RAW photos and MacBook Air

So I have had a interesting issue come up. When I have downloaded RAW photos from my R6 to my MacBook Air, running Big Sur 11.2.3, the photos download without a problem. I do my editing of RAW files in Photos, which is the only editing program that I use and then this has happened twice now, where I go back to work with the photos and a handful of them are not visible any longer. Not in the folder, not in imports, not in the global library. If I open the photo, it is just a white page. The photo data is there and if I revert to original, the photo comes back. Really strange. Anyone else had this happen?

You can try a repair of your Library. Quit Photos and hold command-option at relaunch. A repair dialogue should come up.

Hmmm, wonder if this is similar to the content described at https://discussions.ap​ple.com/thread/2524097​57.

John - I don't think it is quite the same as I can see and download the photos initially and even do PP on the RAW but the issue occurs when I go back to the folder, a few of the photos are blank.

If I undo the editing, the original RAW is back.

When you say you looked at the folder, does that mean you double click or select open on the Photos Library.photoslibrary? If so, that brings up Photos and doesn't show you its contents (it's a packaged folder). if you select "Show Package Contents" then you can see the actual folders that images are stored in. It can still be convoluted in trying to find specific images, as the folders are not chronological (but instead of some kind of secret sauce in a database construction). All your original imported photos, though, reside in folders that are in a folder called "originals".

That the photos show up again after you undo edits, it seems as though it's some bug with Photos (the RAWs are there in the originals folder, but the program did something with the edits). If you did want to confirm that photos are still there, you would have to get into the folder and use Preview or some image viewer like XnView:

http://www.rawinfopage​s.com …photos-really-stored-os-x

These are some reasons about why I'm not a fan of Photos (and have gone ahead and been a subscriber to Adobe: Afinity Photo can be a good cheaper option). I think Photos is good for an intended audience of users who are taking photos on their iPhone, and then can automatically sync their photos to their Apple products over iCloud. I just prefer being able to make my own folder system.

The original folder remains there, the one that I make when I download from the SD card. And probably 75% of the photos are there, the others have a blank placeholder, if you will. If I click on it and go to edit and then revert to original, the photo is back. Since going back, I have been in and out of the folder a couple of times and the photos are remaining in place...weird.

duckster wrote in post #19227526
So I have had a interesting issue come up. When I have downloaded RAW photos from my R6 to my MacBook Air, running Big Sur 11.2.3, the photos download without a problem. I do my editing of RAW files in Photos, which is the only editing program that I use and then this has happened twice now, where I go back to work with the photos and a handful of them are not visible any longer. Not in the folder, not in imports, not in the global library. If I open the photo, it is just a white page. The photo data is there and if I revert to original, the photo comes back. Really strange. Anyone else had this happen?

This may explain the issue you are encountering:

"Since January 2020 MacOS Catalina has received 9 updates including the supplemental updates and none of those updates added any of the new cameras.

I've just updated to Big Sur and the list of supported cameras has not changed so this means that for example Canon EOS R5, EOS R6 and EOS 1 DX Mk 3, Nikon D6 are not supported."

Wilt wrote in post #19227695
This may explain the issue you are encountering:

"Since January 2020 MacOS Catalina has received 9 updates including the supplemental updates and none of those updates added any of the new cameras.

I've just updated to Big Sur and the list of supported cameras has not changed so this means that for example Canon EOS R5, EOS R6 and EOS 1 DX Mk 3, Nikon D6 are not supported."

According to Apple they are supported.

https://support.apple.​com/en-gb/HT211241

john crossley wrote in post #19227697
According to Apple they are supported.

https://support.apple.​com/en-gb/HT211241

That is apparently NOT what users are experiencing

"Feb 4, 2021 10:50 PM in response to Prayermedic

Yes the R6 has just been listed and yes I have tried everything and yes it does work for video files but not Raw image files. Half a fix is not good enough. "

https://discussions.ap​ple.com/thread/2524109​36

"Posted byu/gringottsbanker
2 months ago
R5 CR3 files now supported on iOS 14 and MacOS Big Sur?
Any R5 owners able to see the R5 CR3 files natively on their updated iPhone and / or Macs? Based on Apple's list of supported cameras, the R5 is now compatible but I am still not able to view anything.

Anybody else have better luck?

Edit to add - tried to open the files on iOS 14.4 and Big Sur 11.2"

https://www.reddit.com …rted_on_ios_14_​and_macos/

I had seen that some of the older OS had not supported R6/R5. The weird thing is that everything proceeds normally and then you can't see them and it doesn't affect all of the photos. And then when you revert, everything is back.

duckster wrote in post #19227686
The original folder remains there, the one that I make when I download from the SD card. And probably 75% of the photos are there, the others have a blank placeholder, if you will. If I click on it and go to edit and then revert to original, the photo is back. Since going back, I have been in and out of the folder a couple of times and the photos are remaining in place...weird.

Are you sure if it's not importing the RAWs into the Photos Library folder? Well even if not (though I think default is that it does copy over to "originals" folder), the edits and previews certainly are in that folder structure. It seems that it's been an ongoing bug with Photos and R6 and R5 RAWs (you certainly have the drivers since you can view and edit the RAWs).

Edit: Apple's page on how RAWs are handled. I'm not sure if it would be less likely to throw a bug if you see whether your RAWs are being processed from the Photos folder vs your original RAW folders.

https://support.apple.​com/en-us/HT204977

It does the import initially OK, it is after I have gone and done other things or even shut down and when I come back. Now, after recovering them be returning to the originals, they have remained in the album since then...

Have you tried the repair I suggested earlier? You can also create a new (temporary) account and test there.

gossamer88 wrote in post #19227967
Have you tried the repair I suggested earlier? You can also create a new (temporary) account and test there.

I will give that a try. Right now, everything is working normally so I need to go out after work and take a few shots around the yard in RAW so I have some new photos to import.

duckster wrote in post #19227962
It does the import initially OK, it is after I have gone and done other things or even shut down and when I come back. Now, after recovering them be returning to the originals, they have remained in the album since then...

Which, as I've been saying, is part of the database structure Photos makes in the Photos Library.photoslibrary folder. My suggestion for seeing where RAWs the Photos app is doing its processing from is to see if you encounter less bugs (it isn't weird that your source images aren't touched as Photos is making edits and storing its images in the Photos Library folder). It seems others have been complaining of a bug with images not showing after edits for several versions of Photos and OS with Canon CR3 RAWs (so you're not alone).