When I see a great image on here I check the exif details to see 'how' it was done (it is so frustrating when they are missing for whatever reason). I didn't pick up a camera until February/March this year and everything is a huge learning curve. I know this may seem a strange/stupid question but should I be able to work out if a certain lens was used from the exif details? Would it be possible or too time consuming for followers of 365 to share what lens they used for a particular shot. Especially the more experienced for us the lesser so? Thank you.
Almost all cameras with interchangeable lenses will place the lens information into the exif (camera) information if it is made available to the digital camera. Lenses with "cpu" contacts, most "modern" lenses. Sometimes not the manufacturer though. Some editors, uploaders, display programs, browsers, will retain only certain pieces, or at least only make available for "display" certain "standard" pieces. Sometimes it is even stripped out entirely. 365 for instance doesn't display the lens information on your "project" page, in fact really only a small amount of exposure information is presented, and the camera manufacturer, always only if available. I suspect it doesn't strip anything out, but I've never really looked. Russ has said before he follows "standards" on this, but I forget the specifics he mentioned.
Adobe Bridge, for instance, will retain almost all of the "standards defined" metadata, not just the exif, information. At least what pieces you have told it to keep, see Edit | Preferences | Metadata to see how it is set up and/or to change it for yourself. It will even add "extra" if the editors (Camera Raw especially) provide it. I suppose Lightroom must do the same, but I've never investigated what and how.
There are free exif readers and editors out there on the Internet if you care to Google for them. If your editor won't do it for you. Hope that helps.
As @frankhymus says, the site's 'View Info' button doesn't show the lens that was used, only the focal length. (I've always been slightly surprised by this, as it seems like a missed opportunity to add more Amazon affiliate links, but I digress!)
The more detailed EXIF info in the file is unfortunately not consistently retained when files are uploaded to the site, so for some people's shots it will exist, and for others it won't. I believe that if an image is uploaded at the same resolution as the site uses (1024px on the long edge), the site uses that exact image file, so all the EXIF data is retained, and if you download the file you can view that data. If an image is uploaded that's larger than that, the site resizes it down and in doing so, strips the EXIF data, so all you have is what can be viewed using the 'View Info' button.
As an example, here is all the EXIF info in my most recent photo, which was sized to 1024px prior to uploading:
As you can see, the lens info (and a whole lot more besides) can be seen in the first link, but not the second.
In other words, while in some cases you might be able to find out the lens info by downloading the photo and opening it in an editor which can display that info, in a lot of cases the information has been stripped by the site. So the simple answer is that it's probably easiest just to ask the photographer in a comment :)
Thanks @abirkill@frankhymus you guys are always so good at explaining these sorts of things. I often look at the exif data to try to understand the technique
@motherjane Hi Jane, as always thanks to @frankhymus and @abirkill for explaining the hows and whys (I've always wondered about this stuff too)! Practically speaking, for you, when there IS some EXIF data displayed on a photo, there are a few clues you can look for which will give you some (if not all) info as to what lens was used.
For example, it's useful to know that most consumer zoom lenses have a max aperture of 3.5-5.6, so if an image has a larger aperture than this (eg. 2.8 or 1.8) it has to be either a more expensive zoom lens (eg. a 24-70mm with a constant max of 2.8) or a prime, respectively.
It's also useful to know typical prime lens focal lengths - eg. 50mm is a popular one for many brands - so if an image has a focal length of 50mm, it could either be a zoom that covers that length (eg. an 18-55mm) OR, quite likely, a 50mm prime.
Another thing that's useful to know (and may take a bit to wrap your head around if you are new to photography) is the sensor size of various types of cameras. This is useful because sometimes lenses are made for a particular type of camera, based on the sensor size. For example, Canon's crop-sensor range of cameras (like your 600D) have a crop factor of 1.6 (let's say it's 1.6 times smaller than film, which is where all these numbers came from), and often come with an 18-55mm kit lens. I recently bought a 6D, which is full-frame (same size sensor as film), and not compatible with my 18-55mm lens, and while multiplying this by 1.6 will get something like 29-88mm, the typical "equivalent" lens for these cameras is a 24-70mm. This matters because if I you have been admiring someone's work and they are using a 50mm lens but on a full-frame camera, you may want to look more at a 35mm or similar, if that makes sense?
Anyway, I hope some of this is useful/makes sense!
I tend to let people know if I'm using a lens that is designed for a full-frame, but I'm using it on my crop sensor. For example, I have a fixed lens that is 35mm, but on my crop sensor, it will be the equivalent of a 50mm. I put some of that info (my lenses I work with) in my profile so others know that if I have a shot taken at 300mm, they know I'm using my zoom. It's a good practice if you are playing with lenses to indicate which one you are using so others can learn, and I ask when I want to know what lens was used for a certain subject. Hope this helps. The info above is great!
I need to st down and digest all the information above - it is in another language! However I too have mentioned this int eh past and it seems that the EXIF information disappears in certain processing programmes..
