Bug 196228

Summary: EXIF Information reported as Unavailable
Product: [Applications] digikam Reporter: Paul Waldo <paul>
Component: Metadata-ExifAssignee: Digikam Developers <digikam-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED FIXED    
Severity: wishlist CC: caulier.gilles
Priority: NOR    
Version: 0.10.0   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Ubuntu   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In: 5.1.0
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Paul Waldo 2009-06-12 19:44:18 UTC
Version:            (using KDE 4.2.1)
OS:                Linux
Installed from:    Ubuntu Packages

Some EXIF parameters are shown as "Unavailable" for images from my Canon Digital Rebel, e.g. Mode/Program, Flash, White Balance.  

I'm guessing that the problem is that these parameters are in non-standard locations in the metadata.  For example, the information mentioned above is stored in the Canon MakerNotes (CanonCs and CanonSi).

I know that trying standardize a non-standard is difficult, so I have a solution that is a wish.  Even if the above information was displayed properly, I would like to be able to see additional information on thumbnails and tool tips.  Lens Type, Metering Mode, ISO Speed, etc. would be nice to see.  Additionally, this EXIF data cannot be searched upon since it is non-standard.  For example, if I want to search on Metering Mode, "Any" is the only choice that will yield hits, presumably because Digikam does not know where to look for this information.

Apparently Digikam has a "dictionary" of image properties it would like to know about, such as Mode/Program, Flash, White Balance.  At a bare minimum, there should be some way to map these things that Digikam wants to arbitrary fields in the metadata.  So when Digikam wants to display White Balance, it does not look for "WhiteBalance" in the EXIF part of the metadata, it consults its lookup table and finds that the value for its concept of White Balance can be found at MakerNote/CanonSi/WhiteBalance.

A broader wish is to make any metadata available for Digikam to use.  Maybe the user specifies a display tag, like "Subject Distance", specifies where this value can be found, like "MakerNote/CanonSi/Subject Distance", and a data type, like Integer.

Thanks for your consideration!
Comment 1 caulier.gilles 2009-07-11 11:44:38 UTC
Paul, 

The core problem with unavailable info is explained in #199461.

Gilles Caulier
Comment 2 caulier.gilles 2011-12-17 09:36:03 UTC
Paul,

Do you see my comment #1 ?

Gilles Caulier
Comment 3 caulier.gilles 2015-06-30 08:05:45 UTC
New digiKam 4.11.0 is available :

https://www.digikam.org/node/740

Can you reproduce the problem with this release ?
Comment 4 caulier.gilles 2016-07-14 13:09:18 UTC
This problem is not reproducible using last digiKam 5.0.0 + Exiv2 0.25.
I close this file now. Don't hesitate to re-open if necessary.
Gilles Caulier