Lens type metadata?

Hi. I know that when you open up a photo in Camera RAW it shows the lens type. And yet, I can't find this in the Aperture Metadata set. I would love to be able to group by lens type. Is this available somewhere and I'm missing it?
Also, are you able to sort within albums by things like aperture or shutter speed? I think the answer is no, but I'm not sure.
Thanks!
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.9)

You're hardly the only person who would like access to the EXIF lens type metadata info. I currently include the camera make and model in my web galleries and would like to do the same with the lens type.
AFAIK, the lens type is a standard EXIF field. ExifTool reads it without a hitch.
Be sure to submit Aperture feedback on this issue.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/aperture.html
Cheers,
Andreas

Similar Messages

Earlier iPhoto Edit, changes Lens Type in Aperture 3

I imported photos from my camera (Canon 7D) into iPhoto, then edited some of them using the Enhance tool (just being lazy). But I wanted to do some other work on the shoot, so I imported the photos from iPhoto into Aperture. The pattern I'm seeing with those shots Edited in iPhoto, is the lens type is changed in the metadata. While I don't own a EF 50 mm L f1.0 lens.. it shows as the lens type. Otherwise there seems to be no other changes. Any ideas about what is going wrong. Please note that different photos (those edited in iPhoto), show different lenses... while every shot was taken that set, was done with a EF70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens.

In a word, no.
Aperture and iPhoto are entirely different applications that work in very different ways.
The only communication between the two is as follows:
Aperture is able to parse the iPhoto Library to allow it to import the contents while stacking the Originals and Modified versions, preserving metadata and so forth.
Aperture can share its Previews with the iLife apps, including iPhoto.
That's it.
So, specifically, what interaction there is between the two is designed to facilitate migration from iPhoto to the more powerful app. After that, iPhoto has exactly the same relationship to the Aperture Library as, say, Pages or iMovie.
Regards
TD

How to create a people picker type metadata in a document set?

Hi folks,
I want to create a people picker type metadata in a document
set (it has some content types and it resides inside a library).
So please help me knowing steps for creating it.
Our web application is using classic based authentication therefore I want to retrieve the names and groups in people picker column from Active Directory.
Also, the document set library for which I want to create people picker metadata did not had document set before and documents where saved directly in content types as well as the metadata that now we are making as people picker was before of type Single line
of text.
So, whether after creating it of type people picker, at the time of moving documents into document set, it will create problem? If yes,than of of what kind and how can it be resolved?
Replies will be greatly appreciated.
-Ishita

Hi,
From your description, I know you want to add a people picker column in a document set, then add this document set into a document library.
If you want to add a people picker column in a document set you should create a document set first. You can know how to create and configure a document set by referring to this article: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-and-configure-a-new-Document-Set-content-type-9db6d6dc-c23a-4dcd-a359-3e4bbbc47fc1.
After creating a document set, you can follow these steps below to add a people picker column in a document set: click Site Actions -> Site Settings -> under Galleries section, Site content types -> find the content you want to add people
picker column -> under Columns section, Add from new site column -> Name and Type, enter your column name and choice Person or Group -> OK.
If you move documents into document set, it will keep the current properties. You can edit properties to change the document to another content type which is contained in the document set.
In my case, DocA is the content type of the document library, Document and DocB are content types of the document set.
If I have mis-understand, please let me know.
Best Regards

Pentax lens type not displayed in exif data.

I have an SMC Pentax-DA 18-250mm lens, which I use on my K10D. I save the raw files in .dng format directly on to the memory card, then import them unchanged into LR.
LR has persistently refused to show the lens type in the exif data for this lens - other Pentax lenses that I have work fine, as do all the other lenses that I have used in the past. This applies to all LR versions, including the current v2.1 beta. It DOES correctly show the actual focal length used for the shot, and the 35mm equivalent.
The lens type data is definitely present in the .dng files - the Pentax supplied raw convertor shows it.
I know the lens is a relatively model from Pentax, but I bought it nearly a year ago now, and LR has undergone several updates since then - enough time for LR to catch up, I would have thought?
It is an annoyance, rather than a big deal, but I'd appreciate any thoughts or comments.
Cheers
Steve Morton

I am testing Lightroom 2. I believe this problem is still occuring.
Can this be confirmed?

