Rhodopsins are light-detecting proteins associated with retinal chromophores. Dysfunctional Rhodopsins cause retinal degeneration in humans and model organisms. However, the mechanisms by which photoreceptors regulate Rhodopsin homeostasis remains unknown. This study performed a photoreceptor-specific gene expression profiling analysis to examine how photoreceptors respond to stress. Cell type specific gene expression profiling was performed with adult Drosophila photoreceptors. Two genotypes were compared: ninaE wild type control and ninaEG69D/+ mutants that have chronic endoplasmic reticulum stress. The dataset contains RNA sequencing data, which revealed that Drosophila fatty acid binding protein is a gene required for Rhodopsin-1 protein homeostasis and photoreceptor survival.