Here is a list of all the lens related tags, showing which were set…
[EXIF] Lens Info : 50mm f/1.7
[EXIF] Lens Make : EXIF:LensMake
[EXIF] Lens Model : Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1,7
[EXIF] Lens Serial Number : EXIF:LensSerialNumber
[EXIF] Lens : EXIF:Lens
[XMP] Lens Manufacturer : xmp:LensManufacturer
[XMP] Lens : XMP-aux:Lens
[XMP] Lens Distort Info : xmp:LensDistortInfo
[XMP] Lens Serial Number : XMP-aux:LensSerialNumber
[XMP] Lens Profile Digest : xmp:LensProfileDigest
[XMP] Lens Profile Filename : xmp:LensProfileFilename
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Camera Model Name: xmp:LensProfileMatchKeyCameraModelName
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Exif Make: xmp:LensProfileMatchKeyExifMake
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Exif Model: xmp:LensProfileMatchKeyExifModel
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Is Raw : True
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Lens ID : xmp:LensProfileMatchKeyLensID
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Lens Info: xmp:LensProfileMatchKeyLensInfo
[XMP] Lens Profile Match Key Lens Name: xmp:LensProfileMatchKeyLensName
[XMP] Lens Profile Name : xmp:LensProfileName
[XMP] Lens Profile Setup : xmp:LensProfileSetup
[XMP] Lens Correction Settings : xmp:LensCorrectionSettings
[XMP] Lens Make : XMP-exifEX:LensMake
[XMP] Lens Model : XMP-exifEX:LensModel
[XMP] Lens Serial Number : XMP-exifEX:LensSerialNumber
[Composite] Lens ID : Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1,7
So, it appears that Composite:LensID is being inferred from EXIF:LensModel
But MakerNotes:LensModel is not being assigned by ExifToolGUI…
[MakerNotes] Lens Model :
… and it may be that that is the tag that PL is looking for, without looking for a fallback from the EXIF section.
Woohoo!
Just confirmed by writing the MakerNotes:LensModel tag explicitly, the lens model now becomes visible in PL7.
So, ExifToolGUI is not writing that tag, only the EXIF one.
But, also, PL7 is not looking for a “fallback” from EXIF, whereas other software is. So, you might like to drop a bug report to DxO to the effect that PL7 is failing to fallback for that tag, even though this is not strictly a bug but an option.
I suggest you start by talking to the guy who is maintaining ExifToolGUI first.
There is no reason to assume that it is the responsibility of DxO to do anything about it as, doing a quick search of those forums, there are other apps that can’t read certain tags written by ExifToolGUI.
After all, it is only a utility that someone has written to make interacting with metadata on Windows a little easier. It is only a GUI wrapper around some of ExifTool’s functionality. It was never intended to be a full blown tool and, as you have found, it doesn’t cope with everything.
I have spent a lot of time dealing with metadata and can assure you that writing to tags that appear in more than one section is highly advised, so it can be said that ExifToolGUI could be just as much at fault.
Talk to them on their forum and see what they have to say before taking it to DxO. After all, hand-writing metadata through any tool is not for the faint hearted and you need to be aware of the rules for writing before shouting about not being able to read.
I just looked at a screenshot of ExifToolGUI and noticed there is a tab for Maker tags. Try writing to the Lens Model tag on that tab.
Also, I notice that ExifToolGUI is desgned so that you can choose which tags suit your workflow. You are not obliged to only use EXIF:LensModel, just switch to using MakerNotes:LensModel instead - or use both for better compatibility with more software.
Last time I used EXIF TOOL I had an issue. If all I want to do is simply edit the EXIF data for camera model, is there an easy way to do this? I just want to change “Leica m8.2” to “Leica M9”, so PhotoLab will open those images.
In the photos you can see the simple operation performed to insert, and have PL read, the lens data. After numerous tests I managed to understand why PL does not read the lens model: the tag must be inserted before any other operation. I had a folder with other photos taken with the 50mm and I inserted the tag (only in LensModel of the ETGui Workspace panel) as described here and it worked. PL immediately recognized the lens. I tried to modify the tag by adding and removing a character from the name and PL updated these changes. Conclusion: the insertion of the lens (name and model) must be done immediately before opening the RAW with PL. The photos contained in a folder with “modified” RAWs do not all work well. Those, to which PL has assigned the Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 ZE lens, CANNOT be updated with another lens! And I don’t understand why.
The tests were done with a Canon 6DII, a 5DII and a SONY A7RIII.
I don’t know whether I understood you well. If you open an image in PL all kind of info is stored in the database. It doesn’t correct that anymore, in general. Rename the image or move it to another directory. Images in PL are unique by their name and path.
When you say “PL has assigned a lens”, how exactly did you get it to do that?
And there’s your problem.
You are only looking at the EXIF group of tags and I have already mentioned that that the makernotes tags are also read, possibly ignoring the EXIF tags.
It is very important that you understand there is no single tag for describing lens model. Most good software will assign to all relevant tags, to ensure compatibility with the most apps. By using ExifToolGUI, you are “hacking” the tags independently and readability in all software cannot be guaranteed.
Could you please post a screenshot of the “Maker” tab in ExifToolGUI?
The problem is not with how PL reads the tags, it is how their are written that is causing the problem, because you are using an unconventional means for changing something that only the camera would normally write.
If lens metadata is not found in the image file, then using PL to assign a lens module is one surefire way of screwing everything up.
As @George says, you would need to either move the image to another folder or delete the DOP file for that image plus the entire database to get rid of the info.
In the world of metadata, you learn pretty quickly that it should only ever be created in one place. In your case, because you are “cheating” the system, that one place can only be by changing the metadata before you do anything else to that file.
I will repeat - this is not the fault of PL, you are presenting it with unconventional metadata. Get that right before letting PL see the files and all should be well.
But, please, check what happens when using the makernotes tags as this could also have unforeseen effects.
Create a test directory and move one or more testfiles to it. Then just add a sequence number 1,2,3,4 etc. to it. If you’re ready you can just delete that directory.
