problem with LR import from Z8

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Chaz Harrison

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I am importing from a new Z8 into Lightroom using the USB cable supplied with the camera. When I do this the boxes in the import box which ought to show thumbnails of the photos are blank. The import works fine but it's impossible to choose which shots I want to import and which to leave. LR Classic was recently (auto) updated so I assume it ought to work.

Any suggestions?

Chaz
 
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I'm not the only one to see this problem, a quick Google brought up several others talking about it. If I click on one of the blank previews LR opens a larger view - which works as it should.

No doubt Adobe will sort this glitch in due course. I know the Z8 is new but LR is usually updated quite quickly to deal with the output from new cameras.

Chaz
 
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I don't download straight from the camera. But downloading Z8 files from a card/reader works fine. That said, on my machine the thumbnails in the import screen from Z8 and 9 populate really slowly compared to D810/850 files. So apparently there does seem to be something about the Z8/9 files that is more processor intensive than previous Hight Rez bodies.

BarkingBeansCoffee said:
What version of Camera RAW do you have. You need 15.3.
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ACR is not needed to run LR.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
I don't download straight from the camera. But downloading Z8 files from a card/reader works fine. That said, on my machine the thumbnails in the import screen from Z8 and 9 populate really slowly compared to D810/850 files. So apparently there does seem to be something about the Z8/9 files that is more processor intensive than previous Hight Rez bodies.


ACR is not needed to run LR.
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I guess that’s right if it’s just extracting the jpg. If the reliance is on the OS and it’s a MAC and they are High Efficiency files then that could be the hang up.
 
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Yes, the computer is a MAC - RAW recording is set to Lossless Compression. As the only problem is the lack of "thumbnails" offering the chance to mark duds as not to be imported I can live with it until Adobe get it sorted. I usually use a three stage sieve on what shots are keepers - reviewing in the camera, during import and then in library mode in LR. I suspect that conserving the battery life in the Z8 will reduce the first step so that second step will become more important - once this problem is fixed.

Chaz
 
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I’m having the same issue using a card reader. Generally all of the thumbnails appear eventually. MacBook Pro M1 Max. I’m sure it will get fixed.
 
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Did a download this morning and ran into the same problem - blank boxes in grid view - however as before switching to loupe gave me a look at one shot. This prompted me to think I should just use the loupe view. I can still decline import for each dud shot and I now have a larger view to assess. It takes much the same time moving from one shot to the next as it does moving on in grid. If I am in doubt I download and make the decision later. Until such time as either Adobe fix this problem or I buy a card reader this will become my standard work around. This problem is a small one - grid view in library mode works fine.

Still waiting for an FTZ (I'm desperate to mount my 300PF & 500PF) - dealer is out of stock and I can't buy elsewhere as I would lose the "buy it with a camera" discount. Another annoyance my Z8 is about to be recalled.

Chaz
 
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I’m using a card reader and, as I posted above, seeing the same issue. I’ve also noticed that, my Z 6 XQD cards, (different reader) show up as ’Nikon Z 6’ under ‘Devices’ in the source panel but the Z 8 does not. I have to access the Z 8 files in the ’Files’ section of the panel in the Nikon Z 8 > DCIM > 100NCZ_8 folder. In short, LRC doesn’t seem to be optimised for the Z 8 in some areas as things stand. Hopefully Adobe will address this soon. My Z 8 is on the recall list too but it’s working perfectly so I’m going to wait a while…
 
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The issue you report is not Z6 vs Z8. Instead, it’s XQD card vs CFexpress card. On Macs anyway, the MAC OS sees a CFExpress card as a removable SSD. So, CFExpress cards need to be ejected to avoid having an error message. This is an Apple thing that Adobe can not “fix.”
 
