Correcting Time [from CDT to other Zone] with two cameras

[vlherring]

I just returned from France and on reviewing the images noted that [my own fault] because I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone -- AND for what reason I don't know for some odd reason the iPhone also says CDT, though maybe it's the right time but not CDT [i.e. the ## is right but the zone is wrong]

In any event I need to change the Zone to the one relevant overseas - but I'm dealing with 2 different cameras [I did check the images by date/time and apparently then iPhone pics are on the same zone as the Canon [CDT] - why I don't know - I would have thought the iPhone would pick up local time = it was on WiFi or Verizon all the time.

 

[Tom Axford]

It is easy to edit the capture time in Lightroom, but you do not say what software you use for photo processing.

 

[SoCalAngler]

I just returned from France and on reviewing the images noted that [my own fault] because I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone -- AND for what reason I don't know for some odd reason the iPhone also says CDT, though maybe it's the right time but not CDT [i.e. the ## is right but the zone is wrong]

In any event I need to change the Zone to the one relevant overseas - but I'm dealing with 2 different cameras [I did check the images by date/time and apparently then iPhone pics are on the same zone as the Canon [CDT] - why I don't know - I would have thought the iPhone would pick up local time = it was on WiFi or Verizon all the time.

Unless you have set your iphone time to a manual setting, it should pick up time automatically if you move between zones. You may need to have location services on in some places for the timezone to change automatically when you move about if that is what you want.

I have all of my cameras set to UTC (GMT) and also set my iPhone time manually to UTC. Daylight savings time settings are disabled. Same for my computers.

But I have been working in UTC for 40 years as a result of working in real time with people around the globe and everyone needs to be on the same page (if setting up a teleconference with people in California, Virginia, Brussels, Naples, Guam, and Sydney for example), so I am accustomed to making the mental adjustment to local time in my head. On the iphone, using the world time app, you can set up various time zones.

Anyway, by using UTC, everything is always consistent for me.

If needed, there are ways to change the time stamp of photo files by altering the meta data. There are programs that can be used to do this, including many photo editing programs, or you can write your own scripts appropriate for the computer operating system you are using.

On the iphone you can do this for individual files one at a time in the photos app. Open a photo. Tap the details icon, tap adjust. Change time/date/timezone as needed.

 

[Guy Parsons]

I just returned from France and on reviewing the images noted that [my own fault] because I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone -- AND for what reason I don't know for some odd reason the iPhone also says CDT, though maybe it's the right time but not CDT [i.e. the ## is right but the zone is wrong]

In any event I need to change the Zone to the one relevant overseas - but I'm dealing with 2 different cameras [I did check the images by date/time and apparently then iPhone pics are on the same zone as the Canon [CDT] - why I don't know - I would have thought the iPhone would pick up local time = it was on WiFi or Verizon all the time.

To fix camera file time errors, usually caused by me, in Windows I use JPGTime, free from http://www.muralpix.com/jpgtime/

Despite its name it also can fix time errors in raw files, and in video clips.

Just be wary of changing times that cross the midnight barrier to make sure the day date ends up correct.

 

[vlherring]

It is easy to edit the capture time in Lightroom, but you do not say what software you use for photo processing.

I am still on Aperture and do have Lightroom but haven't moved everything there yet.

 

[vlherring]

Thanks to all == I'll go in and double check the pics and camera & iPhone and if both sources were on CDT throughout that trip maybe all I need to do is reset the zone in Aperture [or Lightroom]. Appreciate the help [certainly hope both were on the same zone throughout! but maybe at least all were].

And then I need to think about using the UTC on the cameras - again thanks for talking this trru.

 

[mclewis]

With Exiftool you can easily shift the time values in EXIF data by the relevant number of hours to fix the time zone issue.

 

[Bill Ferris]

Why do you need to change the time? Time is but a reference. The CDT timestamp is no more or less accurate than a local timestamp.

 

[Guy Parsons]

Why do you need to change the time? Time is but a reference. The CDT timestamp is no more or less accurate than a local timestamp.

In my case time is important because I end up after a trip with both my wife and my jpegs and video clips in the same day dated folders.

There may be up to four or maybe five cameras involved at times so to make sense of the day in any day folder, I need FastStone Viewer to show me them displayed in time order.

I try to keep cameras synchronised down to the same second if possible, if not I try and fix them later in the folder by using JPGTime as I noted above, or FastStone itself has a simple time fix ability.

One suggestion (that I usually fail to observe) is to get all cameras to be used on the day and photograph the same clock or smartphone clock that happens to be running the correct local time as the first shot of that day. Then later use JPGTime to correct any offset of the camera clock to the real time in the shot to make the whole day accurate for each camera. My raw files are kept in a separate day dated folder set so I need to repeat that again for those files.

