Recording manual lens used

[mjc1]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

Thanks.

 

[petrochemist]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

Thanks.

Canon cameras require a chipped adapter to give AF confirm, and some of these can be programmed to give lens info to the EXIF. I don't know of similar chips for MFT which doesn't need communications for focus aids to work.

If FL is entered manually for IBIS I'm fairly sure the value entered will be stored in the EXIF. But it probably won't be in a section read by most graphics packages - which tend to stick to the more basic EXIF details. There are dedicated EXIF viewers (EXIFview?) which will allow all the EXIF to be read & often edited as well.

 

[Heritage Cameras]

Canon cameras require a chipped adapter to give AF confirm, and some of these can be programmed to give lens info to the EXIF. I don't know of similar chips for MFT which doesn't need communications for focus aids to work.

These Canon chips can also work to some extent with smart adapters for other mounts. I've used a few of the EMF type with some Canon EF to Sony E-mount adapters and the EXIF information is mostly transferred correctly.

I'm not aware of any such chips for MFT either, but there were some for the earlier Four Thirds DSLRs. Perhaps these might work in conjunction with a smart FT-MFT adapter?

 

[Sjak]

It depends a lot on the camera what the possibilities are.

As I recall, the Ricoh GXR allowed for entering the lens name, and this was recorded in the exif.

Other cameras will allow to enter the focal length, although I tend to forget to do that if I'm not prompted to do this (such as my Fuji) resuliting in some shots with a 500mm shoing 8mm in the exif

Yet other cameras, suwhen switched on will prompt me to enter the focal length, and will also add this to the exif. E.g. my 2006 K100D and my more recent K-1 do this; however, here it is funcitonal so the camera can adapt the sensor-based image stabilisation.

My Monochrom has a list of lenses which I can select, but that is limited to more recent Leica-glass, so I'd tipycally pick either something similar (e.g. a fast 50 when I shoot a Jupiter-3) or simply nothing. When I do select a lens, it will be recorded in the exif.

 

[Moggi1964]

My Olympus EM1 MkII allows me to record 10 lenses and I can input the name/brand of lens as well as focal length and max aperture.

That information does transfer over to exif data.

I don't think you mentioned which Oly you own but if it is a fairly recent one it should do the same I suspect.





Having reread your post I do wonder if you are looking for the actual aperture that was used at the time of the shot which the above doesn't achieve of course. I wouldn't know how you get that I'm afraid.

 

[E Dinkla]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

Thanks.

Metabones EF to M4/3 Speed Booster most likely will transfer the latest version EMF AF confirmation chip programmed data. Like the Metabones IV EF to NEX adapter (latest firmware) does to my Sony A7RII. Programmed data like the focal length and max aperture is recorded in the EXIF. When you replicate the manually set aperture number on the lens in the camera as well that will also be recorded in the EXIF. Without affecting the right exposure like the Sigma MC-11 will do in that case. Of course IBIS will also get the right focal length from that chip. For me it is all quite convenient and I build on that by giving most of my vintage SLR lenses an EF mount + chip. Whether adapted or converted.

Metabones has a warning on its site that Dandelion chips will not work on their intelligent adapters. Older models EMF chips do not work correctly either in my experience but the latest EMF versions do.


Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
No photographer's gear list is complete without the printer mentioned !

 

[bokesan]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

Thanks.

Depends on the camera and adapter. I agree that recording the IBIS focal length seems an obvious idea, but the cameras I've don't do that. At least, not into any field a recent version of exiftool can decode.

I've tried:

Olympus E-M5 Mark II: nope

Sony A7 and A7R2: nope

Nikon Z 7 with dumb adapter: nope (why, Nikon?!)

Nikon Z 7 with FTZ: records non-CPU lens data (focal length and aperture). But that only lets you enter focal lengths used by Nikon. (@Nikon: I'd happily exchange the 2000 and 4000mm entries for, say 75 and 90mm since I do not have an 11/2000 and if I had one, I'd probably not use it with an x2 teleconverter. Or just let me enter any number).

Adapters with electronics may let you program the values into the adapter. The camera treats the adapter as a CPU lens and records EXIF data. An example is the MTZ11 AF adapter for Nikon Z.

 

[Tom Caldwell]

It depends a lot on the camera what the possibilities are.

As I recall, the Ricoh GXR allowed for entering the lens name, and this was recorded in the exif.

From memory up to six lenses could be recorded in EXIF at the expenses of other custom modes. This included: name; focal length; aperture (minimum?); and lens corrections (if any). You could get somewhat more than six with a little messing around. I could not be bothered with this as I preferred using their pretty slick custom mode system to its full extent - and I had a lot more than just six lenses in play. It was handy for some but had to be set in the bowels of some pretty fancy firmware. Using standard custom modes on the other hand was very much set and forget. Easy and very powerful.

