Rotate Portrait Shots on Import

[Remo Nonaz]

When I import photos into Lr, Lr does not rotate my portrait-mode images to vertical. I need to select and rotate them after importing.

I found an old post on the Adobe Lr forum that says one needs to have the auto-detect feature in your camera (if it has one) set to on so that image orientation is written into the metadata - then Lr can respond and rotate the image accordingly.

I carefully read the manual for my GH2 camera and the only reference to this is that you must set one of the display settings in order for the camera to auto-rotate the image in playback mode. I checked my camera and I do have this feature enabled, but Lr apparently is not reading or getting this information.

Are there any other known ways to make Lr recognize and auto-rotate portrait format images?

[dieter268]

I took a quick look at the manual provides as PDF.
It says on page 36 (US version):

You can only use the Direction Detection Function when using a compatible lens.
(Refer to the catalogue, website etc. for compatible lenses.)

I have no expierience with panasonic or 4/3ds cameras, but this sounds like the orientation sensor is part of the lens.
So if your lens probably isn't "compatibe" in the above sense, you will not get the orientation info.
That info is written into the Exif data, under "Orientation".
I did not find a way to show that particular info in LR, but there are a lot of free Exif data viewers that will show that tag.

Hope it helps

Dieter

[Remo Nonaz]

I did some more digging on this and have discovered that the Panasonic camera only puts the orientation information into the efex data if you are using a Panasonic lens with optical image stabilization. I have two lenses with OIS and several others that do not. If this information is correct, it would mean that auto-rotation in Lr should work in some situations but not in others, which may explain my confusion.

I will be covering a golf event in a couple of weeks and will be taking about a thousand photos; about 80% of them will be in portrait mode. I will be using one of my Panasonic OIS lenses. It would be a big time saver to have Lr orient them correctly. I'll have to do some experimentation before then and confirm exactly how this works.

[Remo Nonaz]

I tested this this evening. Using a Panasonic OIS lens Lr does auto-rotate the image to portrait mode. It does not matter if you set the camera playback, 'rotate display' to auto-rotate or not. Either way Lr turns the image ninety degrees.

I checked the Panasonic 1.7/20, which is not stabilized, and vertical images with it do not auto-rotate in Lr nor do they rotate on the camera viewing screen when 'rotate display' is enabled. The other images I have recently imported were all with old primes, which is why they were not auto-rotating in Lr.

[dieter268]

Remo,

Due to your testing it seems evident now that the senror for the orientation is in the lens, and not in the camera.
So the only way to get orientation is to use a OIS lens.