Today, Leica Camera has issued a notice regarding a compatibility issue with DNG files from new Monochrom (Typ 246) and Apple's Photos App. From Leica:
Leica Camera would like to inform you that the Leica Monochrom (Typ 246)’s DNG files are currently incompatible with Apple’s ‘Photos’ App in Mac OS X Yosemite causing the library to crash and potentially lose all existing image files in the Apple Photos library.
As we will start shipping the new Leica Monochrom in the coming days, it is important that all dealers, sales personnel and customers are aware of this incompatibility issue.
With the new Apple ‘Photos’ App, when loading Monochrom DNG files from the new Monochrom, the library will crash continuously on loading. This may cause the Apple Photos library to be destroyed. This means that pictures previously taken with any other camera will be lost. As such, Leica Camera does not recommend using the Apple ‘Photos’ App for DNG files from the new Monochrom (Typ 246) until further notice.
Leica and Apple are collaborating to resolve this issue and develop a solution so that the DNG files from the new Monochrom can be used with the ‘Photos’ App without any issues in the near future. It is anticipated that Apple will have this resolved in the next update for ‘Photos’.
Meanwhile, we recommend all users of the new Leica Monochrom to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC/6 for DNG files of the new Monochrom. The latest version of Adobe Photoshop is fully compatible with Mac and Windows PC. The JPEG files from the new Leica Monochrom work with all Apple applications.
Leica Camera Inc. will include a ‘Warning Notice’ regarding the Leica Monochrom (Typ 246)’s incompatibility with Apple’s ‘Photo’ App in all product boxes.
We always recommend using Adobe products to process Leica DNG files, but if you are using the Photos app in Mac OSX it is important to be aware of this issue. Please do not hesitate to call or email us with any questions.
Which versions of Mac OS X have this issue? Is it only the recent OS X, the one that killed off Aperture?
Also there are other programs for extracting DNGs than Adobe products. (I also note the omission of PhotoShop and PhotoShop Elements.)
OS X Yosemite definitely has the issue. Older version probably have it as well, but this hasn’t been confirmed to my knowledge.
While there are certainly other programs that can open Leica DNG files, I’ve found the best results from Adobe Lightroom. Leica has been working closely with Adobe since 2008 and all Leica cameras come bundled with Lightroom.
I explored this a bit in Leica And Apple And DNG! Oh My!, which includes instructions for recovering a Photos library corrupted by the DNG import.
Thanks, Mike.
May I ask if this Apple Photos App Leica DNG file transfer bug has been fixed? Many thanks!
Yes, this was fixed a while back.