Why will Photos no longer upload RAW files from my Fujifilm X100F camera to iCloud?

Nicholas,

Below is the procedure I followed with RAW photos from my X100F Fujifilm camera from May, 2018, until January, 2023. It is the same procedure I have been following with RAW photos for quite a few years.

One event that might have been significant was that I installed Ventura as soon as it came out. I always keep my OS up-to-date. I have been on the phone with Apple Support for many hours working through the problem, to no avail. Apple sort of gave up. The reps did say they did not believe this is a Ventura problem.

Procedure: After shooting pictures with the camera, I return to my MacBook Pro, pull the card from the camera and upload the RAW files through a card reader. The files go directly to an external drive that contains all my photos. After the upload, I open Photos and import the new photos into the application. I edit the files as needed.

In the past, as soon as the RAW files were imported into Photos, the application began uploading them to iCloud. Until about January, that process proceeded with no hitches. If I later edited a photo in Photos, the edits were uploaded to iCloud seamlessly.

Up to this point, I was a very happy camper.

Suddenly, I began to get notices in Photos that read like this: “Couldn’t Sync 3 items to iCloud.” From that point, none of the RAW files that I uploaded into Photos would sync to iCloud. (I have a very large collection of photos in my photo library and in iCloud, almost 46,000 items.) The items still are in Photos, but they will not upload.

During long conversations with Apple Support, the support persons managed to “force” some uploads by turning off syncing and turning it on again. (I’m rewatching IT Crowd now, so I love the phrasing.) Eventually, even that stopped being an effective workaround. Shortly thereafter I obtained a new iPhone 14. The phone automatically syncs all photos to iCloud, and they automatically download to Photos. Very nice, but that don’t feed the bulldog. I still want to be able to use my X100F, which has functionality the iPhone lacks.

I believe we even rebuilt my Photos library at one point. That didn’t help either.

[Added a bit later: I forgot to mention that jpeg's of any size that are imported into Photos upload to iCloud with no problems, as do the iPhone's RAW's. That holds true even if the jpeg's are derived from the Fujifilm RAW's.]

I’ve been ‘round the barn several times on this issue and I’m highly frustrated. Support offers no explanations. I should emphasize that support spent a great deal of time trying to help, and their attitudes and manner have been impeccable. Any hint of a direction I might take would be very much appreciated.

By the way, I just tried once again to force an upload from Photos to iCloud, and no can do. I also reviewed the article you linked and it covers familiar material that hasn’t helped with this issue.

Thank you for your suggestions. I very much appreciate the help. Here’s what I’ve done:

Have you tried importing directly from your X100F camera to iCloud photos instead of the external drive?

Yes.

Have you tried a different SD card?

Yes.

Have you had a chance to test another digital camera with iCloud Photos?

Yes.

Have you contacted Fuji regarding the issues you are having with the X100F camera?

No. That’s a daunting task. It’s terribly difficult to get them to discuss this kind of problem. Their attitude is that they enable me to take pictures, and from there it’s someone else’s problem. I do keep my camera firmware up-to-date.

Based on the troubleshooting you have done so far with Apple, it seems these would be the next troubleshooting steps.

I agree, and much of it, I have done.

Thanks!!

Well, I spent some time at the Fujifilm web site and explored all their support functions. No go. I did triple-check to be certain my firmware is up-to-date, and it is.

It appears to me that, either intentionally or unintentionally, Apple has ceased to support Fujifilm's RAW format and that I am an orphan. (The fact that Apple's best techs were baffled suggest this was unintentional.) I love Photos, but I may have to leave it for another platform.

If you have any ideas, please share! Thanks!

Thank you, Brian! I’ll try the link with fingers crossed. I must confess that I have my doubts, but any port in a storm.