[tempelorg]

Would you please help me confirm (or refute) a possible small bug with Apple's imaging software related to the K-3.

Especially, if you have a DA 18-135mm or 55-300 WR!

I found that Apple's apps (Preview, iPhoto, Aperture) are unable to show the lens type for my DA 18-135mm.

Is that the case for you, too?

Note: This only applies for images taken with the newest model(s) like the K-3 but not the K-5, for instance.

Here's how to check:

Launch iPhoto (or Aperture) and select images taken with various lenses. Click on the "Info" button or tab. In iPhoto, the top right should display the camera model and below that, the lens type. But in my case, the lens field remains empty. See the attached pictures below for an example how it should look like (with a K-5) and what I see with my K-3 instead.

Can you confirm that? I.e, do you also have a blank lens field? Or does the lens name appear despite it being a 18-135 or a 55-300 WR?

In both cases, please list which file format (JPG, DNG, PEF) you're using, which lens and which camera model.

It's suspected that the issue is only with the K-3, and only with a few lenses (18-135, and possibly 55-300 WR). If you see the lens type shown with any other lens, then that's expected, and you do not need to post your results here, because we're only looking for misbehaviors here.

Attached Images

   

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Last edited by tempelorg; 05-06-2014 at 01:39 AM.

[jatrax]

It is an software issue. Not the camera. Lens ID is supplied by the camera as a numerical designation code. It is up to the software maker to update the lists as they become available. Note that even when the software is up to date not all lenses report correctly as some third party vendors reuse the same ID numbers in their lens chips.

Not sure why LR is not reporting correctly though, mine does, also version 5.4. Try a DNG image loaded into LR and see if that works, just for testing purposes.

[Adam]

I was surprised to note that neither Apple's apps (Preview, iPhoto, Aperture) nor Adobe's (Lightroom 5.4) are able to show the Lens ID on JPG and PEF images taken with my K-3.

However, the cmdline tool "exiftool" can shown them.

Is that a known issue?

Try getting the latest updates for Lightroom, does that fix the problem?

[stevebrot]

What jatrax said. Your K-3 supplies a numeric code and the software reading the code attempts to translate (with greater/less accuracy) the code into a lens name based on a simple look-up table. What lens is causing you grief? What does ExifTool say?


Steve

[tempelorg]

Thanks for trying to help, guys, but you do not have to explain software to me. I have been a developer for 30 years.

I just wanted a confirmation that others see this problem as well. That's exactly what I've been asking, BTW: "Is that a known issue?".

@Adam - LR 5.4 is the latest version, and that's what I've been using for my testing.

Also, exiftool sees all the data including the Lens Type and Lens ID, correctly

Will try a DNG next.

[waterfall]

I was surprised to note that neither Apple's apps (Preview, iPhoto, Aperture) nor Adobe's (Lightroom 5.4) are able to show the Lens ID on JPG and PEF images taken with my K-3.

However, the cmdline tool "exiftool" can shown them.

Is that a known issue?

Abbreviated Exif shows in Aperture and Preview. I have been told, and verified on PF posted photos, that full Exif is appearing after export. But, I am not certain and Apple may be overdue for a software update if lens data is hidden.

[DogLover]

I just got an Apple update in the last few days that includes K-3 support. Not sure if it fixes what you guys are talking about, just thought I'd mention it.

[tempelorg]

One problem solved, one remains:

1.
There is no problem with LR 5.4. My mistake was that I had originally imported the images in LR 5.2, which was unable to process the Lens Type, but when I updated to 5.4, I forgot that I need to tell LR to re-read the EXIF data. Now that I've done this, LR shows the data as expected.

2.
There is still a problem with Apple's apps (iPhoto, Aperture, Preview).
It's actually two-fold:

With DNGs, the Lens Type is always shown.

However, for JPG and PEF, it depends on the actual lens I was using:

While my DA 21mm shows up, my DA 18-135 DOES NOT.

So, to summarize:

The problem exists only with JPG and PEF but not with DNG, only with Apple's apps, and only with certain lens types, e.g. the 18-135.

Now, can someone confirm this?

---------- Post added 5th May 2014 at 21:22 ----------

Abbreviated Exif shows in Aperture and Preview. I have been told, and verified on PF posted photos, that full Exif is appearing after export. But, I am not certain and Apple may be overdue for a software update if lens data is hidden.

That's not an issue in my tests - The Lens type is shown prominently in both Aperture and iPhoto, and both show an empty field here in my tests.

@DogLover - I'm using the latest RAW update (5.04), so that's not an issue here, either.

[narual]

Happens to me all the time with my Sigma 10-20 lens, even though the necessary ID is in the exif data and exiftool can identify it. Never seen it happen with a Pentax brand lens though.

[tempelorg]

Happens to me all the time with my Sigma 10-20 lens, even though the necessary ID is in the exif data and exiftool can identify it. Never seen it happen with a Pentax brand lens though.

Could you please post the full description of that lens name as it appears in LR or exiftool? I wonder if it's particular chars or its length (the one for the DA 18-135 is pretty long).

Uh - that's happening with a K-5? Not seeing the problem with my K-5, only K-3.

How did you come into posession of the Porst lens, BTW? Lived in Germany?

[Miguel]

Sigma lenses are more problematic than other brands when it comes to accurate identification of its lenses to the camera body which then communicates with the post-processing software. From what I have read, they tend to reuse the numbers in a standardized system, or uses the same number as the camera manufacturer reserves for their own lenses, or they just do not follow the standard. This is the situation in the Canon universe, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is replicated for Pentax.

M

[tempelorg]

Sigma lenses are more problematic than other brands when it comes to accurate identification of its lenses to the camera body which then communicates with the post-processing software.

Yes, that's right. But that has nothing to do with the issue in this topic. This topic is about lenses not being identified AT ALL, the lens info remaining empty.

[Miguel]

Yes, that's right. But that has nothing to do with the issue in this topic. This topic is about lenses not being identified AT ALL, the lens info remaining empty.

Excuse me, but I'm referring to a possible root cause of the problems noted here; the other poster's and yours as well.

M

[NZ_Ross]

The problem exists only with JPG and PEF but not with DNG, only with Apple's apps, and only with certain lens types, e.g. the 18-135.

Now, can someone confirm this?

I am seeing the same problem with Aperture and the HD DA 55-300 WR off a K3. My DA Limited show ok in Aperture. So it is not just you. I have latest versions on Aperture and Apple RAW. Latest firmware on the K3

[Wired]

Surprisingly I haven't had this issue with my Pentax gear. My Nikon 24-70 f2.8 though does not read properly in LR4 on my D800. It shows focal length, but does not record the lens. When uploaded to Flickr it shows 24-70mm f2.8 as the lens used, but does not say it's a Nikon or the AF-S version.