Why won’t Lightroom 3 or Photoshop Elements 13 open Canon 7D Mark II RAW (.CR2) files?
Asked 6/30/2015
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I upgraded from a Canon 7D to a Canon 7D Mark II and shot a wedding in RAW. The files show up only as low-quality previews in my computer’s photo viewer, and I can’t import the .CR2 files into Lightroom 3 or Photoshop Elements 13. Both programs say they are up to date. Why aren’t these RAW files recognized, and what can I do to work with them?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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Even though the files from your new 7DII are in the .cr2 format, the data in a raw file is always sensor specific. That is, each different sensor design must be demosaiced/converted differently to get the same standardized results.
Lr 3 is a while back. The latest version of Adobe Camera Raw (which is used by Lr to demosaic raw files) that is compatible with Lr 3 was released a long time before the sensor in the Canon 7DII was developed. It is no surprise that Lr 3 can't handle the raw files from your new camera. Since Adobe has chosen to not support newer cameras with older versions of ACR/Lr, if you wish to work with the .cr2 files created by your 7DII you have a few options:
- Update your version of Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw to versions that can support the Canon EOS 7D Mark II.
- Use Canon's own Digital Photo Professional supplied with every Canon DSLR. Updates and even new versions such as the recently released version 4, are always free for owners of Canon EOS cameras.
- Convert the /cr2 files from your 7DII to the DNG format and edit them with Lr 3. Be aware that some information in the .cr2 file is discarded when converted to .dng. That information may or may not be important to you.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Nothing is wrong with the camera or files. Although both cameras use the .CR2 extension, RAW files are camera-specific. The Canon 7D Mark II uses a newer sensor, and older Adobe software can’t decode its RAW data.
Lightroom 3 is too old to support 7D Mark II RAW files. According to the community answers, support for this camera starts with Adobe Camera Raw 8.7+ and Lightroom 5.7+ or later. If your software says it’s up to date, that only means it has the latest update available for that old version—not support for newer cameras.
Your practical options are:
- upgrade Lightroom / Adobe Camera Raw to a version that supports the 7D Mark II
- use newer compatible software to convert or edit the RAW files
The poor-quality view you see in a basic photo viewer is typically just the embedded preview, not a full RAW rendering.
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