Lens Exif metadata worked for KM but no more for Sony cams

Playing with the metadata panel in Aperture 2.1, I was surprised to see the information for the lens manufacturer/model for some shots I did with my old Konica-Minolta 5D DSLR.
Sony took over the Konica-Minolta DSLR system about 2 years ago and as many others I have since moved to a Sony A100 body and recently to an A700 body.
Using the very same lenses, that give me detailed lens Exif metadata with the old Konica-Minolta 5D, the metadata field is empty with Sony A100 and A700 files.
A bit annoying, that the 4 years old Konica-Minolta 5D is supported in Aperture, while the follow up models from Sony are not.
Hope this will be fixed in the next update.
Peter

Steve,
you are probably right, that Sony is encoding the lens data in a somewhat non standard way.
But as far as I know, in the EXIF of the Konica-Minolta files, this was done as well in a non standard way, by storing a binary lens code (at least I don't find any plaintext lens data in the image file, when I peek into it with a low level file-editor like Hexedit). As the lens information is displayed in clear text for the Konica-Minolta files within Aperture, Apple must have already integrated a lens database holding data for Konica-Minolta and Sony lenses. Interestingly even new Sony lenses like the Carl-Zeiss 16-80 lens show up, when used on an old Konica-Minolta DSLR.
For me it looks like Sony might store the same lens-code now in a different proprietary EXIF field but Aperture is still looking into the old Konica-Minolta EXIF field, which is non existent or empty.
So yes, Sony probably broke it, but there was enough time for Apple to fix it, especially as they have updated the lens database all the time. It is weired to add all recent Sony lenses to Aperture's lens database, but make the data only available, if you use the lenses on a 5 years old Konica-Minolta body.
So I repeat my request for Apple to fix this in Aperture soon.
Peter

Adding a lens to metadata

I frequently use an old Nikkor 500mm CAT lens with my D100 Nikon. Since the CAT 500 is completely manual - even the f stop is fixed at f/8 - all the pictures taken with this lens appear as "unknown lens" in the metadata.
Is there a way to manually add to the list the 500mm lens? It would be easy to select the pictures shot with this lens and make the assignment manually.
Thank you.

I asked 1st question because, if you were familiar with ExifTool, then I would give just commands needed. This would be the faster way to help you -but, as you've noticed, quite complicated.
2nd question was for case, your answer to 1st question would be "no" and I could maybe help you anyway -which is the case here.
First, please visit my homepage http://freeweb.siol.net/hrastni3/ -and download ExifToolGUI (wouldn't hurt if you also read what's written there).
In short: using ExifToolGUI, you can manually define lens for all selected image files (see menu "Modify>Nikon Makernotes").
I don't have example of image file taken with such lens (to see all "unknown" data inside file). Because of that, all selected files (where Exif:Make=NIKON) will be updated -so be carefull which files you select/edit.
Even further: I don't own Nikon camera nor Nikon software -so after modifying image file with ExifToolGUI, tryout opening image with Nikon software.
For Lightroom: after modified image file is imported, all relevant lens data appear inside Lightroom as expected.
I hope that is of some help to you.
Greetings,
Bogdan
PS: It was confirmed, that ExifToolGUI runs on Vista too.

"Lens Model" metadata field

I have been using Aperture 2 version 2.14 for about a week. Yesterday I noticed that a master showed one lens model and a version of that master showed another. The correct data is associated with the master and is "EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM" but the version shows the lens as a "Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG MACRO or Tokina AT-X242AF 24-200mm F3.5-5.6" which I do not own.
The subject photo was taken in the last few days so it's not a legacy photo from my previous software.
Has anyone noticed this before?