One time on a trip I was setting my then two cameras while on a plane from Sydney to Taiwan to what the pilot reported as local time in Taipei. One I managed to fail to notice the day flipped over while I was fussin' with the actual time setting. Holey moley what a mess later to fix to find where the shots started and ended on the wrong days and put them back where they belonged.

That time it worked best that I copied the whole card as-is to a folder and worked on that mess before I then copied it to its permanent day dated folder set. My habit now during and after a trip is to keep direct copies of all the cards used on a trip and they stay permanently on the large space of my NAS and on other HDDs as then I always can go back to the beginnings backup if needed.

Here's a rare glimpse today into my NAS that includes the card images there...



Not all trips were kept that way, but if any more happen in the future they will join that set.

 

[sybersitizen]

I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone ...

Thanks to all == I'll go in and double check the pics and camera & iPhone and if both sources were on CDT throughout that trip maybe all I need to do is reset the zone in Aperture [or Lightroom].

Have you encountered a situation where the time zone even matters? I just experimented with changing the time zone in some of my own photos while leaving the Date/Time Taken alone. The viewing tools I use for chronological sorting don't seem to care what the Time Zone field is. They ignore it and just refer to the recorded date and time.

If you need to change the recorded date and time because it's wrong, that's understandable - but it's a different thing.

 

[Guy Parsons]

I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone ...

Thanks to all == I'll go in and double check the pics and camera & iPhone and if both sources were on CDT throughout that trip maybe all I need to do is reset the zone in Aperture [or Lightroom].

Have you encountered a situation where the time zone even matters? I just experimented with changing the time zone in some of my own photos while leaving the Date/Time Taken alone. The viewing tools I use for chronological sorting don't seem to care what the Time Zone field is. They ignore it and just refer to the recorded date and time.

If you need to change the recorded date and time because it's wrong, that's understandable - but it's a different thing.

I've long given up on worrying about time zones and daylight savings offsets and simply set the cameras to the local time. Then if anything needs to be fixed or altered later then I use JPGTime to sort it out...



I tick the three boxes on the top right to make sure (hopefully) that all date info gets changed.

After a session of creating jpegs from raw files I also put the jpegs back to the date and time taken, and don't leave them at the date and time processed that DxO changes. I usually use FastStone Viewer for that simple task.

 

[sybersitizen]

I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone ...

Thanks to all == I'll go in and double check the pics and camera & iPhone and if both sources were on CDT throughout that trip maybe all I need to do is reset the zone in Aperture [or Lightroom].

Have you encountered a situation where the time zone even matters? I just experimented with changing the time zone in some of my own photos while leaving the Date/Time Taken alone. The viewing tools I use for chronological sorting don't seem to care what the Time Zone field is. They ignore it and just refer to the recorded date and time.

If you need to change the recorded date and time because it's wrong, that's understandable - but it's a different thing.

I've long given up on worrying about time zones and daylight savings offsets and simply set the cameras to the local time. Then if anything needs to be fixed or altered later then I use JPGTime to sort it out...



I tick the three boxes on the top right to make sure (hopefully) that all date info gets changed.

After a session of creating jpegs from raw files I also put the jpegs back to the date and time taken, and don't leave them at the date and time processed that DxO changes. I usually use FastStone Viewer for that simple task.

I guess catching three out of a dozen or so isn't too bad:

 

[Guy Parsons]

I forgot to change the timezone on may camera some 2000 images all came in with CDT as the zone ...

Thanks to all == I'll go in and double check the pics and camera & iPhone and if both sources were on CDT throughout that trip maybe all I need to do is reset the zone in Aperture [or Lightroom].

Have you encountered a situation where the time zone even matters? I just experimented with changing the time zone in some of my own photos while leaving the Date/Time Taken alone. The viewing tools I use for chronological sorting don't seem to care what the Time Zone field is. They ignore it and just refer to the recorded date and time.

If you need to change the recorded date and time because it's wrong, that's understandable - but it's a different thing.

I've long given up on worrying about time zones and daylight savings offsets and simply set the cameras to the local time. Then if anything needs to be fixed or altered later then I use JPGTime to sort it out...



I tick the three boxes on the top right to make sure (hopefully) that all date info gets changed.

After a session of creating jpegs from raw files I also put the jpegs back to the date and time taken, and don't leave them at the date and time processed that DxO changes. I usually use FastStone Viewer for that simple task.

