Exif Problem with .nef files and PTLens

[Archive]

[Originally posted by copperleaf on 2006-11-08 21:58:47-08]

Hi,

I'm trying to use PTLens with a Nikon .nef image converted to jpeg with Raw Shooter Essentials. I'm running into problems with PTLens being able to read the Makernotes that have been copied from the .nef with exiftool. Here is a link to some sample images and a small write up about the problem.

http://www.copperleaf.org/exifproblem/exifproblem.html

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks, Bill

[Archive]

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2006-11-09 00:08:37-08]

Hi Bill,

First of all, thanks for the detailed description and samples.
It makes diagnosing tough problems like this a lot easier.

I had a close look at the DxO and exiftool samples, and as far as I can
see the exiftool image contains all of the information in the DxO image.
However, the one difference (and this is a difference that may confuse
some EXIF readers) is that the exiftool EXIF information is written in
little-endian (Intel) byte order, while the DxO image is written in
big-endian (Motorola) order.  But both maker notes are written in
big-endian order since this is the way they are stored in the NEF.  It
is possible that an inflexible reader could have problems with
big-endian maker notes in a little-endian EXIF image.  This really
should be considered a reader bug, because this sort of thing does
happen occasionally, and there is a separate byte order mark in the
EXIF and maker notes so the individual ordering can easily be
recognized.

The reason ExifTool writes in little-endian order is because that is
how the EXIF data is ordered in the source image dsc_4714_rse.jpg.
ExifTool will not change the existing byte order, but if it creates
the EXIF from scratch it will default to the same order as the maker
notes.  So if you delete all of the EXIF and rewrite it completely,
you will have everything in big-endian order.

To test this theory, try creating another version of the image with
exiftool.  First copy "dsc_4714_exiftool.jpg" to "dsc_4714_exiftool_2.jpg",
then do this:

Code:

exiftool dsc_4714_exiftool_2.jpg -exif:all=
exiftool dsc_4714_exiftool_2.jpg -tagsfromfile dsc_4714_exiftool.jpg -all:all

If this works, try sending a bug report and the original exiftool image to
PTLens and irfanview to see if they can support this type of mixed-order
image.

- Phil

[Archive]

[Originally posted by copperleaf on 2006-11-09 13:24:47-08]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the reply. That was problem. After going through the steps above, both Irfanview and PTLens were able to read the makernotes correctly. I'll forward this information on to both authors. Thanks for the help!

Bill