To the best of my knowledge this field is just text - Aperture does no translation of any kind on it so... This is the most funky thing that I have ever heard, it would sort of be like someone saying something like "Hey I have a Nikon D3x and a couple of my .NEF RAW files spontaneously turned into .CR2 files and they work and say that I have a Canon 40D but I don't even own a Canon, can somebody tell me why Aperture did this"
The answer is that Aperture didn't do it.
Bring up the RAW file that is a problem in the finder or export that master from Aperture and use another tool to look at the lens model data - it will say the same thing. If it does not say the same thing then this is the most whacky data corruption issue I have ever heard of where random data just happens to match up with actual lens manufacturers and models that actually exist.
RB

Syntax of COMPUTE_EXPR in target type metadata

Anyone knows what's the syntax of that expression? I can do basic stuff there like calculating rate from cumulative counters. I need, however, to have something like DECODE or CASE to overcome huge negative values in case of counter overflow.
If I have transient column COL I put formula like:
(COL - _COL) / __intervalIf that expression is negative I want it it to be 0 or better yet empty (NULL).

COMPUTE_EXPR: This attribute specifies the formula for calculating the value of the column. Columns previously defined in the Table descriptor can participate in the calculation. Attaching a ‘_’ prefix to a column name denotes previous value of a column. Support for string expressions is introduced in version 10.2. Please refer to the Examples for details about the expression grammar and usage.
Predefined special values:
a) __interval: collect interval.
b) __sysdate: current system time.
c) __GMTdate: current GMT time.
d) __contains: tests a given string expression for presence of a string expression.
e) __beginswith: tests whether a given string expression begins with a specified string expression.
f) __endswith: testw whether a given string expression ends with the specified string expression.
g) __matches: tests whether a given string expression matches a specified string expression.
h) __delta: computes the difference between the current value and the previous value.
i) __leadingchars: returns the leading characters in the specified string.
j) __trailingchars: returns the trailing characters in the specified string.
k) __substringpos: returns the position of the occurrence of the pattern within a specified string.
l) __is_null: tests whether the expression is NULL
m) __length: returns the length of the string expression.
n) __to_upper: converts the string to upper case.
o) __to_lower: converst the string to lower_case.
p) __ceil: returns the smallest integral value not less than identifier.
q) __floor: returns the largest integral value not greater than the identifier.
r) __round: rounds to nearest integer, away from zero.
Compute Expression support:
Supported Grammar:
expression := (cond_expr | (cond_expr ? cond_expr : cond_expr)
cond_expr := (string_expr |
(string_expr == string_expr) |
(string_expr < string_expr) |
(string_expr > string_expr) |
(string_expr <= string_expr) |
(string_expr >= string_expr) |
(string_expr __contains string_expr) |
(string_expr __beginswith string_expr) |
(string_expr __endswith string_expr) |
(string_expr __matches string_expr) |
(string_expr __delta string_expr))
string_expr := (simple_expr |
(simple_expr __leadingchars simple_expr) |
(simple_expr __trailingchars simple_expr) |
(simple_expr __substringpos simple_expr))
simple_expr := (term |
(simple_expr + term ) |
(simple_expr - term) )
term := (unary_expr |
(term * unary_expr ) |
(term / unary_expr ) )
unary_expr := (factor |
(__is_null factor) |
(__length factor) |
(__to_upper factor) |
(__to_lower factor) |
(__ceil factor) |
(__floor factor) |
(__round factor) )
factor := ( identifier |
string_literal |
number |
'(' expression ')' )
string_literal := '\'' (character | "\\'" )* '\''

Photoshop not seeing lens model in exif data from A3 export

Hi, I am trying to use the lens correction features in CS5 but the lens type can't be read in the exif data of an image I've exported from A3. It sees the focal length and body type. The lens type is listed in the Metadata Inspector in A3. I took the image into iPhoto and checked "extended photo info" and the lens type isn't there either. This happens with at least 2 lenses. One prime and one zoom. Any ideas?

