Anyone notice lack of EXIF carry over into 10D

[merlyn9]

:(

I simply NEEDED to rant on this...

About a week or so ago, I was looking at some pix from someone's gallery here (genEOS) and noticed in his tech info, there was a field "Subject Distance". When I inquired, Daniel told me that was part of the standard EXIF info provided with his D60?

Damn, I thought, did I miss where Canon placed that in my 10D? Paging through my volumous users guide, & Canon's online pages... I found nothing.
I write to Canon's online tech support... (ha ha) and proceeded to shoot several dozen test shots with different settings & all looking for this information to appear... somehow.
Wait... A reply from Canon (52hours later)... :

Regrettably, each camera may have different EXIF information designed
within the camera.
This information is not provided to Operational Support as how why this
information is changed.

And now today, I discover that this information is even available within Canon Point-n-Shoot cmaeras (G3 & G5's)

Does this strike anyone else as strange?
Or an I just missing something here?

<stepping off cheap soapbox>:wink:

thanks;

---michael

10D
17-35 f2.8
28-399 f3.5

[mattchase]

Actually, the 10D does support the "Subject Distance" info. What doesn't support it is various lenses. I conducted a test some time ago between the Canon 70-200 and Sigma 70-200 lenses, and noticed that Subject Distance was recorded when using the Canon lens, but not with the Sigma. It was kind of handy, as it helped distinguish which images came from what lens.

I haven't really payed any attention to my other lenses, so don't know which others do or don't support that exif info. But the 10D itself does.

Update: Hmmm...I thought I had found a correlation, but now am just more confused. I just went through a number of past photos, from my Canon 17-35 L, Tamron 28-75 xi, and Sigma 70-200 HSM lenses, using both my 10D and D60, and here is what I found. The Tamron and Sigma images appear to never have Subject Distance in the exif. The Canon 17-35 L does show the Subject Distance some of the time, but not all of the time, and it isn't always accurate either. The first thing I noticed was the few shots it showed up in were done in manual focus. But then I found some shots done with AF which showed Subject Distance too. Then I noticed I had used my 550ex flash in the first few I found, but then I found some other shots with no flash that showed Subject Distance.

So you got me. All I can say for sure is that the 10D is capable of the Subject Distance info in the exif. And I am still pretty sure it is lens dependent, but can't figure out why it shows up sometimes with my 17-35 L but not other times.

[DAMphyne]

I find the exif data with thumbs plus, in the info folder, it allows me to decide what information I want displayed.
Since I have a D30 and a 10D, it helps keep the cameras identified when I have mixed folders.
Sometimes I loose the data if I change the file name.
But that really doesn't bother me as long as I keep the originals keyed with the new files.

[sjprg]

One of the things I noticed is that if you develop raw with FVU there are several choices of developing, one is jpg, one is 8bit tif with exif and the other is 16bit tif with no exif.

C1 manages to find the exif from the 10D but Photshop CS does not.
See the Adobe web site for more info.

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?14@@.ee6b366

THIS PROBLEM IS DUE TO CANON'S BS POLICY OF NOT RELEASING THE DOCUMENTS SO THAT THIRD PARTYS CAN USE THE INFORMATION.

This is my major pet peeve, companys that think their so important that they can screw over the world. MS got sued over it and is now releasing loads of info. Maybe we need a class action suit against Canon to acomplish the same thing.

[merlyn9]

Folks:

Thanks for the info... this is highly interesting [sjprg] while I had begun to appreciate (or lack there of) the shortfalls of Photoshop when it came to EXIF data... I had failed to mentioned I also had tried my rax-to... conversions with both C1LE & BreezeBrowser, again without the aforementioned data???

But I think [mattchase] hit it on the head... The two lenses I have for my 10D are a Tamron & a Sigma... So I went back into my film bag, where my older EOS camera had a 28-80, I thought was Canon... damn, Sigma again (gee, when was the last time "I" used that lens/camera??? :oops: )

I shot a few with that just for the heck... (not as clear images either)

But all the same... No "Subject Distance" data?