I guess catching three out of a dozen or so isn't too bad:

The three that it catches sorts out all problems for me. I guess it's the non exif dates that Windows and like minded programs work on for sifting and sorting.

Thanks for listing all the dates, that was my other question I was going to ask but failed to - "how many dates..."?

 

[robert1955]

With Exiftool you can easily shift the time values in EXIF data by the relevant number of hours to fix the time zone issue.

Exiftool itself is command line, but there are GUI’s that may be easier to use. I use geosetter.de

As to the Why? Having the time captured set to local often tells me something about the light, which may be useful in processing. It also helps in my story telling.

A more technical reason is that I also want to add location data to my images. The gps data come from a smartwatch which also serves as my alarm clock.
Using two cameras it is also nice (none of this is absolutely necessary) to get files in the correct order.

so Zulu time all the way

 

[vlherring]

Thank you - I use Aperture [still] and can change the EXIF data easily enough = part of the issue is that the camera [the Canon Powershot GX3] and the iPhone [12ProMax] both say CDT but I thought the iPhone would pick up local time using location settings == I'll have to sit down and review pics and see if it did so = if not I can probably just fix it by changing the CDT to the local zone [FRance] and that should fix it = and in the future at least have the phone able to 'record' local time and then I can compare pics and dates etc and update the camera...

 

[robert1955]

Thank you - I use Aperture [still] and can change the EXIF data easily enough = part of the issue is that the camera [the Canon Powershot GX3] and the iPhone [12ProMax] both say CDT but I thought the iPhone would pick up local time using location settings == I'll have to sit down and review pics and see if it did so = if not I can probably just fix it by changing the CDT to the local zone [FRance] and that should fix it = and in the future at least have the phone able to 'record' local time and then I can compare pics and dates etc and update the camera...

Was your phone set to data roaming = off?

 

[tbcass]

ReNamer - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download

 

[sybersitizen]

Thank you - I use Aperture [still] and can change the EXIF data easily enough = part of the issue is that the camera [the Canon Powershot GX3] and the iPhone [12ProMax] both say CDT but I thought the iPhone would pick up local time using location settings == I'll have to sit down and review pics and see if it did so = if not I can probably just fix it by changing the CDT to the local zone [FRance] and that should fix it ...

I ask you again (see my previous post) why the time zone even matters.

and in the future at least have the phone able to 'record' local time and then I can compare pics and dates etc and update the camera...

Yes, in my experience, the local date/time is what matters. If that's wrong, correct that.

 

[Victor Engel]

With Exiftool you can easily shift the time values in EXIF data by the relevant number of hours to fix the time zone issue.

Exiftool itself is command line, but there are GUI’s that may be easier to use. I use geosetter.de

As to the Why? Having the time captured set to local often tells me something about the light, which may be useful in processing. It also helps in my story telling.

A more technical reason is that I also want to add location data to my images. The gps data come from a smartwatch which also serves as my alarm clock.
Using two cameras it is also nice (none of this is absolutely necessary) to get files in the correct order.

so Zulu time all the way

For this I use HoudaGeo. The way it works is you drag a GPX log into the app and then drag a series of photos that were taken during the same time frame into the app. It pops up the last photo and asks you to enter the actual time of that photo, which it then uses to calculate an offset between camera time and GPS time in order to align the GPS track precisely.

When I go on a photo shoot where I want to log GPS, I always start a track log, and when I'm finished, I take a photo of the clock on my phone. I then do the above and have the app update the GPS data to all the images or sidecar files.

I don't know if it will also update the time in the image files, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

 

[robert1955]

With Exiftool you can easily shift the time values in EXIF data by the relevant number of hours to fix the time zone issue.

Exiftool itself is command line, but there are GUI’s that may be easier to use. I use geosetter.de

As to the Why? Having the time captured set to local often tells me something about the light, which may be useful in processing. It also helps in my story telling.

A more technical reason is that I also want to add location data to my images. The gps data come from a smartwatch which also serves as my alarm clock.
Using two cameras it is also nice (none of this is absolutely necessary) to get files in the correct order.

so Zulu time all the way

For this I use HoudaGeo. The way it works is you drag a GPX log into the app and then drag a series of photos that were taken during the same time frame into the app. It pops up the last photo and asks you to enter the actual time of that photo, which it then uses to calculate an offset between camera time and GPS time in order to align the GPS track precisely.
When I go on a photo shoot where I want to log GPS, I always start a track log, and when I'm finished, I take a photo of the clock on my phone. I then do the above and have the app update the GPS data to all the images or sidecar files.
I don't know if it will also update the time in the image files, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

looks like a good mac solution, mine is windows