Dumb me!

Scotts Photographs · Oct 4, 2012

Well, I saved my shekels and bought an a57. Lovely camera. One problem. I didn't check whether my version of Lightroom (3.6) would support the raw format. Nope. I run on WinXP. Hence, no Lightroom 4.x for me, unless I want to purchase a Win7 machine. The rest of my Windows software is not generally Win7 compatible, so there would be all that cost as well. What boggles my mind is that the a55 was supported as of Lightroom 3.2. Is there a good reason that Sony changed the RAW format from the a55 to the a57? You'd think that a 16MP raw file from one camera model to the next would be the same, but it seems not.

At this point, since I can't justify spending several times the cost of the new camera to support the file format, it looks like the camera will be returned. I'm not interested in messing around with DNG files. I'll just stick to my a100 and a300, I guess... gee, their raw file formats are the same.. go figure.

TrojMacReady · Oct 4, 2012

Scotts Photographs said:
Scotts Photographs wrote:

Well, I saved my shekels and bought an a57. Lovely camera. One problem. I didn't check whether my version of Lightroom (3.6) would support the raw format. Nope. I run on WinXP. Hence, no Lightroom 4.x for me, unless I want to purchase a Win7 machine. The rest of my Windows software is not generally Win7 compatible, so there would be all that cost as well. What boggles my mind is that the a55 was supported as of Lightroom 3.2. Is there a good reason that Sony changed the RAW format from the a55 to the a57? You'd think that a 16MP raw file from one camera model to the next would be the same, but it seems not.

At this point, since I can't justify spending several times the cost of the new camera to support the file format, it looks like the camera will be returned. I'm not interested in messing around with DNG files. I'll just stick to my a100 and a300, I guess... gee, their raw file formats are the same.. go figure.

tnagy · Oct 4, 2012

Scotts Photographs said:
Scotts Photographs wrote:

Well, I saved my shekels and bought an a57. Lovely camera. One problem. I didn't check whether my version of Lightroom (3.6) would support the raw format. Nope. I run on WinXP. Hence, no Lightroom 4.x for me, unless I want to purchase a Win7 machine. The rest of my Windows software is not generally Win7 compatible, so there would be all that cost as well. What boggles my mind is that the a55 was supported as of Lightroom 3.2. Is there a good reason that Sony changed the RAW format from the a55 to the a57? You'd think that a 16MP raw file from one camera model to the next would be the same, but it seems not.

At this point, since I can't justify spending several times the cost of the new camera to support the file format, it looks like the camera will be returned. I'm not interested in messing around with DNG files. I'll just stick to my a100 and a300, I guess... gee, their raw file formats are the same.. go figure.

VirtualMirage · Oct 4, 2012

TrojMacReady gave you the best answer.

But I wouldn't blame Sony on this one. If anything, blame Adobe. The RAW files between the A55 and A57 could be nearly identical save for a unique identifier that tells the RAW software what camera model it is and the Adobe software will still refuse it because the model name is not in their list. While there might be a little more to it and there are other cameras that have far more differences than that, it can be something as simple as model identifier that that would prevent you from opening it in Lightroom.

From my experience, Adobe hasn't been very helpful continuing new camera support on older software versions. As soon as they release a new version of software, expect maybe one update to the older software supporting new cameras. Then from there on, expect to upgrade your software.

I remember receiving my A77 last October and found it frustrating that Lightroom 2 wouldn't work with it. I was trying to hold out for Lightroom 4, but I ended up buying Lightroom 3 a few weeks after getting my camera when I saw it on sale just to end up upgrading to Lightroom 4 a few months later.

J Birn · Oct 4, 2012

As others said, Adobe DNG is an OK solution.

I actually would like an option to shoot in DNG format instead of Sony RAW files on future Sony cameras. Sony has switched away from proprietary formats before, like allowing SD instead of just Sony Memory Stick format media, and Sony certainly does partnerships with a lot of other companies. Maybe getting in bed with Adobe, they'll even end up with some bundled version of Lightroom instead of the Sony RAW converter shipping with their cameras.

Scotts Photographs · Oct 4, 2012

VirtualMirage said:
VirtualMirage wrote:

TrojMacReady gave you the best answer.

But I wouldn't blame Sony on this one. If anything, blame Adobe. The RAW files between the A55 and A57 could be nearly identical save for a unique identifier that tells the RAW software what camera model it is and the Adobe software will still refuse it because the model name is not in their list. While there might be a little more to it and there are other cameras that have far more differences than that, it can be something as simple as model identifier that that would prevent you from opening it in Lightroom.

From my experience, Adobe hasn't been very helpful continuing new camera support on older software versions. As soon as they release a new version of software, expect maybe one update to the older software supporting new cameras. Then from there on, expect to upgrade your software.

I remember receiving my A77 last October and found it frustrating that Lightroom 2 wouldn't work with it. I was trying to hold out for Lightroom 4, but I ended up buying Lightroom 3 a few weeks after getting my camera when I saw it on sale just to end up upgrading to Lightroom 4 a few months later.

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