ISO not showing in EXIF data on exported Nikon jpegs using Mac.

[snerkler]

Hi,

For a while now, I think since upgrading to Mac OS X El Capitan and/or Adobe CC the ISO is missing from the EXIF when viewing exported images from lightroom using Mac preview to open the files. All the other data is there, just not ISO. I've searched on apple forums and see that many are having this issue, but have not as yet found a solution. If I open the RAW file using preview the ISO data is there, but once I've edited it in LR and exported it it's missing. If I upload to Flickr the ISO rating still shows.

It only affects Nikon cameras AFAIK, I have Fuji, Canon, Sony and Olympus files and they all show the ISO after exporting from LR. I've spoken to a couple of other people using different software such as DXO and Capture One and that doesn't have the same issue, i.e. you can see the ISO in the exported Nikon files so it suggests to me it's a weird lightroom/mac glitch. Does anyone know of a fix for this?

Cheers.

[gatorjim2000]

Have you tried viewing the EXIF data in something other than Preview?

My tests show that the ISO value is present in the EXIF data of exported Nikon images when viewed with ExifTool and other apps. It's only Preview that seems to have an issue.

Granted, maybe LR is somehow causing the problem with Preview, but the ISO value is in the exported images.

[snerkler]

Thanks for the reply. Yes it shows in other software such as Xee but I still prefer preview to all the ones I've tried. As I said the ISO shows on Flickr so I know the data is there, it's just some weird anomaly when viewing exported lightroom images in preview. Very odd.

[johnrellis]

This is a bug in Apple's Preview -- it is not interpreting the EXIF 2.3 standard correctly. The bug is triggered because of the particular EXIF tags written to the original image by the camera (LR just copies those tags to the exported JPEG).  You could file a bug report with Apple, but I sincerely doubt that it would get fixed before the next ice age.  Gory details:

In the couple of Nikon .nef raws I looked at, two EXIF tags were recorded:

ISO                            : 160
SensitivityType                : Recommended Exposure Index

(ISO is what the EXIF standard calls PhotographicSensitivity.)  This is perfectly valid according to the standard. 

But Preview seems to believe that if SensitivityType = "Recommended Exposure Index", then there should be a third tag:

RecommendedExposureIndex      : 160

But that is not required by the standard. 

When I use ExifTool to delete SensitivityType from the exported .jpg, Preview correctly shows ISO; and when I use ExifTool to instead add RecommendedExposureIndex, Preview again shows ISO.

I looked at a sample Sony .arw raw, and it included all three tags, which keeps Preview happy.  And in a sample Canon .cr2 raw, it included just ISO, which also keeps Preview happy.

[gatorjim2000]

And just to add to the confusion...

When Preview is used to view info for:

- Nikon Original NEF - the ISO is shown in the EXIF tab and the Nikon tab

- Nikon Original JPG - the ISO disappears from Preview's EXIF tab but is shown in the Nikon tab

- Nikon JPG exported from an original NEF or JPG - the ISO tag disappears from Preview's EXIF tab (true with either C1 or LR so it isn't LR specific) and the Nikon tab also disappears so ISO isn't available anywhere.

Have to agree with John... Preview seems pretty messed up when viewing Nikon images.

[johnrellis]

Preview appears to display the Nikon-proprietary MakerNotes on the Nikon tab.  The Nikon MakerNotes also contains several ISO fields.

LR doesn't copy MakerNotes to exported JPEGs.

[snerkler]

Oh, I forgot to ask, what do you mean by the ISO is still there in the Nikon tab? When I open info, in the pop up I get general, exif, IPTC and TIFF?

[gatorjim2000]

The Nikon tab appears only for original, i.e. not exported, images.

Check out Jeffrey Friedl's plug-in "Run Any Command". It might do what you want in conjunction with ExifTool.

Jeffrey Friedl's Blog » Jeffrey’s “Run Any Command” Lightroom Export Plugin

[snerkler]

Thanks, bit too complicated for me I'm afraid, I don't know how to run commands etc

[snerkler]

Thanks very much for the help (and gatorjim too), is there a way to batch delete sensitivity type, either on export from LR or using EXIFtool or similar?