Why doesn’t darktable auto-detect my lens for lens correction after reinstalling Debian?

Asked 12/13/2017

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2 answers

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After reinstalling Debian, darktable no longer auto-detects my lens for lens correction, and I have to choose it manually each time. The lens is a Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II. EXIF data is present, and I can manually select a matching lens profile in darktable. I also tried reinstalling darktable from Debian backports, but the issue remained. What could cause darktable to stop recognizing the lens automatically, and how can I fix it?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

2

I've only seen failure to choose because the database is out of date.

Try updating the lensfun database, e.g. sudo lensfun-update-data. Do look at the documentation and stuff before you run some random ol' sudo command though ;)

Originally by user67603. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user67603

8y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

The most likely cause is an outdated or missing lensfun database. darktable relies on lensfun for lens identification and correction profiles, so after reinstalling Debian you may have ended up with an older database even if darktable itself is installed correctly.

What to try:

  • Install the lensfun tools package if needed: liblensfun-bin
  • Update the lensfun database with: lensfun-update-data

Since your EXIF output shows lens information is present, the problem is probably not the RAW file metadata. If darktable lets you manually choose the correct Nikon 18-55mm profile, that also points to lensfun’s automatic matching/database state rather than a missing profile entirely.

So the fix is usually to make sure lensfun is installed and its database is current. If auto-detection still fails after updating, it may be a profile matching issue between the EXIF naming and the lensfun entry, but the first and most likely step is updating lensfun data.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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