Barnaby Harding , Jul 29, 2010; 08:47 a.m.
I have just started getting into post-production and have a copy of Lightroom 2 that I am getting to grips with. Having imported and catalogued all 575 of my photos (not such a newbie now maybe - or do you need to hit 1,000 to move up!) I decided to try filtering by lens type.
TO MY HORROR! 109 of the 575 photos fall under the UNKNOWN LENS category. It isn't just one lens either, there are photos taken with all 3 that I own that did not register in the EXIF data. It seems to be down to certain shoots, as all unknown shots by lens are grouped within the same session, as opposed to it being a random problem.
What causes this? I assume it's my camera, but what can I do about it? I know it's not a massive deal, but I would like the lens to register EXIF if possible as it is nice to have the option of filtering.
Howard M 
, Jul 29, 2010; 09:44 a.m.
do you know for a fact that it's an LR2 problem? have you looked at the EXIF data from an example image using a different tool like 'exiftool' or irfanview or something?
Jack Aldridge 
, Jul 29, 2010; 09:57 a.m.
So what lenses and camera body(ies) are you talking about?
Barnaby Harding , Jul 29, 2010; 11:18 a.m.
Actually, as soon as I posted I realised that mentioning LR2 at all was irrelevant, as it may not be the software at all. I do need to check though.
In terms of kit, I use a Canon 400d (Rebel XTi) with the following lenses:
* Canon 18-55 IS
* Canon 50 f1.8 Mk. 1 (my favourite lens!)
* Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 Di LD Macro (what a mouthful)
Where can I get Exiftool? Or indeed irfanview? Are they free? I have the Canon DPP software, but it doesn't work for some reason.
I hope this helps!
Howard M , Jul 29, 2010; 11:46 a.m.
Robin Sibson , Jul 29, 2010; 11:55 a.m.
Try using DPP and see what that picks up when you open the INFO panel.
Ed V. , Jul 29, 2010; 12:00 p.m.
I do not have Lightroom, but I believe Adobe Bridge for CS4 is similar. I did a little experiment to filter for all the photos I've taken with an EOS body in 2009 that have "no lens". Only one out of roughly 4600 photos was reported. (Many "no lens" photos I shot with P&S cameras, I think that's understandable).
It was a photo I had processed from RAW to JPG in DPP, then made further tweaks with an early version of Google's Picasa. I think that's what did it. What were you using prior to LR?
Addendum: I believe opening and resaving JPG's in some software causes the loss of EXIF.
Puppy Face , Jul 29, 2010; 12:21 p.m.
DPP picks up both the EF 50 1.8 (MK I) & 18-55 as I've used them before on an XTi. I can also see them in Aperture 3. Not sure about the Tammy as I don't own one.