I did work out a very good system using an internal database and internal word processor as good as Ricoh offered. The idea being to provide a large number of “slots” and to sort lenses alphabetically or by frequency of use. The aperture in use was to be picked up by pressing the unused macro button (or any set function on another camera body) then wheel scrolling to the used aperture within the range preset. I also allowed a special setting “Unknown Lens” to allow immediate captures with a new lens or where there was not enough time to set up a new one. Then scroll through the captures whilst we still remembered and allocate the images to a named lens. With each capture already having picked up the aperture in use.

Such is the basis of a low-hassle MF lens recording system. I need not flesh the whole idea out here as the manufacturers would not be “aboard’ considering that it would not assist them sell their native mount AF lenses. Only Ricoh might have implemented it if the GXR system had not died.

Other cameras will allow to enter the focal length, although I tend to forget to do that if I'm not prompted to do this (such as my Fuji) resuliting in some shots with a 500mm shoing 8mm in the exif

Olympus also does not prompt, nor does it show anywhere which focal length has been selected and in force for IBIS (??). Native M4/3 lenses of course are auto-set. Add the fact that the process of inputting a new focal length is a little “smoke and mirrors” which left me thinking that it was amazing that Olympus IBIS was so good that it even adjusted for MF lenses. But the penny dropped eventually - it is very easy to forget when swapping lenses if there is no prompting. All this from the firm that made its whole business ethos by selling “great IBIS”.

Panasonic nags to check the IBIS setting at every switch on and declares the currently set focal length. This can be a nuisance but soft press accepts and is little bother. Or one button press allows the focal length to be accessed and adjusted. No fuss, no smoke, no mirrors - I would prefer to be nagged and to know what the current set focal length was in use.

Yet other cameras, suwhen switched on will prompt me to enter the focal length, and will also add this to the exif. E.g. my 2006 K100D and my more recent K-1 do this; however, here it is funcitonal so the camera can adapt the sensor-based image stabilisation.

Panasonic also (tick).

My Monochrom has a list of lenses which I can select, but that is limited to more recent Leica-glass, so I'd tipycally pick either something similar (e.g. a fast 50 when I shoot a Jupiter-3) or simply nothing. When I do select a lens, it will be recorded in the exif.

 

[mjc1]

Thanks all for the replies and info to investigate. I suppose I should have said the main camera I am interested in having this info for is a Panasonic S1r as I currently only use legacy lenses with this camera and it just would be nice to see which lens took which photo so I can learn which lenses work best. F-stop would be great to, but I can't imagine that is possible with a dumb adapter. My Olympus is an EM1.2 but I don't use legacy lenses on it very often. I think it does actually record the lens name (if I program it into the frequency used lenses) used for the IBIS setting.

 

[Moggi1964]

Thanks all for the replies and info to investigate. I suppose I should have said the main camera I am interested in having this info for is a Panasonic S1r as I currently only use legacy lenses with this camera and it just would be nice to see which lens took which photo so I can learn which lenses work best. F-stop would be great to, but I can't imagine that is possible with a dumb adapter. My Olympus is an EM1.2 but I don't use legacy lenses on it very often. I think it does actually record the lens name (if I program it into the frequency used lenses) used for the IBIS setting.

If you do decide to shoot more legacy on the EM1 MkII one tip I can offer is to assign a shortcut to one of the buttons that will take you directly to the added lens menu.

I currently have Fn1 set up so each time I swap a legacy lens I just click that button, scroll and choose the new lens and then off we go.

My main reason for (mostly) using prime's rather than zoom legacy lenses on the Oly is being able to have the camera ibis know exactly what focal length the lens is. I do sometimes put a zoom on and either switch off ibis or just pick the longest FL and pick a preset close to it (so I can use my 28-80mm and I choose the Tamron SP90mm setting. Not perfect but it's all about the fun of using the old glass, I'm not expecting perfection.

 

[biza43]

Try ExifTool for full detail of the Exif data in your files. You can verify the Exif in the file, and can also edit the Exif to add lens name.

 

[petrochemist]

Try ExifTool for full detail of the Exif data in your files. You can verify the Exif in the file, and can also edit the Exif to add lens name.

I use FastStone for basic photo editing & it has a facility to add comments into the EXIF. I've often used that to record adapted lenses, filters etc if I can remember them by the time I process the shots. Having a tool that lets you see the image does make it easier to work out what was what.