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John_DE said:
The issue you report is not Z6 vs Z8. Instead, it’s XQD card vs CFexpress card. On Macs anyway, the MAC OS sees a CFExpress card as a removable SSD. So, CFExpress cards need to be ejected to avoid having an error message. This is an Apple thing that Adobe can not “fix.”
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Get me Tim Cook! 😂
 
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Got back yesterday from my first trip out with the Z8. hooked the camera up to the Mac with the USB cable (which is a bit short). Opened LR, created a folder, switched on the camera. The import preview came up with its expected blank squares. I clicked on "cancel" and then using the LR menu - file - import photos and video - and the preview squares now showed the photos as it should BUT the order of them was random - I couldn't see any logic to the order they were presented in, which makes rejecting duplicates difficult.
I paused Time to stop auto-backups and imported the lot. Once in the folder they were in file name order. After a session sifting through the photos and marking the rejects I deleted them and then turned the auto backups back on. it didn't take any longer to cull the unwanted shots than it would have done in the camera and on the Mac's screen it is easier to assess them.

My strategy in the future (or at least until Adobe or Apple fix things) will be to pause Time backups and then import all the photos from a session, not bothering about the blank previews. Do a thorough cull of rejects and use LR's "delete rejected photos", empty the Mac's bin and switch Time's auto backup back on. Not too onerous and for me a workable solution.

Incidentally turning off the camera after LR has finished importing from the CFexpress card does not generate an error message.

Chaz
 
I think I would still try uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom, and if it persists contacting Adobe support. The program works normally for others, so something is still amiss in your setup.
 
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Chaz Harrison said:
I am importing from a new Z8 into Lightroom using the USB cable supplied with the camera. When I do this the boxes in the import box which ought to show thumbnails of the photos are blank. The import works fine but it's impossible to choose which shots I want to import and which to leave. LR Classic was recently (auto) updated so I assume it ought to work.

Any suggestions?

Chaz
Click to expand...
I have the same problem using a USB-C to USB-C Apple cable.
 
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Having seen quite a few posts on the Adobe forum from users of a variety of cameras (and phones) it seems that the problem is a lot more widespread and does not just affect the Z8. If the problem is so wide and affects so many users isn't there a good chance that Adobe will be moved to fix it? Time will tell - until then I will just ignore the blank previews. Once the images are imported everything works as it should.

Chaz

PS - I don't intend to add any further posts on this topic.
 
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Chaz Harrison said:
Having seen quite a few posts on the Adobe forum from users of a variety of cameras (and phones) it seems that the problem is a lot more widespread and does not just affect the Z8. If the problem is so wide and affects so many users isn't there a good chance that Adobe will be moved to fix it? Time will tell - until then I will just ignore the blank previews. Once the images are imported everything works as it should.

Chaz

PS - I don't intend to add any further posts on this topic.
Click to expand...
I get thumbnails, albeit slowly, using my card reader but none using the Z8 connected to a MacBook Pro M1 Max.
 
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I have the same problem with Z8 and Z9 on Windows. With a card reader, previews show painfully slow and I have had this problem for the last two years. I tried copying the files from the card reader to the C drive and the previews still load slowly. I just tried to connect Z8 directly to the laptop and the thumbnails show instantly. I guess I will be doing it this way from now on.
 
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FWIW I have become a fan of Fast Raw Viewer and it might be quicker. FRV is only $18 and good free trial. It renders faster than anything else I have used (not tried Photo Mechanic which is going to a subscription and only shows jpg). Not sure if handles Z8 RAW yet but would then show the jpg.

What does it do that LRc doesn't - shows you over and underexposed areas, allows you examine shadow areas for noise, shows focus peaking with high contrast edges and areas with pixel level sharp detail.

There are a lot of advanced features and you can set it up to act like LR for rating. These ratings go in sidecar files and carry over to LRc when imported.

It does take some learning to adapt but not too bad.

Examples below. Note that when comparing two very close images I have been surprised by what these tools have shown me. Things I couldn't pick out unless I knew where to focus my attention.

Over exposure overlay - different colors are different RGB channels.
1701522002294.png



High contrast edges

1701522062883.png


Pixel level detail

1701522107607.png
 
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