Hi again
Having played with metadata a bit more, it is possible to include EXIF data for the lens size etc.. eg...EF300mm f2.8L IS USM But it doesn't append the manufacturer's name, eg I use Canon, yet 'Canon' is not appended to the Lens data like it is to the camera name..
In the library Inspector click > Metadata > where it says 'General' click the down arrow, then click > Edit > from the window that appears click > EXIF > from the drop down list click > Lens (scroll down a bit)
The lens you used will now be appended to your data.
I have not tried exporting this to Photoshop so maybe you could post back if its possible to export this data to PS or not.
Maybe someone has information on this and can chip in here with advice....
Hope this is helpful....... Gerry....
PS to all reading this, I also noticed while playing around with this ( I have not delved into metadata too much since Ap2) that all my personal details like mobile number, address, email etc are all appended by default, I imagine my address book info has been used here.
A useful feature indeed while selling photo's, or if you intend it to be there..... but not so good if you are not aware it's there in the first place.....!
Just a shared thought to whom it may concern....... Gerry.
Message was edited by: windhoveruk

Adobe Bridge Canon .mov Metadata Importing

I am using Adobe Bridge CS4 on Windows XP SP3 32bit.
I have recently seen the light and am now going through my years of photos and videos and adding metadata tags and key words. I realise that my image files which consist mostly of Canon RAW files largely look after them self in that all the meta data recorded by the camera is easily read. Things like aperture, lens type etc are easily seen and seen to be accurately captured.
With my video files however (at the moment I'm concentrating on 5D Mark II video files) I have come to realise that there is no metadata like there is in photos embedded within the file. Bridge just picks up the basic file info which is relatively inaccurate when it comes to creation date etc. After becoming disillusioned with the lack of metadata on my videos I then realised that when I use Zoom Browser (Canon image and video browsing software) that it has a stack of information that Bridge doesn't see. After some investigating I opened some .thm files with note pad and found the metadata stored in those.
From what I understand these are known as side car files. However as I want one program to rule them all, I want Bridge to have all the metadata. I had planned on manually entering all the data that I could read from Zoom Browser into Bridge but even this won't work because things like Aperture and Creation Date aren't editable fields in Bridge.
Is there a way I can get Bridge to extract the data from these .thm files?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Curt,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, White Balance is checked in preferences/metadata. All of the Exposure metadata entries are also checked.
I forgot to mention that my version of Camera Raw is 4.5 (the latest).
You know, although White Balance is checked, I cannot find a White Balance text entry on any of the metadata lists (File properties, IPTC core, Camera Data (EXIF), etc.). The only place where I can see the White Balance setting in on the upper left corner of the Metadata tab, under the f-stop value.
Here is a personal question for you: When you browse your pictures in Adobe Bridge and you select one that was taken with a specific White Balance (not Auto), does your Adobe Bridge display an icon for that particular White Balance setting? I just want to eliminate the possibility that this happening only in my computer.
Thanks a lot for your time and attention.

Lightroom not reading correct data for Lens and Camera Serial Number

Hi you all.
Recently got Lightroom, and I'm so impressed - I never imagined image organizing and adjustment could be this easy and at the same time very advanced.
I have a problem, however. Lightroom (and Adobe Bridge, too) does not correctly read the EXIF data of Lens type and Camera Serial Number.
The first ~50 images I took and imported turned out correctly and displayed my serial number and lens (18-55 mm Canon) inside Lightroom.
But now, whenever I import photos into Lightroom or view them with Bridge, they all display "Unknown Lens" and "Unknown Camera Serial Number".
At first I thought that maybe the camera didn't correctly record this data on to the photos anymore for some reason, but a comparison using EXIFToolGUI shows that the metadata is EXACTLY the same as in the photos that display this info in Lightroom correctly.
I have not done any changes to either my camera (Canon EOS-350D / Digitial Rebel XT) or lens (the kit lens, 18-55 mm Canon).
It seems that for some reason, Lightroom has stopped reading these two fields of metadata - all the other fields, such as aperture and shutter speed, all display correctly.
I also tried to reimport the photos into Lightroom, but it didn't help. Neither did "Synchronize Folder" -> "Scan for metadata updates".
What should I do? I'd like my lens information do display correctly, as I'll buy a new lens soon.
I have attached one of the photos that Lightroom doesn't read the data correctly from. Try importing it into your Lightroom, and see if how the info displays.
Thanks in advance.

