Codec problem/error with CR3 files of EOS R5 Mark II

[hanswkraus]

Hi, "imatch_licensed_2025_4_4_x64.exe" shows thumbnails of CR3 files from my EOS R5 Mark II in pink and pale, see the appended (partial) screenshot. Thumbnails of CR3 files of my EOS R7 are displayed OK. I have done (with no avail):
1. Uninstall and reinstall IMatch, force update per Ctrl-Shift-F5
2. Set "Prefer photools.com RAW processing to yes" in application settings,  force update per Ctrl-Shift-F5
Kind regards, Hans

[Mario]

Both WIC and LibRaw report that the images don't contain an embedded preview. Hence IMatch is forced to "develop" the RAW data, which produces whatever WIC or LibRaw deliver. Bot are not RAW processors, obviously. That's where all the research and development from DxO, C1 and Adobe steps in - producing a neat image from the RAW Bayer matrix in the RAW data.

Did you disable the option to store a preview with the RAW in your camera?
If you shot RAW + JPG, you can make the JPG a visual proxy version.

[hanswkraus]

Hi, some more diagnosis input:
The problem shows itself if my EOS R5 Mark II is set to HEIF shooting (HDR Shooting (PQ) set to HDR PQ). The camera produces then files with the extension 'HIF', which are, according to the manual, HEIF images. I have installed the Microsoft HEIF extensions. Images from my cell phone with extension 'heic' are displayed correctly.  'HIF' images are not displayed. My assumption is that the Thumbnail/Preview images are in this unknown format also. Until now I found no possibility to show these  'HIF' files. Samples are under https://jottacloud.com/s/1169adcc51758064d6f9d81adc709cbef13
Kind regards, Hans

[Mario]

IMatch processes all HEIC/HEIF/HIF/HEICS/HEIFS/AVCS/AVCI/AVIF/AVIS via the (if installed) WIC codec.

The CR3 fie from your samples has no embedded preview. And "developing" it with WIC or LibRaw produces the result you see. I've explained that above. Use your RAW processor and create a JPG version to your taste. Then make the JPG the visual proxy for the RAW via a version rule.

Maybe switch to DNG workflow? If you are concerned about the original RAW, DNG can contain a copy of it, in addition to standard DNG RAW data and an embedded preview (which IMatch can use).

Trying to load the HIF file via the  Windows HEIF/HEIC WIC codec produces this error message:

3222093452 'The Media format is recognized but is invalid.'
(File loaded with 8192 x 5464 but WIC CopyPixels failed (C00D3E8C The Media format is recognized but is invalid.)) 0x0 pixel in 0 ms.

and this is where the journey ends. Your camera writes HEIF files in a variant not (yet) understood by the WIC codec in Windows, and that's the only way for me to load these files. Nothing I can do about it. Proprietary file formats etc. I've explained about it many times. Maybe WIC will never support this variant, maybe Microsoft updates the codec at some point in time.

Basic HEIC usage is only free for non-commercial purposes (AKA open source software) and most likely does not apply to IMatch (which is a "commercial" product). To access/play videos encoded in HEIC/HEIF e.g. using HECV or AVC, is always subject to royalty payments to Apple, Nokia and hundreds of other companies with patents used in HEIF/HEIF. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Image_File_Format

The "preview" folder contains two .dat files of unknown nature. Not JPG files or other image formats ExifTool or my image library can detect.

Photoshop rejects the HIF file, but Lr can import it. Strange.