Now why would they make this an issue tied to Hardware? :roll: :idea:

So, as I prepare for this great journey of my back to a project site in Calf., which rpefsents all this opportunity for nature moments... (YES, I am Driving!) I must find a way to sell my children so I can afford some additional lenses?

Now how much can I get for a 13 yearold?

thanks;

---michael

[chris maddock]

Folks:

Thanks for the info... this is highly interesting [sjprg] while I had begun to appreciate (or lack there of) the shortfalls of Photoshop when it came to EXIF data... I had failed to mentioned I also had tried my rax-to... conversions with both C1LE & BreezeBrowser, again without the aforementioned data???

But I think [mattchase] hit it on the head... The two lenses I have for my 10D are a Tamron & a Sigma... So I went back into my film bag, where my older EOS camera had a 28-80, I thought was Canon... damn, Sigma again (gee, when was the last time "I" used that lens/camera??? :oops: )

But all the same... No "Subject Distance" data?

Now why would they make this an issue tied to Hardware? :roll: :idea:


I've just had a look at my database of shots' EXIF data, and not all the Canon lenses show it either;
Canon 280135; yes
Canon 100-400L; yes
Canon 70-200/4; yes
Canon 50/1.8; no
Canon 35-80; no
Canon 75-300IS; no
Tokina 19-35; no
Sigma 12-24; no
Vivitar 100; no

I suspect it depends not on the camera but whether the lens reports the distance back for the camera to include. The non-Canons don't, probably because they don't have a 100% compatible comms system. The cheaper Canons don't, probably because they are the cheaper Canons?

KRs
Chris

[maderito]

Seems like we're starting a database here. I can add to Chris' list:

Canon 50/1.4 - no
Canon 85/f1.8 - yes

Both cost about the same, $300. Go figure...

[Scottes]

I checked a few shots with my 70-200 2.8 with the 1.4 TC. All 4 that I checked showed Subject Distance - however, 3 of them said 65.535 meters, and I *know* they weren't identical distances - perhaps I was focused on infinity for those? Also one shot said 2.346 meters and I don't think that I was that close to the seagull. 7 1/2 feet seems pretty close. 10-12 might be more realistic.

In a nutshell I don't know if the Subject Distance can be trusted. Damn shame.

[Canon10D]

How do u find/extract the "Subject Distance" from the EXIF data? I am using Canon ZoomBrowser EX and only find "Focal Length".
Thanks.

[defordphoto]

How do u find/extract the "Subject Distance" from the EXIF data? I am using Canon ZoomBrowser EX and only find "Focal Length".
Thanks.

You don't have to do anything special. If it's not there, then your lens doesn't provide that information to the camera.

[htbyron]

I'm reviving this thread because it came closest to addressing a question I had when viewing some EXIF data recently:

It seems that the "subject distance" field is recorded for the shots I took in JPG, but not for my RAW exposures. Does this comport with anyone else's experience.

I'm shooting with a G3 (for another couple of weeks anyway, until I spring for the dRebel). So maybe this isn't handled the same on the EOS cameras. I will also post this question over in the G-Series forum, but I appreciate any responses from the DSLRers here too.

Thanks,
Tom

[Roumen]

Tom,

Your observation is true - the subject distance field does not appear in the Raw file and converted Jpeg file of the Canon Gx camera.

The original .THM file from the camera should be in the same folder with the .CRW file in order to get correct subject distance field of the RAW and converted JPEG files. This is the same when using Canon Raw Image Converter and BreezeBrowser.

Use Breeze Downloader (free utility from www.breezesys.com) to download the .THM and .CRW files.

Nobody else in these forums has mentioned this strange feature of Canon .THM files in Gx cameras (this should be a result of Canon Software Library used). This strange feature may be appears in the same way with Canon DSLR cameras.

Greetings,
Roumen