Are these jpgs or RAW? I have only edited metadata on jpgs.
It looks like Vista's import stripped out all the makernotes. I didn't look at your file but that seems to be what happened. Be warned, Photoshop CS2 also strips out makernotes!
Now how to fix the problem. If you want to edit the metadata on files already loaded into LR, you need to write out your metadata to the files first, then edit the metadata, then read the new metadata into LR. This is scarey for me, so I always make sure my backup is up to date on the images first.
What to do... You probably can't put back all of the makernotes, so what to do to get the lens information in. I don't know if putting back in the makernote LensType would trigger LR to reconsider its lens information. I don't know. If it had a real lens name, my guess would be no because it would have an XMP::Lens field which would override. But maybe unknown lens doesn't have this field and it would re-read the makernotes.
The other solution is to forget about makernotes for these images and put the exact text you want into XMP::Lens. I think that's the "easy" way.
In either case, you will have to become familiar with exiftoolGUI or exiftool itself. I use the command line exiftool but it looks like you can edit multiple files with exiftoolGUI. Select your files, click the edit thingy (^) under XMP, choose various, and there is lens. Put in the text you want.
I would do this with one file first. If the lens shows up after you read the new metadata into LR, you know you have it right.
Note, exiftool can write backup files for each file. This makes too much of a mess for me. I prefer to copy the directory first (I have copies anyway, I just have to make sure the backups are up to date).
Good luck! I'm struggling with a similar situation where the same lens used by two different cameras is coming out with a different name. I need to go back and "fix" the names in the images already imported, and then develop my procedure for setting a single unique name before I load new images into LR. Not too much of a problem because I'm loading in GPS information anyway... What's another call to exiftool...
Judy

Unknown camera and unknown lens

Hello,
For some reason today, Aperture is not recognizing my camera or lens when I import images from my memory card. There is no photo or exif metadata being reported by Aperture for the photo's imported today. Photo's that were imported last Monday have the correct photo and exif metadata.
Photo's were taken with a Nikon D7000 and 35mm f1.8 DX lens. I used ViewNX2 to grab the metadata from one of the photo's on the memory card and the camera make and lens information are correct. When I open the file in Preview.app I can see the following metadata in the "Exif" tab:
Color Space: sRGB
Components Configuration: 1, 2, 3, 0
Compressed Bits Per Pixel: 4
Contrast: Normal
Custom Rendered: Normal process
Date Time Digitized: 2012-10-14 11:13:36 AM
Date Time Original: 2012-10-14 11:13:36 AM
Digital Zoom Ratio: 1
Exif Version: 2.3
Exposure Bias Value: 0
Exposure Mode: Auto exposure
Exposure Program: Normal program
Exposure Time: 1/80
File Source: DSC
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
FlashPix Version: 1.0
FNumber: 1.8
Focal Length: 35
Focal Length In 35mm Film: 52
Gain Control: Low gain up
ISO Speed Ratings: 400
Light Source: unknown
Max Aperture Value: 1.6
Metering Mode: Pattern
Pixel X Dimension: 4,928
Pixel Y Dimension: 3,264
Saturation: Normal
Scene Capture Type: Standard
Scene Type: A directly photographed image
Sensing Method: One-chip color area sensor
Sharpness: Normal
Subject Distance Range: unknown
Sub-second Time: 60
Sub-second Time Digitized: 60
Sub-second Time Original: 60
User Comment:
White Balance: Auto white balance
AFInfo: 0.4147727, 0.6662071, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4786932, 0.6662071, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.5426136, 0.6662071, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.171875, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.2315341, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.2911932, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.3508523, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4147727, 0.5696998, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4786932, 0.5696998, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.5426136, 0.5696998, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.6065341, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.6661932, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.7258523, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.7855114, 0.5868566, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.171875, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.2315341, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.2911932, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.3508523, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4147727, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4786932, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, F, 0.5426136, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.6065341, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.6661932, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.7258523, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.7855114, 0.4731924, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.171875, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.2315341, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.2911932, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.3508523, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4147727, 0.376685, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4786932, 0.376685, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.5426136, 0.376685, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.6065341, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.6661932, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.7258523, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.7855114, 0.3595282, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4147727, 0.2801777, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.4786932, 0.2801777, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n, 0.5426136, 0.2801777, 0.04261364, 0.0536152, n
Flash Compensation: 0
Focus Distance: 0.376
Focus Mode: 1
Image Number: 8,823
Image Stabilization: 0
Lens ID: -2,147,483,648
Lens Info: 35, 35, 1.8, 1.8
Lens Model: AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G
Serial Number: (removed)
I noticed the Lens ID in the Aperture metadata shows -2,147,483,648. That seems odd to me. However, the Lens Model, and Lens Info appear correct. I checked the Lens ID number with Preview for one of the photo's in Aperture where the metadata appears correctly and it is the same -2,147,483,648 number. So, I surmise my camera likely does not use this field. From the "TIFF" tab I have the following metadata:
Artist:
Copyright:
Date Time: 2012-10-14 11:13:36 AM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D7000
Orientation: 1 (Normal)
Resolution Unit: inches
Software: Ver.1.02
X Resolution: 300
Y Resolution: 300
The Make (Nikon Corporation) and Model (Nikon D7000) appear correctly. There is a "Nikon" tab as well which reports:
Flash Setting: NORMAL
Focus Mode: AF-S
ISO Setting: 0, 400
Lens Type: 6
Quality: FINE
Shooting Mode: 1
Shutter Count: 8,823
White Balance Mode: AUTO1
None of this metadata makes it into Aperture for any of the photo's imported today even though the metadata is being viewed with Preview directly from the corresponding JPG files imported into the Aperture library.
Other information that may or may not be relevant:
I reinstalled Aperture a little over a week ago because the names of the adjustment bricks suddenly changed to names that all started with "DG..."
Adobe Flash suddenly stopped working when viewing an online video today and I could not view a flash video from any website after that. I uninstalled and reinstalled Flash.
OS X 10.8.2 supplemental update was installed today after I noticed this problem (from 10.8.2).
Any idea's?
Steve

