CR2 issues in Camera RAW?

ChallengerHK · Jul 28, 2015

Having a weird problem and I want to see if anyone else has encountered it, and if so what can be done about it.

Some of my files are being automatically cropped. I've confirmed that the camera settings are correct, and it is not (as far as I can tell) the cause of the problem. Images are captured full frame, but somewhere in the file management process the tops and bottoms of a few, but not all, images are being cut off. Last night I went back to the original (thankfully, on DVD) and copied it to the working folder...and just copying the file cropped it. I also noticed that the .XMP file copied to the working folder, although I didn't ask for it to be copied.

So, my current guess is that this is a Camera RAW issue, and that it's being caused by the sidecar file in some way. Anybody have any information?

goooner · Jul 28, 2015

What software are you using to open your raw files. I would suggest using Canon's DPP and see if the problem might be Lightroom, or whichever program you use to open your Raw files.

snowbear · Jul 28, 2015

Has anything changed, like drivers or plug ins, since it worked correctly? Are all of the settings the same as before?

ChallengerHK · Jul 28, 2015

I'm using Camera RAW to open the files, but my understanding is that RAW and Lightroom are very closely related.
As far as I know nothing has changed, unless something has updated in the background. I typically turn off automatic updates.
No settings changed.

goooner · Jul 28, 2015

I would try opening the raw files with the canon software provided, and see if this fixes the problem. It sounds like adobe is messing with your raw files. If the canon software opens the raw files correctly, I would try to re-install Adobe's camera raw module.

ChallengerHK · Jul 28, 2015

I'll give that a shot.

Let me clarify one thing. The CR2 files open in RAW properly, i.e., I see the whole image. I can edit it from RAW, but it's when I save the file that it gets cropped.

ChallengerHK · Jul 29, 2015

I want to update this in case, as I've seen elsewhere on the net, anyone else has the same problem.

I downloaded DPP last night. I could see the crop marks when I opened the file in DPP, but initially I couldn't clear them (the button was subdued). I called Canon to ask about this, and while I was on the phone with tech support, it became available. My best guess is that, even though the image was open, I have to select it to get the menu structure available, and I was playing with the image while the tech was looking for other solutions. The crop marks looked very much like 16:9, but what would have induced a 16:9 crop is a mystery to me...

...except for this, which may be a wild goose chase. Bot of the Canon techs I spoke with make it a point to ask me if I was moving the files from the camera using a USB cable connected to the camera or a card reader. I couldn't get them to comment on why they were asking, but I thought it was interesting that this question would come up from two different people. If anyone has any info on that, please share.

snowbear · Jul 29, 2015

Though I use a card reader most of the time and have never had an issue, I have heard of them failing. Cables typically don't go bad unless they are twisted, pulled, etc. If you are using a reader, try a cable (preferably the one supplied with the camera) just to see if it makes a difference.

ChallengerHK · Jul 29, 2015

Thanks for the thought. I've got to say, I have trouble buying that, though. I would think that a reader or cable failure would result in a file that couldn't be opened, or some kind of induced noise. As I understand the XMP, the commands to crop come in four flavors (top, bottom, left, right), and for this to be a card reader failure, the random signal drop would have to have resulted in a pattern that instructed the XMP to issue correct commands for crop bottom and crop top without changing anything else.

I'm wondering if it's something so simple as "A cheap card reader might have an algorithm to change all files to 16:9 when copied".

goooner · Jul 29, 2015

Does it only happen with CR2 files, or are JPEGS also affected?

ChallengerHK · Jul 29, 2015

I first noticed the problem when I'd edit a CR2, save as a TIFF, and the TIFF would be cropped. Also happens with JPGs. Funny enough, it happens when I copy a CR2 from on location to another.

ChallengerHK · Jul 31, 2015

OK, I have more information.

I thought I had solved this using DPP to clear the crop. While that gave me a full view of the RAW file, I found out it was still cropping when saved as a TIFF or JPG. Looking through the DPP crop menu I saw that it was set to a 16:9 image even after the crop was cleared. I cleared the crop again and set it to 3:2, which "appears" to be taking hold. Wish me luck.

Why these crops are set in the first place is still a mystery. I have other images from the same shoot that don't have this problem. Very odd.

goooner · Jul 31, 2015

It is very odd indeed. Are you using the Photoshop monthly plan, or stand alone? Have you found a similar crop setting in Adobe camera raw. Have you tried contacting the infamous Adobe support team?!

ChallengerHK · Jul 31, 2015

Stand alone CS6, can't recall the Camera RAW version but I think it's the latest. Have not found any crop controls in Camera RAW, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. Have not tried Adobe, but that's mostly because of time constraints. I'm getting prints ready for a show (or trying to) and I really needed this problem to have gone away last week :-(