Metadata of digital photos. Metadata in digital photography
Publication date: 24.03.2017
Beginning photographers are often interested in how to view the parameters of a particular shot and find out what camera and lens were used when shooting it. This and other data is stored in EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format). It is part of a JPEG or RAW file. It is in it that additional data (metadata) is "sewn up". EXIF allows you to save a lot of useful things: from shooting parameters to information about which program and how the frame was edited.
NIKON D810 / 50.0 mm f/1.4 SETTINGS: ISO 160, F1.4, 1/400 s, 50.0 mm equiv.
The parameters that you see under each photo on the website are loaded automatically from EXIF. So, the data of this picture says that it was taken on a camera Nikon D810) with a universal Nikon lens AF-S 50mm f/1.4G Nikkor. By the way, the latter is great for portrait shooting.
How to view EXIF?
Today, many photo viewing and editing programs can display EXIF: Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Bridge. Nikon's native Capture NX-D converter displays shooting parameters in great detail.
EXIF in Adobe Lightroom
EXIF can also be seen by opening the file properties: go to "Explorer", right-click on desired photo, in the context menu that opens, select "Properties", and in the window that appears - the "Details" tab.
There are sites that allow you to download an image and see its metadata in expanded form online. Examples of such services: http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi ; http://metapicz.com/. With their help, you can find information about all shooting parameters, up to the distance at which the lens was focused.
There is a browser extension Google Chrome, which allows you to view the EXIF of any picture on the web page you open.
Through EXIF, you can find out how many pictures were taken on the camera. For example, this is useful when buying used photographic equipment. Reception works with Nikon cameras. Cameras from other manufacturers do not always register this parameter in EXIF, and it has to be extracted using additional tricks.
To get the full EXIF data, it's best not to edit the frame on a PC. Let's upload the selected image to the site http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi and find the Shutter Count column. Here we will see the "mileage" of the camera.
The easier-to-use service https://www.camerashuttercount.com/ works on the same principle.
NIKON D810 / 18.0-35.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 SETTINGS: ISO 200, F14, 1/30s, 24.0mm equiv.
When creating HDR images in Adobe Lightroom, the final image file is assigned some shutter speed and aperture settings, although it is clear that at least two frames with different parameters. As a rule, the shortest shutter speed is assigned.
EXIF data can be faked
EXIF is easy to edit. There are even online services for changing shooting parameters. Therefore, EXIF data can serve as reference, but not absolutely objective information.
NIKON D810 / 18.0-35.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 SETTINGS: ISO 100, F16, 1/6s, 18.0mm equiv.
How not to lose EXIF data during processing?
Some editors truncate EXIF irrevocably (this is a sin of many mobile applications). However, in serious post-processing programs, you can choose whether to save EXIF or not. For example, in Adobe Photoshop, when you save a photo through the Save As command, all data remains, and when you save it through the Save For Web tool, some metadata is removed. To avoid this, find the Metadata item in the Save For Web window and select what information to save. I usually leave out all the metadata.
In Adobe Lightroom, the situation is similar. When setting up photo exports, pay attention to the Metadata item.
When photographing on a camera or smartphone, additional data is recorded to the photo, such as the brand of the device, photo and equipment parameters, geographic data, and more. This is EXIF data (Exchangeable Image File Format).
Metadata can be used by various software, Internet applications or other devices. This may be useful to the user.
Windows has a built-in tool that lets you view photo metadata. It is located in the properties of the image file, which can be accessed by right-clicking on it.
When the properties window opens, you need to switch to the "Details" tab, where you can read the EXIF data.
Some data can be changed. To do this, click on the desired line and make edits. Then click "OK" to save.
And, of course, you can remove all metadata (by the way, removing reduces the size of the image, which can be useful). To do this, click on the link "Remove properties and personal information."
How to read EXIF data online
By the way, in addition to working with meta, IMGonline can do a lot more useful things - resize images, convert, compress, apply effects, and more.
But back to the meta editor. So, you will see a "Choose file" button on this page. You need to click on it to download the image whose metadata you are interested in. Then you need to click "Edit".
