Eos 5D Mark III and Lightroom Problem

[elektratig]

I tried to upload a few test RAW photos from my new EOS 5D Mark III to Lightroom 3 DNG and got an "Import Results" box that says "The files are from a camera which is not recognized by the raw format support in Lightroom." The files are then listed in the format (for example) _K2A0005.CR2.

I've been using Lightroom for over a year with my EOS 60D without incident. What am I doing wrong? Lightroom recognizes the camera as a 5D Mark III.

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie to the forum.

- e

 

[Light Guru]

Your version of Lightroom is to old for your new camera.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Canon CR2 (Raw) files are proprietary, and every new camera has it's own raw files. Companies like Adobe, have to wait for new cameras to come out, and then create updates to their software that will allow them to read the new raw files. They usually update their software a few times a year.

The unfortunate consequence of this, is that they may not update older versions of the software, just the latest version. So if you have a very new camera, and older software, you may have a compatibility issue.

You have a few options. Firstly, you can use the software that came with the camera, probably Canon Digial Photo Pro, to process your raw files into TIFF or JPEG, then import those into LR.
You could download the free Adobe DNG converter, then use it to convert your CR2 Raw files into DNG Raw files, and then import those.
But my recommendation would be to purchase the Lightroom 4 upgrade, making sure you get the most up to date version. There are many improvements in LR4 over LR3...that alone would be worth the upgrade cost, but being able to directly import your raw files is a big benefit as well.

 

[bratkinson]

As Big Mike noted above, Adobe, as well as all other software vendors, don't "across the board" update all their software when newer versions are available.

When I decided to start using Lightroom 15 months ago, I wanted LR4 but had an XP computer, so I had to get LR3, as LR4 is Win 7 and later compatibility (or is it Vista and later?). OK, but then I built a new computer with Win 7 and found LR3 won't run under Win7. OK, LR4 time. Fortunately, they have a money-saving 'upgrade' version needing only the old serial number for validation. Then I bought a 5D3 this last November. Had to get the free update to the latest version of LR4 to get 5D3 support.

I think of it like General Motors. Why should they keep making parts for 1995 automobiles? And, as expected, 1995 parts won't work in 2013 products...or 1996 cars, either.