How to handle an unsupported RAW format (Canon EOS T2i/550D)

Question

How to handle an unsupported RAW format (Canon EOS T2i/550D)

I just got the Canon EOS T2i Digital Rebel today. I wasn't expecting Aperture to support its RAW files yet and it doesn't. My plan is to shoot RAW + JPEG until RAW support arrives. I've noticed some strange things happening during import. At first only a few files showed up in the import window. Checking/unchecking the import duplicates box did nothing. Eventually somehow all the photos showed up. I couldn't tell you what I did that made any difference.

The camera writes separate CR2 and JPG files to the card. The first time I imported I set the RAW + JPEG Pairs setting to "Both (JPEG as Master)". For some reason only the CR2 was imported and as expected it showed the unsupported icon. I couldn't see any JPEGs. I did the import again and now all the files are there but the CR2 and JPEGs are not linked in any way. I guess I don't understand how this should work.

Does anyone have any experience with RAW+JPEG shooting?

Mac Pro 2.8 Dual Quad, Mac OS X (10.6.2), 10GB RAM, SAMSUNG 245BW Display, iPhone 3G

Posted on Mar 2, 2010 4:09 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 2, 2010 5:03 PM in response to Thomas Emmerich

I recall seeing some notes in the 3.0.1 update that specifically applied to RAW+JPEG pairs. So if you had issues last week, they could well be issues that were resolved.

Have you tried this recently?

I personally shoot RAW only but I'm using only supported cameras.

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Answer 2

Mar 2, 2010 7:12 PM in response to William Lloyd

I just got the camera today and I'm using Aperture 3.0.1. I've never shot mixed formats before. I always just stuck with RAW.

I figured the problem could be one of three things in no particular order:
1. I don't know what I'm doing.
2. Aperture 3.0.1 still has some issues.
3. Unsupported RAW formats don't work properly with RAW+JPEG import.

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Answer 3

hpoul

Level 1

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Mar 3, 2010 12:30 AM in response to Thomas Emmerich

i wonder if anyone has past experiences how long it takes until apple adds support for a new raw format? (i have yet to try RAW+JPEG though)

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Answer 4

Mar 3, 2010 9:36 AM in response to hpoul

There's no set time period from when a new camera comes out and when RAW support arrives. Some camera's have taken a year to be supported (Panasonic LX3?) but typically the popular Canon cameras get supported in the shortest time.

A RAW update was just released within the last couple of weeks so I wouldn't expect one for a while. It could easily be several months.

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Answer 5

hpoul

Level 1

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Mar 4, 2010 12:58 AM in response to Thomas Emmerich

well, a couple of months would be a bit frustrating.. but RAW+jpeg seems to work for me (and since the 550d is just as fast with RAW+jpeg than my 1000d with RAW alone i can life with it for now.. i can postprocess it later, or with canon's tools anyway).. i knew that the 550d isn't supported yet, so i don't have anything to complain i guess 🙂 at least i can filter through the JPEGs and movies and search for the good ones..

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Answer 6

Mar 4, 2010 2:34 AM in response to Thomas Emmerich

Before my CR2 RAW from Canon G10 was not supported and I used to convert them to DNG. There is a DNG converter free from Adobe. I imported only the DNG as masters but I used to keep all 3 files on my referenced HD. Now with AP3 I have seen that if I import both with RAW as Master I see all the 3 versions but Aperture imports only CR2 and DNG and you see BOTH previews. If I delete the CR2 before importing then Aperture imports both DNG and JPG and you see only one preview.
I would suggest you to make some test converting CR2 to DNG.

And now a question from me: there is a way to reduce the label "Version Name:" under each preview ? It takes all the space and you do not see the actual Name !!!

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Answer 7

Mar 4, 2010 8:06 AM in response to WALTER-MILANO-ITALY

The DNG converter relies on Adobe Camera RAW to be able to support the T2i. The T2i is not yet supported by Adobe Camera RAW; however, Adobe usually adds support for new cameras before Apple does.

Cameras supported by Adobe are listed here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

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Answer 8

Mar 4, 2010 11:10 AM in response to Thomas Emmerich

On a retry, the import seems to be working correctly with RAW + JPEG pairs. The first time I tried this I was using an SD card formatted and used (with images on it) from a Canon EOS T1i. Maybe that was confusing Aperture.

I formatted the card with the T2i, reshot some images and re-imported with the setting of Both (JPEG as Master). The imported images have the "J" badge which means RAW + JPEG pairs with JPEG as master. If there was an "R" badge it means the RAW file is the master. When you right click the images there's a new menu entry for "Set RAW as master". Selecting that menu item shows the RAW file with the unsupported image icon.

Once Apple delivers RAW support for the T2i I can just select the "Set RAW as master" menu item to start using the RAW file.

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Answer 9

Mar 23, 2010 2:25 PM in response to Thomas Emmerich

I am in the same boat, as I was using a 40d with Aperture 3, for now I am shooting large JPG and when the support comes I will switch back to RAW. For now I just do not want to each of the disk space on my laptop to have both formats

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Answer 10

Mar 24, 2010 1:25 PM in response to Thomas Emmerich

Currently I'm using Canon's Digital Photo Professional to convert the RAW files into TIFF files. I'm then running an Automator script to convert the TIFF files to PNGs. I then import the PNGs into Aperture.

Am I causing more damage to my images than simply shooting JPG?

I'm usually far enough behind the camera adoption curve so this has never happened to me before.

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Answer 11

vanss2

Level 1

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Mar 25, 2010 9:49 AM in response to russguill

hey, i just got a canon Eos550D early this week. I was just about to clear the memory and edit the photo's in aperture, but the raw files are not supported, not even in photoshop's camera raw after update :s. is there any other program like camera raw or aperture that supports the file, or a way to convert and preserve all the data for use in aperture?? The canon software is just not my thing 😝.

@russguill converting to tiff kind-of defeats the whole purpose of shooting in raw doesn't it? no loss of quality but you lose all light info and ability to edit exposure and such.

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Answer 12

Mar 25, 2010 10:38 AM in response to Thomas Emmerich

@vanss2 - Thanks. I was afraid there might be something that may be flawed in my logic and I think you found it, although my edits seem too look okay. I was more afraid of shooting JPG and losing even more information.

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Answer 13

Mar 25, 2010 11:11 AM in response to Thomas Emmerich

I just bought one too! I posted a similar question. I was told there is a lag between a new camera coming out and Apple generating the update to support RAW data from that new hardwear. I guess we have to either use RAW + Jpeg, or shoot in Jpeg.

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