Update.
I trashed the preferences and moved the ~/Library/Application Support/Aperture folder. No change.
I created a new library, imported a photo and then could not see the project. Quit and Aperture will not open the library but I can open it with iPhoto. Sure enough, the imported photo does not have the photo or exif metadata. However, if I create a duplicate of the exact same photo from the master directory in the library and import it again using iPhoto, the metadata appears.
So, definitely an Aperture issue. Will try another reinstall.

Aperture 3.4.5 EXIF Export (Lens information missing)

Hi, it seems this is not a new issue. But maybe there is a workaround. As Aperture 3.4.5 does not have tools for decent lens correction I was trying to establish a workflow with DxO Optics Pro 8.2. I prefer doing most of my adjustments with A3 based on Nikon NEF files (all Metadata is available). When I export the files (JPEG/TIFF) some of the Metadata gets lost, annoyingly enough incl. the lens type. Now this is a problem because DxO cannot work without this info. To do it the reverse (starting with DxO and the NEF) does not make sense to me. What should I do? PT Lens seems to work, but not as good as DxO. Apart from that, DxO has a nice noise reduction too. Any ideas how to handle that problem?

I use exiftool to add missing EXIF-tags, see these examples:
Modifying EXIF tags of Originals Using exiftool: camera, lens, gps
But I do not know of a graphical frontend for exiftool that works on a mac, so you would have to use the command line commands from the Terminal.

EXIF Tag problem / unknown lens

Hi everyone,
I imported a few raw files in lightroom 3.4.1 (mac version, but this is irrelevant), all of them are from Sony cameras and different lenses.
From the command line, exiftool always reports the correct camera model/lens, but lightroom often does not.
From the exiftool documentation, it seems that Sony has a specific EXIF tag for the lens model, called "LensID".
However when LR generates the xmp, it does write some lens information in it, but I cannot understand where it reads from.
For example, I run a sample query on a raw file, which LR correctly identifies, asking all possible lens-related fields:
exiftool -Lens -LensID -LensModel -LensType -LensMake -LensSerialNumber _DSC0350.ARW
Lens ID                         : Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
Lens Type                     : Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
and in the corresponding xmp file I have:
<aux:Lens>DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA</aux:Lens>
<aux:LensID>46</aux:LensID>
and if I query directly the xmp file (which exiftool can do):
exiftool -Lens -LensID -LensModel -LensType -LensMake -LensSerialNumber _DSC0350.xmp
Lens                            : DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
Lens ID                        : Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
So, the LR-generated "Lens" field in xmp is a *different* string.
If I repeat the same procedure on some different raw files (from different sony cameras), I get different results: most times the xmp contains no lens field, and LR says "unknown lens", even if the ARW does contain the same information shown above.
If I manually fix the xmp with exiftool and I force LR to reload metadata from files, then I get the lens identified.
Is it possible to fix this situation somehow?

