Sony raw (.arw) reader/plugin for Photoshop/Bridge - Mac

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 Blue Straggler 05 Jul 2017
Hi.

I have a little old Sony NEX F3 which shoots raw files (Sony's .arw format)

I have an old (2011) MacBook Pro running Sierra 10.12.4

I have Photoshop CS6 (came with the Mac) and Adobe Bridge CS6.

This all works very nicely for working with Canon raw files (.cr2)

Bridge does not seem to support Sony raw files

I tried briefly a couple of weeks ago to install what I thought was either a plugin for Bridge or a separate Sony raw reader; I was away travelling with work and relying on a slow hotel wi-fi and also was shattered in the evening so maybe I was getting it all wrong, but none of it seemed to want to co-operate.

Could someone kindly give me some pointers please?

Thanks
In reply to Blue Straggler:
Check what version of camera raw you have already installed - you need version 7.1 for your camera according to Adobe. Choose photoshop > about plugin > camera raw and it should show the version you have installed. Update if necessary to a min of 7.1 and it should, in theory , work.

An alternative is to convert the raw files to DNG and import those to Photoshop - https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/adobe-dng-converter.html .
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
Thanks, it's 7.0.0.308

I'll look into upgrading
It looks like I tried this already but as mentioned, I was not concentrating properly. I might have rushed and tried the CC version instead of CS6

Cheers
Post edited at 10:35
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
This (updating Camera Raw) has worked perfectly! Many thanks!
I find the Camera Raw plugin interface much simpler to use than the standard Photoshop. Simpler = speedier. I often only make global changes, obviously I'd go into Photoshop for altering selections.
Post edited at 14:37
In reply to Blue Straggler:
Glad it worked.

My similar "problem" is not as simple! I mainly use Lighroom and can't update any further to be able to read my current camera's raw files.

I therefore need to buy an upgrade. Currently waiting, not so patiently, for LR 7 to be released which is long overdue, based on past upgrade releases, rather than buy LR6 and then again upgrade in a few months.

My various work arounds meantime are a pain. One, converting to DNG, loses some metadata like date of shot on saving to hdd.

Anyway, I digress. Worth remembering though if you upgrade your camera, check the min raw converter version needed and whether your current PS version can support it.
Edit - auto correct!!
Post edited at 15:09
In reply to Blue Straggler:

I think the mods should archive this as a very rare case of someone asking a technical question and getting a single positive suggestion, testing it, finding that it's worked, and coming back to thank the person who helped.

This might be unique!
Nobody has told me to dump the MacBook or to forget Photoshop CS6 etc :-D
Frankly I am amazed.
 MrRiley 06 Jul 2017
In reply to Climbing Pieman:

If you convert to dng as part of the import process in LR6 I think there are options to select which meta data to retain
In reply to MrRiley:
Thanks, but I have an older version of LR and it can't read the current raw files (too old to be updated with the camera raw version needed), therefore can't convert on import. I can convert to Dng with Adobe's dng converter first and save to hdd. However, when importing I can't see date of shot which is a pain as my method of file naming within LR starts with yr/mth/day format. Means a lot of moving shots later between folders, so I have stopped doing that until I decide on the way forward.

Ideally I think if LR7 is nearing release, I'll wait. Looking at a one year CC sub though as a posssible alternative, but I believe that there are problems later like the catalogue created in CC can't ever be read by a standalone LR version. Still thinking it though as to what will be best for me!
 HeMa 07 Jul 2017
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
> My various work arounds meantime are a pain. One, converting to DNG, loses some metadata like date of shot on saving to hdd.

This seems odd, considering date of pics/shoot/picture taken is a very commonly used attribute, heck it's even part of default EXIF data sets. In fact, Adobe clearly states that on conversion EXIF data (including date & time) are stored also on DNG.

So either there is something funny going on (incorrect DNG version, so not supported on the PS end) or the RAW from the camera is all fvcked up.
In reply to HeMa:
Ah I should have added for clarification that after importing dngs to LR I can then see the date, but not before (and during import), when stored on hdd prior to importing, I can't view it with windows (file explorer, photo viewer, etc) which is where the problem of sorting into folders for import, general browsing/deleting/etc is a pain. Oddly, after dng conversion, windows shows date of creation as the date the conversion took place and not the date of shot.

I did read online that you need to download some software to update windows' ability to read exif file properties (something to do with win 10 only as earlier versions are ok), but as I am hoping this is a short lived problem I am not going to bother. I really hope LR 7 is coming soon .

Of course, if I just used one sd card per shoot then it would be much easier, so it's my bad practice of being lasy and filling sd cards with more than one shoot.
 HeMa 07 Jul 2017
In reply to Climbing Pieman:

> Ah I should have added for clarification that after importing dngs to LR I can then see the date, but not before (and during import), when stored on hdd prior to importing, I can't view it with windows (file explorer, photo viewer, etc) which is where the problem of sorting into folders for import, general browsing/deleting/etc is a pain. Oddly, after dng conversion, windows shows date of creation as the date the conversion took place and not the date of shot.

Thats because Windows doens't fully (or at all) support DNG and can't read the EXIF date. So not oddly at all, Windows is showing the conversion date (as it is the date of creationh).

But you can add the file naming (on DNG creation) to include the date as part of it...

 Acrid Dragon 27 Jul 2017
In reply to Blue Straggler:

Lightroom can completely satisfy your software needs. This soft is very flexible and useful.
I definitely love it and my favourite feature is lightroom preset. There are some free lightroom presets btw on Damagedphotorestoration website. Hope you'll enjoy it!

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