@darylo Hi Daryl. Just to be clear, whether a 50mm lens has been built to cover a full frame (FX in Nikon speak) or an APS-C frame (DX in Nikon speak), if you mount them on an APS-C camera they will produce exactly the same shot/angle of view. The difference between the lenses is that the DX lens projects only a circle large enough to cover the APS-C frame (24 (well 23.9) x16 mm for Nikon, something less for Canon), the FX lens projects a bigger circle with extra edge detail, enough to cover the full frame 36x24mm. But the view on the smaller frame from either lens is the same.
That's the reason DX lenses are (usually) cheaper and lighter than the same focal length/aperture FX lens. The lenses have to cover more area and be sharp and bright on the (extra) edges that only the FX frame can see. It is also why ardent DX users (me on my D7100 right now) can prefer FX class lenses over DX lenses - they are (usually) of higher quality and any edge imperfections that still might exist and show up on an FX camera are cropped away by the DX frame.
You also might notice that it's the *linear* dimensions of the FX frame that are 1.5 times those of the DX frame. The *area* of the FX frame is actually 2.25 times that of the DX frame. Canon equivalent numbers are 1.6 and 2.56.
@frankhymus@abirkill@aliha@darylo Thank you all for taking the time to respond. WOW that is a lot of information to take in ... it will take some time to process. It's great knowing you are all out there for support and advice.
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Adobe Bridge, for instance, will retain almost all of the "standards defined" metadata, not just the exif, information. At least what pieces you have told it to keep, see Edit | Preferences | Metadata to see how it is set up and/or to change it for yourself. It will even add "extra" if the editors (Camera Raw especially) provide it. I suppose Lightroom must do the same, but I've never investigated what and how.
There are free exif readers and editors out there on the Internet if you care to Google for them. If your editor won't do it for you. Hope that helps.
The more detailed EXIF info in the file is unfortunately not consistently retained when files are uploaded to the site, so for some people's shots it will exist, and for others it won't. I believe that if an image is uploaded at the same resolution as the site uses (1024px on the long edge), the site uses that exact image file, so all the EXIF data is retained, and if you download the file you can view that data. If an image is uploaded that's larger than that, the site resizes it down and in doing so, strips the EXIF data, so all you have is what can be viewed using the 'View Info' button.
As an example, here is all the EXIF info in my most recent photo, which was sized to 1024px prior to uploading:
http://regex.info/exif.cgi?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.365project.org%2F1%2F5463342_bcgilr1478_o.jpg
And here is all the EXIF info in an earlier photo, which wasn't resized prior to uploading:
http://regex.info/exif.cgi?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.365project.org%2F1%2F5457102_ijpqrst359_l.jpg
As you can see, the lens info (and a whole lot more besides) can be seen in the first link, but not the second.
In other words, while in some cases you might be able to find out the lens info by downloading the photo and opening it in an editor which can display that info, in a lot of cases the information has been stripped by the site. So the simple answer is that it's probably easiest just to ask the photographer in a comment :)
For example, it's useful to know that most consumer zoom lenses have a max aperture of 3.5-5.6, so if an image has a larger aperture than this (eg. 2.8 or 1.8) it has to be either a more expensive zoom lens (eg. a 24-70mm with a constant max of 2.8) or a prime, respectively.
It's also useful to know typical prime lens focal lengths - eg. 50mm is a popular one for many brands - so if an image has a focal length of 50mm, it could either be a zoom that covers that length (eg. an 18-55mm) OR, quite likely, a 50mm prime.
Another thing that's useful to know (and may take a bit to wrap your head around if you are new to photography) is the sensor size of various types of cameras. This is useful because sometimes lenses are made for a particular type of camera, based on the sensor size. For example, Canon's crop-sensor range of cameras (like your 600D) have a crop factor of 1.6 (let's say it's 1.6 times smaller than film, which is where all these numbers came from), and often come with an 18-55mm kit lens. I recently bought a 6D, which is full-frame (same size sensor as film), and not compatible with my 18-55mm lens, and while multiplying this by 1.6 will get something like 29-88mm, the typical "equivalent" lens for these cameras is a 24-70mm. This matters because if I you have been admiring someone's work and they are using a 50mm lens but on a full-frame camera, you may want to look more at a 35mm or similar, if that makes sense?
Anyway, I hope some of this is useful/makes sense!
That's the reason DX lenses are (usually) cheaper and lighter than the same focal length/aperture FX lens. The lenses have to cover more area and be sharp and bright on the (extra) edges that only the FX frame can see. It is also why ardent DX users (me on my D7100 right now) can prefer FX class lenses over DX lenses - they are (usually) of higher quality and any edge imperfections that still might exist and show up on an FX camera are cropped away by the DX frame.
You also might notice that it's the *linear* dimensions of the FX frame that are 1.5 times those of the DX frame. The *area* of the FX frame is actually 2.25 times that of the DX frame. Canon equivalent numbers are 1.6 and 2.56.