Sony Raw photos not recognized by Photos

[katbel]

What is wrong with Photos? Is there a trick to import raw photos taken with Sony A7? Their format is .arw uncompressed or compressed
Photos cannot show them, when GraphicConverter does.
I'm posting in BigSur thread because I'm afraid is part of the system the issue
Please tell me it's not 😉

 

[bogdanw]

"Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and macOS Big Sur"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211241
"Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212821
"Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 13, iPadOS 13 and macOS Catalina"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210191

 

[Slartibart]

Until Apple support for the specific A7 model RAW files is available you can view and edit the files using Sony's free Image Edge software (or on mobile devices here).
Or you can use exif tools to convert; Adobe RAW/Bridge and the Adobe Digital Negative Converter offer support for the A7-line ARWs.

 

[bogdanw]

Too bad Apple puts RAW image support in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle
and not in /Library/ like for Pro Video Formats. It could have been updated independent of OS updates.
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2050

 

[katbel]

Too bad Apple puts RAW image support in /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle
and not in /Library/ like for Pro Video Formats. It could have been updated independent of OS updates.
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2050

Yes! Could be possible to have the most recent RawCameraSupport.bundle and switch it manually- SIP disabled etc?

 

[bogdanw]

I don't see Sony A7 in "Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213267
I presume that’s the most recent version.

 

[katbel]

I don't see Sony A7 in "Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213267
I presume that’s the most recent version.

The full name is
Sony Alpha ILCE-7M4 simplified among users and websites as Sony A7 IV
and it 's available on Monterey as well but not on BigSur sigh

 

[bogdanw]

The full name is
Sony Alpha ILCE-7M4 simplified among users and websites as Sony A7 IV
and it 's available on Monterey as well but not on BigSur sigh

I didn’t know that I see now that, according to Apple, it’s supported in Monterey and Ventura, but not in Big Sur and Catalina.
I think it’s possible to take /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle and /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle from Ventura and replace the ones in Big Sur.
But it’s not that simple, I’ve described the basic steps here
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...tem-volume-as-writeable.2332937/post-30822017
I’ll try tomorrow in a virtual machine.

 

[katbel]

I didn’t know that I see now that, according to Apple, it’s supported in Monterey and Ventura, but not in Big Sur and Catalina.
I think it’s possible to take /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle and /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle from Ventura and replace the ones in Big Sur.
But it’s not that simple, I’ve described the basic steps here
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...tem-volume-as-writeable.2332937/post-30822017
I’ll try tomorrow in a virtual machine.

Thanks a lot for taking the time! 😊

 

[bogdanw]

It was easier than I thought
Could you please share a small raw image created by ILCE-7M4 to test if it really worked.

Just a screenshot of the process, I’ll explain more if it worked.

 

[katbel]

It was easier than I thought
Could you please share a small raw image created by ILCE-7M4 to test if it really worked.

Just a screenshot of the process, I’ll explain more if it worked.
View attachment 2137142

Fantastic! The only problem is to get small Raw picture . Going to try
Even a photo of a pencil on a white sheet is 36 MB

 

[bogdanw]

Fantastic! The only problem are to get small Raw picture . Going to try

Any size is fine.

 

[headlessmike]

It was easier than I thought
Could you please share a small raw image created by ILCE-7M4 to test if it really worked.

Just a screenshot of the process, I’ll explain more if it worked.
View attachment 2137142

DPReview has raw files for this camera available in their gallery from the review of the camera.

Here is a link to one of the images.

And a direct link to the raw file (65.8 MB).

 

[katbel]

Any size is fine.

Not here because it's too big

DPReview has raw files for this camera available in their gallery from the review of the camera.

Here is a link to one of the images.

And a direct link to the raw file (65.8 MB).

Thanks a lot: I guess it's the only way

 

[bogdanw]

And a direct link to the raw file (65.8 MB).

Thank you, it works

 

[katbel]

Thank you, it works
View attachment 2137161

Super🥰! What should I do?

