how to batch change "unique camera Model" in DNG EXIF value

Hey gang,

I'm encountering a problem where I can change the "Camera Model" value in the EXIF data of some DNG files but NOT the "Unique Camera model" value in the same EXIF file. Working on a Mac, btw.

Some history....

I have Fujifilm xt3 files that I want labeled "Xt4" to access the later film simulations fuji developed in software like lightroom.

I converted fuji files using iridient X Transformer.

I have a set of fuji converted DNG's before and after I relabeled them as XT4's.

So I went back and used METAimage to batch change the camera model on some fuji DNG's to XT4

When I loaded them to Lightroom, while the meta data says xt4, the later film sims were not available.

The fuji files I had renamed the camera model to xt4 in later transfers to DNG using Iridient x Transforer relabel feature worked in lightroom.

So I suspected the there is a EXIF value that I missed...

So I loaded two DNG files into apple preview:

1) A DNG that was camera model relabeled at the time of DNG conversion using iridient x transformer,

2) A DNG the was converted with iridient x transfer BUT non relabeled, and later relabeled using the METAimage.

Under the "show inspector" tool I noticed a discrepancy:

There were two entries for camera models! Under the TIFF TAB is says "Model" and under the DNG TAB it says "Unique Camera Model"

The image that was relabeled at the point of RAF to DNG conversion using Iridient had both the "Model" and "Unique Camera Model" correctly relabeled to "XT4"

The image that was relabled AFTER the RAF to DNG Iridient conversion had different values. The "Model" was XT4, the "Unique Camera Model" was XT3.

It appears that while lightroom reports the metdata as the xt4 camera, the profiles appears to follow the "Unique Camera Model" tag.

I look online how to change the "unique camera Model" using an exif editor, and I can't find anything. When I load the image in EXIF editors like METAimage or Phots Exif Editor, it appears to read only the "model" tag, it does not show the "unique Camera Model" field to change.

Hence the question.. does anyone know how to batch edit the "unique Camera model" in the exif data? thanks!

VfxByArt wrote:

Hey gang,

I'm encountering a problem where I can change the "Camera Model" value in the EXIF data of some DNG files but NOT the "Unique Camera model" value in the same EXIF file. Working on a Mac, btw.

Some history....

I have Fujifilm xt3 files that I want labeled "Xt4" to access the later film simulations fuji developed in software like lightroom.

I converted fuji files using iridient X Transformer.

I have a set of fuji converted DNG's before and after I relabeled them as XT4's.

So I went back and used METAimage to batch change the camera model on some fuji DNG's to XT4

When I loaded them to Lightroom, while the meta data says xt4, the later film sims were not available.

The fuji files I had renamed the camera model to xt4 in later transfers to DNG using Iridient x Transforer relabel feature worked in lightroom.

So I suspected the there is a EXIF value that I missed...

So I loaded two DNG files into apple preview:

1) A DNG that was camera model relabeled at the time of DNG conversion using iridient x transformer,

2) A DNG the was converted with iridient x transfer BUT non relabeled, and later relabeled using the METAimage.

Under the "show inspector" tool I noticed a discrepancy:

There were two entries for camera models! Under the TIFF TAB is says "Model" and under the DNG TAB it says "Unique Camera Model"

The image that was relabeled at the point of RAF to DNG conversion using Iridient had both the "Model" and "Unique Camera Model" correctly relabeled to "XT4"

The image that was relabled AFTER the RAF to DNG Iridient conversion had different values. The "Model" was XT4, the "Unique Camera Model" was XT3.

It appears that while lightroom reports the metdata as the xt4 camera, the profiles appears to follow the "Unique Camera Model" tag.

I look online how to change the "unique camera Model" using an exif editor, and I can't find anything. When I load the image in EXIF editors like METAimage or Phots Exif Editor, it appears to read only the "model" tag, it does not show the "unique Camera Model" field to change.

Hence the question.. does anyone know how to batch edit the "unique Camera model" in the exif data? thanks!

I kind of lost track of the problem part way through this but you can use Exiftool to modify (most) Exif tags.

https://exiftool.org/

Once you have Exiftool installed on your Mac you would go into the terminal app and change directory to the place where you have your dng files.

=============================================

Type : exiftool -s -a -G1 dngfilename.dng

that will show you all the tags for one of your files

=============================================

Type: exiftool -FileName -Model -UniqueCameraModel -T -ext dng .

that will show you the current values of Model and UniqueCameraModel

=============================================

Lets assume you want to modify your "uniqueCameraModel" to XT4 - type the following:

exiftool -uniqueCameraModel="Fujifilm T4" -ext dng .

the -ext dng makes sure you only change dng files

the . at the end means modify everything in this directory

a copy of each file is kept with suffix "_original" - if you have thoroughly tested and don't need that backup copy use this version of the command:

exiftool -uniqueCameraModel="Fujifilm T4" -overwrite_original -ext dng .

Much appreciated.  Does it do batch changes to multiple files?

VfxByArt wrote:

Much appreciated. Does it do batch changes to multiple files?

Yes - one or many - the command in my reply  would change all dng files in the current directory.

id suggest you test with one (or a small number) first.

Good advice from Greybeard. I have used exiftool for years to both read and set exif data.

To use on multiple images use the normal metachars such as * or ?. i.e.

exiftool -LensMake="Rokinon" DSCF6670.JPG

exiftool -LensMake="Rokinon" DSCF66??.JPG

exiftool -LensMake="Rokinon" *.JPG

If youre only using Lightroom, why not just use this workaround and you dont have to fuss with EXIF at all!
Video shows Mac instructions but in the description and comments there is instructions for Windows. Just did it today on Windows and it worked a treat, let me know if you need help.
https://youtu.be/UUce-04DoSM

This works for Lightroom CC as well, and you can use any text editor that allows sudo saves, so you may not need to download anything. I used TextMate.

Best to just change the camera model override setting in X-Transformer and all the produced DNGs will be rewritten with an X-T4 EXIF designation.

Newpz Creative wrote:

This is awesome information! Thank you soo much. I'm trying to batch rename the unique name in multiple subfolders. Is there a command line to batch rename all dngs in the subfolders of the working directory? Using your currently provided command lines I have to rename each clip one at a time. Thanks.

Yes - you add "-r" before the "." at the end of the command to make the command work on all the files in sub-directories.

Not sure if this is the same thing but a while back, I photo scanned a batch of slides.  I wanted to change the date of the scans to when the slide was taken as opposed to when I photo scanned.

I used software called MetaImage.  I found it quick and very easy to use.