You buy a lovely new camera, the latest released, shoot some photos and excitedly connect your SD card to import your photos into Lightroom – and Lightroom says your raw files are an unsupported raw file type. Yet the file extension is the same as your old camera – what’s going on? Why doesn’t Lightroom support your new camera?
Usually it’s because your version of Lightroom hasn’t been updated to support that camera yet.
Check the Adobe list
To check which cameras are supported by which versions of ACR / Lightroom, Adobe update this list each time there is a new release.
Lightroom & Lightroom Classic
If you’re on the subscription model, then it may be simply you need to update to the latest version of Lightroom. To update, go to Help menu > Updates or click the Update button in the CC app. You can also open the Creative Cloud app, click the … icon (top right) and select Check for Updates to give it a nudge.
If you’re on the latest update, your camera still isn’t supported and it’s a new model, then Adobe needs to update ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). To do so, they need to get their hands on the new camera from the camera manufacturer. Adobe is usually quick to implement once they have received this, with updates being issued about every 2 months. In between times, you could always shoot in JPG until it’s available.
Lightroom Perpetual
If you’re on a perpetual version (6.14 being the last one Adobe released) and your camera was released after your Lightroom version, it won’t be supported. Lightroom 6.14 was released on December 19, 2017.
If that’s the case but you don’t wish to upgrade to a subscription version of Lightroom, you can use the latest version of the free DNG converter to convert the raw files to DNG format, which Lightroom 6.14 will be able to read and edit. This process is covered in Appendix A-11 in the Adobe Lightroom 6 – The Missing FAQ book.
Alternatively, to keep updated with newer cameras, simply upgrade to a subscription version of Lightroom.
For extensive information on Lightroom Classic, see Adobe Lightroom Classic – The Missing FAQ.
If you have the Photography Plan, then as well as Classic you have access to the Lightroom cloud ecosystem including the mobile apps and web interface. For more information on these apps, see Adobe Lightroom – Edit on the Go.
Note: purchase of these books includes the first year’s Classic or cloud-based Premium Membership (depending on the book purchased), giving access to download the latest eBook (each time Adobe updates the software), email assistance for the applicable Lightroom version if you hit a problem, and other bonuses.
We also have a special bundle offer for the two books. This includes Premium Membership for the first year as described above for the whole Lightroom family!
Yeah, subscription model sucks. Seems Adobe only wants to support professional photographers who can pass on the expense to their clients.
Thanks for the inadvertent recommendation for Capture One.
I have never used LR for organising images. I save images into a folder structure that works for me. If Capture One has problems with large catalogues, then maybe I’ll create a new folder per catalogue – this is how I use LR anyway: click to navigate to a new folder and browse those images. Makes no difference to me if under the hood the app is reading a single catalogue or a new catalogue for that new folder.
Camera support is not related to the subscription model. In “the old days,” you’d have to buy a Lightroom upgrade to get support for new cameras.
When would you expect Lightroom support or DNG update for Nikon D780? Thanks
It’s usually within 2-3 months after they start shipping, as Adobe needs to physically get their hands on the camera.
The Nikon D780 is now supported with the 9.2 update today.
Hello, sorry but I’m jumping in to answer the questions you raise. Obviously my comments are only based on my experience and I’m sure that others will have different thoughts.
I was a long time user of Lightroom but I am not keen on Adobe’s subscription model so in July I changed to Capture One 12. I really like how Capture One processes my raw images and the image editing tools are excellent.
But, the operation of the Capture One catalog is awful. First it is slow. For comparison LR 6.14 opens a catalog of 80,000 images in under seven seconds. Capture One opens a catalog of the same images in fifty two seconds. Exporting to new catalog is even worse with LR exporting 20,000 image records in about two minutes and C1 doing a similar export in one hour twenty minutes. The worse part is that on my machine C1 frequently hangs when manipulating the catalog and these hangs require a Force Quit. These Force Quits seem to corrupt the catalog file meaning that it is essential to take a backup following every session. What I’m saying is that the export from C1 took about two days of computing hassle before it completed and generated a new catalog. The rest of the time it was hogging the computer and locking up.
I believe that C1 was designed to be “session” based and that Phase have added the catalog as an after thought. In my opinion there are issues with the design of the catalog database that C1 uses as its hard to understand how it can be so slow. After all a database of 80,000 records is quite small in the scheme of things.
I decided that I could live with the slowness given how much I enjoy using the tools and how my images look. However, I can not live with the corruption of the catalog. So I have just updated my LR catalog and am reverting back to LR while I look for a future proof alternative.
Just my ten cents,
Simon
I’m really pleased you’ve found one you’re happy with. I hope Phase One learns the lesson from Adobe and doesn’t go subscription only too, as theirs is a lot more expensive.
What made you pick Capture One? It’s a more expensive option than some of the alternatives, so was there a particular feature that won you over?
I’ve used Adobe Lightroom from the first release up to the last standalone one, making me very satisfied with the product functionalities, speed and usability. The commercial rules imposed by adobe had make me to look for an alternative.
Starting from about one year, I’m now using “Capture One Pro 12” obtaining at least the same results and even new functionalities. I’m currently using a perpetual license that give me a one year free updates, like Lightroom did in the past.
Lightroom was for me a very good product, but Adobe changed commercial rules…