No pressure ... it's not so urgent. Take your time , please
I was just caught in a moment of euphoria

 

[bogdanw]

I admit I did’t read it , but I’ll post this as warning “Words of Caution Regarding Modification of System Files Using "csrutil authenticated-root disable"” https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...g-csrutil-authenticated-root-disable.2276764/



Here are the steps I took :

- format an USB disk as MBR/HFS+ with the name HFS

- copy RawCamera.bundle and RawCameraSupport.bundle from Ventura to the HFS USB

sudo ditto /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle /Volumes/HFS/RawCamera.bundle 

sudo ditto /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle /Volumes/HFS/RawCameraSupport.bundle

Reboot using a bootable installer (should work from Recovery too)

- disable SIP and authenticated-root from Terminal

csrutil disable

csrutil authenticated-root disable

- reboot and boot again using the bootable installer or recovery

- from Terminal list mounted volumes

mount

- unmount the system volume

diskutil umount /dev/disk1s5

- remount the system volume to make it writable

diskutil mount /dev/disk1s5

- make backups of rawCamera.bundle and RawCameraSupport.bundle

ditto “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle” /Volumes/HFS/bk/RawCamera.bundle 

ditto “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle” /Volumes/HFS/bk/RawCameraSupport.bundle

- delete the two system files

rm -r “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle”

rm -r “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle”

- copy the files from Ventura

ditto /Volumes/HFS/RawCamera.bundle “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle” 

ditto /Volumes/HFS/RawCameraSupport.bundle “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle”

- make the modified system volume bootable

bless --folder "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/" --bootefi –create-snapshot

- reboot and enjoy updated RAW support

You can’t turn SIP on, the modification will be reversed.

Off course, the files will be replaced by any system update.

 

[katbel]

I admit I did’t read it , but I’ll post this as warning “Words of Caution Regarding Modification of System Files Using "csrutil authenticated-root disable"” https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...g-csrutil-authenticated-root-disable.2276764/



Here are the steps I took :

- format an USB disk as MBR/HFS+ with the name HFS

- copy RawCamera.bundle and RawCameraSupport.bundle from Ventura to the HFS USB

sudo ditto /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle /Volumes/HFS/RawCamera.bundle

sudo ditto /System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle /Volumes/HFS/RawCameraSupport.bundle

Reboot using a bootable installer (should work from Recovery too)

- disable SIP and authenticated-root from Terminal

csrutil disable

csrutil authenticated-root disable

- reboot and boot again using the bootable installer or recovery

- from Terminal list mounted volumes

mount

- unmount the system volume

diskutil umount /dev/disk1s5

- remount the system volume to make it writable

diskutil mount /dev/disk1s5

- make backups of rawCamera.bundle and RawCameraSupport.bundle

ditto “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle” /Volumes/HFS/bk/RawCamera.bundle

ditto “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle” /Volumes/HFS/bk/RawCameraSupport.bundle

- delete the two system files

rm -r “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle”

rm -r “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle”

- copy the files from Ventura

ditto /Volumes/HFS/RawCamera.bundle “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCamera.bundle”

ditto /Volumes/HFS/RawCameraSupport.bundle “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/RawCameraSupport.bundle”

- make the modified system volume bootable

bless --folder "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/" --bootefi –create-snapshot

- reboot and enjoy updated RAW support

You can’t turn SIP on, the modification will be reversed.

Off course, the files will be replaced by any system update.

You are the best of the best!! Thanks so much 💖

 

[bogdanw]

An update on what happens after an update
The virtual machine was running Big Sur 11.6.5 and today I’ve updated it to 11.7.2. As expected, the bundle files were replaced. The image imported before was still visible in Photos, but a new image was imported as blank. I’ve replaced again the bundle files with the ones from Ventura and I had to delete the second image from Photos and import it again in order to be properly displayed.

Free, open-source alternative
LibRaw 0.21 Release 18 December, 2022
Camera support Sony A7-IV (ILCE-7M4)
https://www.libraw.org/news/libraw-0-21-release
included in apps like digiKam 7.9.0 https://www.digikam.org/news/2022-12-05-7.9.0_release_announcement/
„Update internal RAW engine to last Libraw 0.20.2 (snapshot 20210827) including Canon CR3 and Sony A7R4 support.”

 

[katbel]

An update on what happens after an update
The virtual machine was running Big Sur 11.6.5 and today I’ve updated it to 11.7.2. As expected, the bundle files were replaced. The image imported before was still visible in Photos, but a new image was imported as blank. I’ve replaced again the bundle files with the ones from Ventura and I had to delete the second image from Photos and import it again in order to be properly displayed.

Free, open-source alternative
LibRaw 0.21 Release 18 December, 2022
Camera support Sony A7-IV (ILCE-7M4)
https://www.libraw.org/news/libraw-0-21-release
included in apps like digiKam 7.9.0 https://www.digikam.org/news/2022-12-05-7.9.0_release_announcement/
„Update internal RAW engine to last Libraw 0.20.2 (snapshot 20210827) including Canon CR3 and Sony A7R4 support.”

Thank you so much for going through all these loops, really appreciated! 🥰
and hope you have time to take beautiful photos!