leofromsweden
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Q: Olympus RAW pictures (ORF) turn black

I have a Nikon camera and an Olumpus camera taking pictures in RAW format (NEF and ORF). It worked well in Photos in the beginning, but since about two months the ORF files turn to black after some time. I have not figured out what the reason is. The NEF files work without problems.

I wonder if Photos internally generates a jpeg file for presentation and that file is missing?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), iOS 8.4

Posted on Sep 6, 2015 1:15 AM

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leofromsweden

Q: Olympus RAW pictures (ORF) turn black

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 6, 2015 1:35 AM in response to leofromsweden
    Level 10 (105,806 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 6, 2015 1:35 AM in response to leofromsweden

    Photos is initially using the camera generated preview jpegs, and later developing the RAW and creating new JPEGs.  If the thumbnails change, the developed image files generated from the RAW may differ because of in-camera settings (as explained in this Aperture User Tip by Keith Barkley:  The Big Three: Setting your camera for the best Aperture RAW results )

    Are you using any settings in Olympus camera that modify the exposure?

     

    But first test, if the thumbnails simply need recreating by moving the zoom slider while viewing the thumbnails in an album or a moment.

    If you recently installed an updated RAW processing, you could try to reprocess the RAW files. The "Reprocess RAW" command is available in the Image menu in "Edit" mode.

    I don't know which camera you are using, but the recent RAW compatibility updates changed the RAW processing for some Olympus cameras (Digital Camera RAW Compatibility 6.05, Digital Camera RAW Compatibility 6.04)

  • by lescornwell,

    lescornwell lescornwell Sep 6, 2015 1:37 AM in response to leofromsweden
    Level 3 (502 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 6, 2015 1:37 AM in response to leofromsweden

    First thing I would check is whether (the RAW format from your) Olympus camera is supported: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203088

    It is strange, though, that things were OK in the beginning but no longer.

    Can you export one of these 'black' pictures, and open it, say with Olympus software (or Adobe)? If the Raw file is OK, then it must have something to do with the 'preview' jpg that Photos makes.

     

    Ah! Looks like I posted almost simultaneously (but a wee bit later) than Léonie.

  • by leofromsweden,

    leofromsweden leofromsweden Sep 6, 2015 3:50 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 6, 2015 3:50 AM in response to léonie

    I have a PEN-E PL5 camera and when I import from the camera I always have the setting RAW+JPEG. Could that be a problem? I have no JPEG on the camera, never had, but it worked fine in Aperture and in the beginning in Pictures. I use this setting because it is convenient for my 3rd camera, that does not have RAW format.

    When I enter the Edit mode, the "Reprocess RAW" menu is greyed out. The display says it shows the RAW format picture. But I can export the picture and get the original, which I can look at in the Olympus picture program. I.e. the RAW file is present, but the picture is not shown in Pictures - it is black.

    Directly after the import it is shown... I don't find any logic in this.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 6, 2015 1:51 PM in response to leofromsweden
    Level 10 (105,806 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 6, 2015 1:51 PM in response to leofromsweden

    The RAW format of your Olympus camera is supported by Yosemite.

     

    Photos is stacking the RAW+JPEG files and not showing them separately like iPhoto did. You can switch between the RAW and the JPEG as original when you are in EDIT mode. Only one of the pair can be used as the original at a time.

    Open one of the Olympus photos in EDIT mode. Make sure, "USE RAW as original" is selected in the Image menu,  and then try, if you now can reprocess the RAW. 

    DO the photos look o.k., if you select "Use JPEG as original" in the Image menu, or does Photos not even show the JPEGs correctly?

  • by leofromsweden,

    leofromsweden leofromsweden Sep 12, 2015 4:42 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 4:42 AM in response to léonie

    I cannot get the menus that you mention to become active:

    screeshot.jpg

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 12, 2015 4:59 AM in response to leofromsweden
    Level 10 (105,806 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 12, 2015 4:59 AM in response to leofromsweden

    Then you did not import the RAWs as RAW&JPEG pairs, so the switch between RAW&JPEG as original will not be available.  And "Reprocess RAW" is only available, if an update changed the RAW support for your camera.

     

    Where is your Photos library stored? Have you tried, if the problem only occurs in one particular Photos library and in your current user account?

  • by leofromsweden,

    leofromsweden leofromsweden Sep 12, 2015 5:19 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 5:19 AM in response to léonie

    I have just one library for all pictures (from all my 3 cameras, Nikon and Olympus in RAW and Canon in jpeg, + iPhone). The library is local on my MacBook. I import the pictures exactly the same from all 4 devices, but I have that problem only with the Olympus and the ORF format.

     

    I just checked when the import from the Olympus started to make troubles: There were no problem on 5-jul, but the imports on 12-jul turned black and have done that since then...

     

    I also checked previously stored Olympus-pictures and discovered, that some of them turn black in "Pictures" when I select them...

  • by leofromsweden,

    leofromsweden leofromsweden Sep 12, 2015 5:35 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 5:35 AM in response to léonie

    Previously I used Aperture to manage my pictures, but that is discontinued and I converted to "Pictures" according to Apple's recommendation on 11-apr.

    The import choice "RAW+jpeg" was available in Aperture, but in "Pictures" I have no possibility to choose import settings - everything is "automatic".

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Sep 12, 2015 7:33 AM in response to leofromsweden
    Level 10 (84,217 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 12, 2015 7:33 AM in response to leofromsweden

    Aperture has not been discontinued - future development has been discontinued - Aperture steelworks just fine (you need the current version 3.6) and can use it until you want to use a future upgrade that breaks it - or until Photos meets you needs - or until you find a suitable replacement (Some Aperture users are moving to LightRoom and others to Capture One according to reports here)

     

    And Photos does import both the RAW and the JPEG - when editing you chose which to use as the original under the image menu - there you can also choose to reprocess the RAW which might (unlikely but possibly) help

     

     

    LN