I have a problem I couldn’t solve, maybe someone can help me.
I shoot many photos in South Africa with Canon R . I have set the time zone accordingly. ( one hour difference with Italy, so 6pm in Cape town is 5pm in Italy).
I moved the files from the Card to my Mac when I was there.
Now I am back home, and when I use DXO , the time shown for the raw file on the exif window is “wrong” : a picture taken at 6pm appear in the software as shot at 5 pm . HOWEVER , if I export the JPEG file, it comes out with the right time ( in the example 6pm).
The same raw file when open with Canon DPP 4 shows the right time . ( so Canon Dpp see the right time and produce a Jpeg equally correct)
What makes the situation more complicate is that I modify a file with DPP from canon ( they basically write changes directly on the CR3 file) , than I see this particular file in DXO with the original date correct .
I see you are on a Mac, Giovanni. Time zone issues are pretty closed tied to the OS. Hopefully DxO will be able to help sort out the EXIF time issues for you soon.
In the meantime, there’s a very useful and well-known free command line tool, ExifTool by Phil Harvey, which can be used to change Exif shoot times from the command line.
I prefer a GUI so I usually use Frank Reiff’s Better Finder Attributes. Better Finder Attributes was very helpful one week where I had my sports cameras set to different times and had to harmonise the EXIF data to have the sequences in the right order.
Before I use a tool (thanks for the indication) to change the time, I would like to understand better what I have to change: while in Dxo exif windows I see the “wrong” time, when Dxo export the Jpeg, I see it with the right time .
It looks like the information on the time zone is written in the CR3 file , but Dxo doesn’t read it properly when it displays the picture, while it uses the time zone properly when it has to export the file .
When I did modify the CR3 with Canon DPP, software who modifies the RAWs , than I see the right time on DXO dashboard and again the right time on the Jpeg. Maybe DPP re-write time and time zone in a way, that DXO prefers.
Third trial, I imported the CR3 files in Apple photo on Mac , and , again the time was correct. Maybe this time is not Mac related .
I believe it could be an issue with the DXO when it diplays raw files ( or maybe just the new CR3 files, they are so recent , that I can read the CR3s from Canon R but not from Canon RP) . What you think ?
That would make sense. Great that you were able to find a solution to get the time zone and time right. I don’t have an R or RP so I won’t be able to experiment with this (my main camera is a 5DS R so I’m a Canon shooter like you).
If you do find out more information or additional solutions to the time zone bug, perhaps you could post them for those afflicted.
When I look at my .cr2 files (with hex editor “iHex”) I can find several entries that show dates. Depending on what tag an application writes or reads, we can get the effects that you mention.
Just for fun, i edited a copy of a .CR2 file with iHex and replaced all Date entries with a new date. DPL then let me work on both original and copied files without any issues. Sole difference was the date displayed in the “exif editor” panel…
Note: Be aware that you can easily destroy your image if your edit goes wrong.
BTW: The image I used displayed in incorrect copyright date because I had forgotten to change the copyright note. I’m going to leave the file alone and will edit the copyright note when I’ll export the file. DPL is able to do that, so no worries here.
Yes, exiftool is also mentioned above and I have it on my computer. I used iHex for this short test and I almost never edit raw files. Using a hex editor introduces no interpretations or limits but some kind of open heart surgery possibilities…
I can’t remember how long ago, but probably more than 10 years ago I came across this problem. At that time the exiftool also existed, but without a GUI it can be very time consuming to fix hundreds of files.
I Discovered a tool called Picture Information Extractor PIE (just google it). The tool still exist and makes use of Exiftool for re-writing the date/time. According to their site:
PIE allows to edit EXIF and IPTC data* , add and delete tags, change capture date/time in JPG, TIFF and RAW formats, lossless rotate and update embedded thumbnails, without destroying the Makernote block, and without affecting the image quality.
But editing is only available in the paid version. The license I bough many years ago is still valid, no upgrade payments for new versions and quite affordable.
Because of it’s easy interface and speed it’s still my default tool for reading an updating exif details.
Actually, especially without a GUI it is super efficient to fix hundreds or even thousands of files. Some basic shell knowledge is required, but nothing that can’t be found using Google or stackoverflow in some minutes.
In theory, this is true Christian. But expecting the majority of people to be able to use command-line is unrealistic. And like flying an airplane or using a chainsaw, it’s not an activity safe to pick up without a commitment to learning best practices.
Six letters at the wrong time can change your life: