I can not see my A77 raw files in PMB, does anyone have any ideas?

[niallen18]

I recently upgraded from a A500 series to an A77. I am running version 5.8.00 of PMB, I can see the Raw files from my A500, but not my A77. Does anyone know why that is?

I have uninstalled the software and re installed it twice, but still no good. I have uninstalled and re installed using the software that came with the A77. Still no good. I have tried updating to version 5.8.02, but the updater says nothing needs updating. I had tried a A77 in a shop before buying and imported those files and I could see them, but nothing off my own camera.

I don't have a problem viewing the files with the raw converter or CS5. Issue is just with PMB

Help anyone?

Can I just add, that if I go to add folders, the folders are there and down the right hand side, I can see the thumb nails of the images that I can't see in the main browser. View all files is checked in the browser, so I don't understand why I can't see them!

Message was edited by: niallen18

Message was edited by: niallen18

[blaireau_photo]

Hello niallen18 - Welcome to the Sony Forums

First of all, this may be something that you have already tried, but you could always completely uninstall PMB from your machine and then try installing version 5.8.02 using the information/download available on this page:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SLT-A77/downloads/download_manager

As long as you have your A77 connected to your computer while you go through this process, this should allow you to get the latest version of PMB installed on your computer.

Thanks,

Simon

[niallen18]

Thanks Simon, but I have already tried that, but my PMB will not update to anything newer.

Regards Nick

[Mick2011]

Hi Nick

Are you only shooting RAW? PMB needs to be set up to display RAW files, JPEGs should show up fine.

Select [View] > [Open file type] and select [Show all]

Hope that does the trick

Cheers

Mick

[niallen18]

Thanks Mick, but it's set to display all.

I have raw files from both an A450 and A500 and you can see all of them. I just can't see those from my A77.

If I go to add folders and select a folder with A77 raw files on the right hand side, they appear, but they don't appear in the browser. Jpegs, Tiffs not a problem.

I tried again yesterday, to un install and re install, still nothing. I have tried to update to the latest version but it doesn't complete the install. I see a banner saying that there is no software to update.

I need a better browser than Adobe Bridge, I think I am going to have to buy light room if I can't get this soughted.

Thanks Anyway.

[Mick2011]

I guess you have two choices here. We could attempt to troubleshoot PMB, which tbh is not a very good tool for RAW at all, or I could persuade you to save heaps of your time and energy and import all your a450/500 and a77 images into a dedicated RAW processor instead.

Bridge is ok, I guess you already know its limitations. There are others that do the job of importing, databasing and processing efficiently enough but if you intend shooting mostly RAW there are only two real contenders, IMO: DxO and Lightroom.

I used DxO for a year or so before jumping to Lightroom and I've never looked back. Others swear DxO gives better results but I find the difference minimal at best & largely down to personal taste. I reckon LR does almost everything else in a neater and more intuitive way.

For the money (both around £100) I'd say either would be the next best investment to the a77 itself. Free software really doesn't do anything well beyond cater for snapshot JPEGs. However if you want to persevere with it, I can maybe offer some advice on that too

Let me know what you decide.

Cheers

Mick

[niallen18]

Thanks for the advice Mick.

I only really wanted to use PMB as a browser, but I think I will have to give up on it.

I really only shoot in raw and I use the Adobe raw converter which is OK, but I know isn't as good as the one in LR. I use CS5 and can't praise highly enough Nik Fx as a plugin.

I might trial DxO I would assume you can export to CS5.

I will let you know how I get on with DxO

Cheers Nick

[Mick2011]

niallen18 wrote:
I only really wanted to use PMB as a browser

I hear you

I'm not sure about W7 but once the files are uploaded to LR my Mac lets me browse RAW files from within the folder directory: any decent RAW processor should generate thumbnails that get saved with the resulting file.

Anyway...

From what you say I'd definitely look at a trial version of Lightroom. It links seamlessly with CS5 (both use the same Bridge engine) and actually does 95% of the stuff I used to use CS5 for. Staying in one app for pretty much everything except layers-based editing has been a huge plus for me, even if I do now wonder whether CS5 was worth the money!

Let me know how you get on

Mick

[cmosse]

I have tested with my PMB (which is version 5.8.02): All A77 raw files can be browsed with it, no problems.

Double check if "Display all" or "Display RAW" is selected, see screenshot.

Perhaps you need to install the Image Data Converter 4.0, which is supplied with the camera (or can be downloaded from the Sony support site)