D800 files and this is coming across in the catalogue to C1.
FWIW, I switched from LR to C1 (v9) back in December 2015 and my D800 files, along with D300 shots and a fruit salad collection of other files moved across quite painlessly. I know this is no help to you, but that was my experience in the deep mists of time.
Good luck with this. I've never regretted the switch.
Shane
0 -
Your hypothesis would be worth testing if it were not also the case that On1 RAW has a LR catalog import routine which has no difficulty with the same files, importing them and any connected adjustments with no problems. What makes this a particularly exasperating experience is that I had discovered about 4000 D800 files in my LR catalog, dating back 7 years ago that I had totally forgotten to review and cull from a trip to Myanmar. So, I have been addressing them particularly in LR, but had barely gotten started when the v20.0.0.4 version of C1 came out. I had started with them, but then started testing the whole C1 20 13.1 beginning with the betas. To avoid contaminating the test of each beta, I would clear the catalog each time, reimport the current LR CATALOG and then chip away at the files from Myanmar. Since the beta period was about a week per iteration, I didn’t get far when 13.1 was released Monday. I immediately cleared put the previous C1 catalog and reimported the final version from the extant LR catalog. The import took longer but in the end, the number of images in my LR catalog matched the number of images in the imported CO20 (13.1) catalog. So that’s when I started looking seriously at the 2013 images and discovered this weirdness with D800 files coming in with -700ish Exposure and Contrast values and appearing jet black. I don’t really know what to make of it. I can eliminate it simply on a per image basis, but that isn’t my idea of fun.
0 -
Hi Marc
Erk! Well, as you have probably gathered, I'm biggish on theories but short on actual knowledge - but there are some really cluey people on this forum. Hopefully, someone can help.
All the best
0
Post is closed for comments.
Comments
9 comments