In my opinion, it is not possible to get a reliable lens identification with Sony/Minolta cameras unless you have a lens lookup list which fits your actual lens collection. So that means that you either have to buy lenses which fits the lookup list in your identification tool, or use an identification tool which allows you to modify the lookup list. The latter option excludes using Lightroom for lens identification, as far as I know. I don't know about exiftool.
Old Minolta IDs have been reused by Sony when they released similar lenses, which I guess is acceptable but can result in Sony lenses being recognized as Minolta or vice versa. Even worse is that third party lens makers have released a lot of lenses where they use a more or less random ID from the Minolta lenses.
Here is an example of lenses using ID 25611:
Minolta AF 75-300mm F4.5-5.6
Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DL Macro
Sigma AF 300mm F4 APO Macro
Sigma AF 500mm F4.5 APO
Sigma AF 170-500mm F5-6.3 APO Asph
Tokina AT-X AF 300mm F4
Tokina AT-X AF 400mm F5.6 SD
Tokina AF 730 II 75-300mm F4.5-5.6
Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro
Sigma AF 500mm F7.2 APO
(And now I just discovered that this list is incomplete, since the exiftool link posted by ixtab alos lists an ID 25611 Sigma 800 mm which is not in my list.)
To some extent, the correct lens can be picked from the list if combining ID, max. aperture and focal length from the EXIF. If ID is 25611, max. aperture is 4.5, and focal length is 500, it can only be a Sigma AF 500mm F4.5 APO.
But if ID is 25611, max. aperture is 5.6, and focal length is 300, there are actually 4-5 different lenses which match. With a little luck you only own one of those lenses and can give that lens the highest priority in the lookup list. That is why it is so important to be able to modify the lookup list.
I use a command line tool called alphalensinfo which does just that: Uses the combination of ID, max. aperture and focal length and allows you to modify the lookup list. The information is written into an .xmp file which is imported with the image into Lightroom.
I know that exiftool can do something similar, as stated earlier in the thread, but I have no experience with using it for this purpose (even though I actually do use exiftool in the same batch process to rectify the Orientation tag of the photos).

Unknown lens (& also known lens)

I had taken some photos from my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, using the the 24-105mm/f4.0L IS USM lens.
But on importing them into Lightroom 2.3, about 25-30% of the photos show "Unknown Lens" under metadata, whereas 70-75% of them correctly show "24-105mm f/4L IS USM"
Is it some standard/ known issue of Lightroom? Is there anyway to fix those few hundred photos so that they show the correct lens info?
Any tips/ advice greatly appreciated. Thx.

I don't recall any reports of this nature, so it's certainly not standard.
Lightroom gets the info from the Exif embedded into the original file by the camera. If some are showing the lens as Unknown then it's very likely due to the camera lens combination. Establishing what that might be will require some detective work at your end. For example, was the lens attached to the camera via a non Canon extender? Was the lens properly attached? Have you tried cleaning the contacts on the lens and camera?
Fixing the images you've already shot can be achieved in at least two ways. The first involves editing the actual Exif in each file using an application called ExifTool http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ Unfortunately, I can't offer any guidance on how you would go about it with this application. The second method involves saving the metadata for each file as an XMP sidecar (Save metadata to file in Lr Metadata menu) then using a text editor to search and replace ** the bad lens info. Most text editors can run this type of process as a batch, so it doesn't take long. When the files are fixed you would then use the Read metadata from file menu option to import the updated Exif.
Search for <aux:Lens>Unknown</aux:Lens>
Replace with <aux:Lens>EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM</aux:Lens>
Edit: the following link will take you to a GUI front end for ExfTool http://freeweb.siol.net/hrastni3/ However, I don't no whether it allows you to edit the lens type

Lens type metadata?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for