 

[kohinoor]

Thanks all for the replies and info to investigate. I suppose I should have said the main camera I am interested in having this info for is a Panasonic S1r as I currently only use legacy lenses with this camera and it just would be nice to see which lens took which photo so I can learn which lenses work best. F-stop would be great to, but I can't imagine that is possible with a dumb adapter. My Olympus is an EM1.2 but I don't use legacy lenses on it very often. I think it does actually record the lens name (if I program it into the frequency used lenses) used for the IBIS setting.

An easy workaround for any cam:
Make a short lowest resolution video when changing lenses and speak the lens name on (kinda voice memo).
When later you want to know which lens was used you can scroll back to the last video in which a smart voice will tell you.

I use above method and later use Phil Harvey ExiftoolGUI to write the info into the exif of all pics by batch processing all pics with same info at once.

 

[mjc1]

Seems about as good an idea as I have heard, so while I still wish I could access the IBIS data (I know it is in there somewhere!) I will try this. Thanks for the input.

 

[Travis Butler]

Seems about as good an idea as I have heard, so while I still wish I could access the IBIS data (I know it is in there somewhere!) I will try this. Thanks for the input.

On my Olympus cameras (Pen-F and E-M1 II), I use the Lens Info menu to record the lens name/focal length/max aperture.

On cameras that don't have that, I take a pic of the lens faceplate just before switching lenses, so I have a photo documenting where I switched lenses and which lens I switched to.

 

[petrochemist]

Seems about as good an idea as I have heard, so while I still wish I could access the IBIS data (I know it is in there somewhere!) I will try this. Thanks for the input.

On my Olympus cameras (Pen-F and E-M1 II), I use the Lens Info menu to record the lens name/focal length/max aperture.

On cameras that don't have that, I take a pic of the lens faceplate just before switching lenses, so I have a photo documenting where I switched lenses and which lens I switched to.

I've remembered to do that on a couple of occasions (when specifically testing lenses). It gets a bit awkward when the lens I've been using has a MFD of 3m or more, but generally it's a pretty good solution & a minor variation can also be used to show which adapter was used or the filter fitted.

 

[Alan WF]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

To solve this problem for myself, I wrote Lensslate:

Lens Slate: Home

alanwatsonforster.org

It’s not to everyone’s taste, but it might be worth considering.

Regards,

Alan

 

[JimH123]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

To solve this problem for myself, I wrote Lensslate:

https://alanwatsonforster.org/lensslate/

It’s not to everyone’s taste, but it might be worth considering.

Regards,

Alan

This looks like an excellent tool to record lens info. Unfortunately, I did not find in the Android Store.

 

[JimH123]

Is there any way to determine in exif data which legacy lens was used. I realize there is no communication between the lens and the camera, but I do set a lens FL to work with the IBIS of my cameras, so I guess the question is do any cameras (I have Olympus and Panasonic) record anywhere what setting IBIS FL was used? I process with DXO PL4 and can't find anything that reports that setting but I am hoping some other software may access that info.

To solve this problem for myself, I wrote Lensslate:

https://alanwatsonforster.org/lensslate/

It’s not to everyone’s taste, but it might be worth considering.

Regards,

Alan

This looks like an excellent tool to record lens info. Unfortunately, I did not find in the Android Store.

After reading the directions again, I figured out what I was supposed to do.

Thank you

 

[Lightshow]

Unless I'm testing I don't worry about it that much, with normal shooting, I'll take 3-4 lenses that have focal lengths far enough apart to tell which lens is which(15mm, 28mm, 50mm, 85mm, 135mm), and as I offload the files from the card/camera to my PC, I'll either add the exif data to at least the first shot of each lens or add a txt file to the folder with lens info, I can usually figure out which lens I used well after the shooting date, if the focal lengths are too close to easily tell, I might take a shot with the lens covered between lens changes and do my best to remember what order I used the lenses, this only works if the pictures are of different things, if for example I was shooting only flowers, it's harder to remember what order I shot them because they all are so similar.

Just about every other method I've used forces me out of the creative zone to document the lens and shot number. My Canon 1DIII had a memo function which was supper handy to add lens info, it added an audio file with the same file number to the folder, Chang lens, take a shot, review the shot and add a memo, then repeated whenever you change lenses. I wish all cameras had a similar memo function.

One method I've not tried yet but could work is to set my phone up to record audio at a low bit rate(>128mp3) and just talk to my self as I change lenses, could also take a picture of the phone after you start recording to sync the audio to the camera's clock which would make it easy to find, this would work great for shooting an event and getting names to match the shot.

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https://flic.kr/p/Q2b9mq

https://flic.kr/p/PgwEjs

Firmware request:
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