Select an image and upload to online service. You will see a list of received metadata. They can be modified and deleted.
List of data. They can be edited and deleted. How to read EXIF data with a program
Install the program on your computer, run it. You will see a simple interface, where on the left in the "Folders" list you need to select the location of the photos. Their list will appear in the middle window, where you can select one or another file. And then, to see the metadata, you need to click on the "EXIF" button on the right, under the preview.
Select a folder with photos, select an image. If you double-click on a particular property, you can edit it and save the modified file.
To edit the data, double click on it. Data verification is one of the critical aspects in the work of a media specialist. Our selection of simple online photo analysis services will help journalists and editors get more information about the image - the original source, location, name of the device on which the photo was taken, and so on.
One of the ways to verify the authenticity of an account in a social network is to analyze the photo content of the page. For example, an avatar.
You can find out if the image really belongs to this user or was taken from the Web, as follows.
1. Left-click on the photo and copy its address.
2. Open google image search and paste the link.
3. We get the result: the source of the photo, similar images, the date of shooting, and so on.
The tineye.com service works in a similar way, but the information here is collected in a more compact way. You can immediately see the date of publication of the image on various sites and even sort the results - “most modified”, upload date, image size.
Izitru.com analyzes the photos uploaded to the service. With it, you can find out if it is the original, which camera the image was taken with and where. The service provides information on the last two points only if the photo is uploaded directly from the camera, has not been processed before and has not been posted on the Internet.
ShowExif is a small utility for viewing the metadata of digital images taken with professional cameras.
Usage
Given software hardly useful to you in everyday work with the camera. However, sometimes it can be just as useful as popular image editors and image converters that you use almost every day. The need to view metadata, access to which the utility provides, may arise due to different reasons. However, the most popular of them is getting acquainted with the "mileage" of the camera.
Capabilities
ShowExif does not require installation as it is portable. After downloading, you can run it and start using it right away. To view the number displayed in the shutter closing counter, first take a photo from the camera and download it to your computer.
To do this, use a RAW image format. After taking a picture, open it using the utility in the browser. After that, the screen will display all necessary information. The "Total Number of Shutter Releases" item displayed on the left side of the table is what you need. Look at the number in the line opposite it - this is the mileage of your camera. All metadata can be copied, deleted and saved to disk. Additionally, you can "attach" to them first photo.
Key Features
- displays EXIF left by photographic equipment from the most popular manufacturers;
- allows you to copy, delete and save metadata to disk and clipboard;
- to view the mileage of the camera, a picture in RAW format is required;
- fully translated into Russian;
- does not require additional installation to the system, can be stored on a removable drive;
- available completely free of charge;
- performs a quick export of Thumbnails to disk;
- allows you to view the mileage not for all cameras, but only for those that have this counter;
- works on all versions operating system Windows.
Encouraged me to write for beginners about what is EXIF and what are its useful applications exist
EXIF(from the English Exchangeable Image File Format) is a format that will allow you to include Additional information(metadata) about the photo, such as camera manufacturer, model, when and under what conditions the photo was taken, and even whether the flash fired or not.
EXIF of any picture can be viewed in photo editors like Photoshop, viewers like ACDSee or even in Windows. Let's take a look at how to view the EXIF data of a photo in each of these programs.
1. The easiest option - view EXIF photos in Windows. Right-click on the photo and open the Properties menu, then Details. Here is an example EXIF data from one of my photos:
So you can see the shooting parameters - value, focal length, time and date of shooting, and much other information. In addition, at the bottom there is a line "Remove Properties and Personal Information", by clicking on which you will be able to remove all EXIF data or some of your choice, but more on that later.
2. In ACDSee you can also just view EXIF photos. Open the photo in View mode and press Alt + Enter or go to the File->Properties menu item. A panel will appear on the left, at the bottom of which you need to select the EXIF tab and you will see all the information about the photo.
3. In Photoshop EXIF photos can be viewed by pressing Alt+Shift+Ctrl+I or by going to the File->File Info menu and then selecting the Camera Data tab.
