Panasonic Lumix RW2 files appear completely black in macOS Tahoe 26.4

I'm experiencing an issue with Panasonic Lumix RAW (.RW2) files on macOS Tahoe 26.4.


When I open these RAW images (taken with a LUMIX S5M2), they appear completely black in Preview and Finder thumbnails. The same issue occurs in Photomator, making it impossible to view or edit the images.


Details:

- Camera: Panasonic LUMIX S5M2

- File format: .RW2 (RAW)

- macOS version: Tahoe 26.4

- Affected apps: Preview, Finder, Photomator

- Camera firmware versions tested: 3.5 and 3.7 (issue persists in both)


Additional observations:

- The files appear normal when viewed on the camera itself.

- They work correctly in Adobe Lightroom in macOS


It seems like macOS may not properly support or decode these RAW files.


Has anyone else encountered this issue, or is there a known workaround or update required for RAW compatibility?


Any help would be appreciated.

Mac mini, macOS 26.4

Posted on Apr 8, 2026 11:19 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 9, 2026 5:43 AM

neverwho wrote:
This is the same camera indeed.
Thumbnails show image properly, while trying to QuickView / Preview / import into Photomator or Photos appears completely black.
When using third party apps (Like capture1, on1, DXO, Lightroom etc.) images are completely fine: viewable and editable.


I don't know about DXO – but Adobe doesn't use the operating system's built-in Raw support, Adobe uses their own Raw support code, which gets built into Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, and the Digital Negative Converter. So the lists of supported cameras, and bugs, may not be the same for Adobe's applications as for Apple's ones.


Adobe – Supported Cameras

DXO – Supported Cameras & Lenses

Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, and visionOS 26 - Apple Support

26 replies

Apr 26, 2026 1:52 AM in response to dialabrain

Okay, thank you.

I now see that now but I still stand by my response in that there's no need to be rude in responding to other members.

As I said, I had images to process from yesterdays protest march that I covered and the issue has not been resolved in any way and still shows the thumbnails on the CFXpress card when co nected but once imported, turn black.

So it still the case that we will have to edit with another software that doesn't rely on Photos for the image library.

Panasonic Lumix RW2 files appear completely black in macOS Tahoe 26.4

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