[wizofoz]

Hi guys

I just realised that my K-3 stopped reporting lens data in the exif file around last May. (Obviously I don't look very often) I started to make an on one collection based on lenses and realised that all my recent pics were not being included, this lead to an investigation.

Is it possible I'm overlooking something mind numbingly simple, or has some sort of electro/mechanical fault developed in my camera? It is not lens dependent, as any lens I have used since May has ceased reporting.

[Adam]

What program are you using to read the exif?

[Des]

How frustrating, Wayne.

Have you tried EXIFtool or Picture Information Extractor? Just looking at a jpg taken with my FA 77, PIE shows the lens name not only in the EXIF but also under "Composite" on the "Other" tab.

[wizofoz]

You guys seem to have got to the nub of the problem immediately. As I said I was trying to make 'smart catalogs' of lenses in the new 'On1 Photo10'. It seems it recognises the lens data in some DNG files, but not others. I had a look with the browser that shipped with the camera - Silkypix DCU - and the exif lens data is indeed present. I looked with RAW DIGGER and the EXIF is there.

I have several development/cataloging tools which list exif such as Capture One, ACDSEE and DXO10, the results are inconsistant - some show the exif of some lenses in some shots, but not others, but then will not recognise the same lens on a different day. One piece of software will recognise the lens data, but another will not. I assume it has something to do with inconsistancies in the 'masks' which various developers use to import the data. ...or maybe I'm just totally wrong...

Curioser and curioser.

[Des]

EXIF and such data seems to be a black art.

I've found that my Tamron lens and my AF Pentax lenses have all consistently and correctly registered details in the EXIF (except when using the Kenko teleconverter) across three different camera bodies (K100DS, K-30 and K-3), but not the A-50, Sigma 170-500 or Sigma 400 Tele Macro. The A-50 shows up as "A series lens" and I guess combining that with the focal length gives the answer. The two Sigmas just register as "Sigma". If the focal length is not distinctive you could be stumped.

What I have tried to do is use a naming convention for all my image files like this: [date][my one-letter code for the body][sequential IMG no][my one-letter code for the lens][location]. E.g. 2015-12-25_C1234F_Melb.dng would tell me that photo 1234 was taken in Melbourne on Christmas day with my K-3 (C) and FA 43 (F). (It sounds complicated but I have scripts in RenameMaster to do the work and it only takes a minute when I do it after copying the photos from the SD card.) In theory I should then be able to find all photos taken with the FA43 and the body used. I could do a long recursive search in PIE but a name search is a lot simpler - and picks up lenses that don't register properly in the EXIF.

Maybe there are image editors (Lightroom?) that do this sort of thing for you. (DxO OP doesn't unfortunately.)

Let us know how you get on with your cataloguing.

[wizofoz]

The one piece of cataloging software I didn't try was Lightroom. I try to avoid it if at all possible, and only have it because it is part of my $10per month PS subscription. I'll have to import thousands of pics in to LR and see if the cataloging is better.

I tried doing a search by focal length, but of course some primes and zooms share the range, and it becomes cloudy. The lack of a 'not' function in the On One search criteria means I cannot exclude say a 16-50 lens when searching for a 43mm focal length.

Its a pity it doesn't work well in the On One app, as the catalog browser is lightning fast once it has had a little time to produce thumbnails of all the images.

Your naming convention sounds terrific, if not a little too organised for one such as me. I struggle to remember to even put a name on the folders for various shoots, so I have multiple hard drives full of folders with names like 103-0312. at least I have them in year and month folders, so I know this was a folder of pictures taken on december 3rd of that year. No where near as organised as yourself.

[Des]

I tried doing a search by focal length, but of course some primes and zooms share the range, and it becomes cloudy. The lack of a 'not' function in the On One search criteria means I cannot exclude say a 16-50 lens when searching for a 43mm focal length. Its a pity it doesn't work well in the On One app, as the catalog browser is lightning fast once it has had a little time to produce thumbnails of all the images.

This sort of thing is very frustrating. It would be so simple for developers to incorporate better search tools.

I think one of the reasons that Lightroom dominates the market is the strength of its cataloguing and indexing functions. It's difficult to understand why rivals like CaptureOne and DxO OP haven't sought to catch up in this area. Maybe this is just too boring for the developers, who are more interested in pushing the boundaries of image processing.

[wizofoz]

This sort of thing is very frustrating. It would be so simple for developers to incorporate better search tools.

I think one of the reasons that Lightroom dominates the market is the strength of its cataloguing and indexing functions. It's difficult to understand why rivals like CaptureOne and DxO OP haven't sought to catch up in this area. Maybe this is just too boring for the developers, who are more interested in pushing the boundaries of image processing.

Des, I tried to build a lr catalogue of my entire database and ended up frying my system. Had a total windows meltdown. 'Critical_process_Error' Not good news

So after a few days I'm finally back to the point where I started - no doubt minus a few programs that I've forgotten to reinstall. Sorry I haven't replied to you earlier.

One of the reasons I'm investigating different software options is because I detest the LR insistence on me ímporting.It should just find files in the directories like most other programs, and because it forces me to use Adobe CR for raw processing, and there are better options out there.

So I am experimenting with On1 photo 10 mainly because it it lightning fast to render once the images have had a chance to be scanned. And also ACDsee ultimate 9 because it also renders very quickly, is easy to navigate and does a pretty good job of raw conversion, and there are some pretty interesting tools and approaches when compared to the usual LR/PS stream. - and besides, being a Pentaxian I like to be a little different.

My main processing tool is Capture one though. I think it is the best raw converter available, and is usually all I need unless I want to do digital blending or compositing, etc in which case it is off to LR.

Back to the original topic though. Its seems that it is not the fault of the K-3, but rater the faults of various software manufacturers. These does not seem to be a consistent approach to extracting EXIF information.

[Des]

Well that's one way to do a cleanup on your computer.

These are very helpful comments about different programs.

It seems to me that if the developers of one or other of these programs could bring together the best features from the others (and from free utilities like Rename Master, IrfanView, PIE and Microsoft Image Composite Editor, whiich is great for stitching) it could seriously challenge the dominance of the Adobe products.

In the last 12 months I have used all of these programs for one or other aspect of managing, naming, converting, processing, combining, viewing and analysing photos: Rename Master, Irfanview, Picasa, DxO Optics Pro 10 Elite, DxO ViewPoint2, Silkypix, Digital Camera Utility 5, Adobe DNG Converter, Microsoft Image Composite Editor, Autostitch, Picture Information Extractor, Exiftool, and Exposure Plot. (And probably some others I have forgotten.) And that doesn't count video editors and converters. Sounds like many people have used even more than this. It's completely crazy.