Author Topic: time zone info in EXIF?  (Read 8395 times)

Offline ramblinwreck

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time zone info in EXIF?
« on: January 02, 2010, 12:27:07 PM »
Hi,

I'm running 4.6.2.1 on OSX 10.6.2.

Recently, I traveled to a location with a 1 hr timezone difference from what my camera was set to.

I plan to use the PM [Adjust Capture Dates and Times...] feature, but as far as I can tell this (as the name suggests) just updates the date and time, but nothing about the time zone where the image was shot. Is this correct?

The reason I ask, is because in Aperture (I'm a recent switcher) there was an 'Adjust Time Zone' feature where I could specify the 'Camera Time Zone' (e.g. US/Central) and the 'Actual Time Zone' (e.g. US/Eastern) to address situations like this. Of course this would adjust the time by 1 hour as required, but also the EXIF "Image Date" field has a time zone entry that gets updated as well (according to the Aperture EXIF data pane).

For example, Aperture shows for the EXIF "Image Date" field:

'12/22/09 5:15:52 PM CST' - before timezone adjustment
'12/22/09 6:15:52 PM EST' - after timezone adjustment

Is this 'EST'/'CST' a legitimate EXIF field, or is this something that Aperture has created?

If it is legitimate, is there a way for me to tell PM to be able to display and/or modify this field, in addition to the date & time?

Currently it seems I can only modify the hours/minutes. For example, for the above original image if I tell PM to add one hour to compensate for my error, then Aperture (just to compare against the above two entries) reports the following:

'12/22/2009 6:15:52 PM CST'

...which strictly speaking, isn't correct for what I'm trying to do. I'd like it to report EST, if this is a legitimate field.

Thanks
Chris

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: time zone info in EXIF?
« Reply #1 on: January 02, 2010, 01:16:12 PM »
Chris,

Recently, I traveled to a location with a 1 hr timezone difference from what my camera was set to.

I plan to use the PM [Adjust Capture Dates and Times...] feature, but as far as I can tell this (as the name suggests) just updates the date and time, but nothing about the time zone where the image was shot. Is this correct?

The reason I ask, is because in Aperture (I'm a recent switcher) there was an 'Adjust Time Zone' feature where I could specify the 'Camera Time Zone' (e.g. US/Central) and the 'Actual Time Zone' (e.g. US/Eastern) to address situations like this. Of course this would adjust the time by 1 hour as required, but also the EXIF "Image Date" field has a time zone entry that gets updated as well (according to the Aperture EXIF data pane).

For example, Aperture shows for the EXIF "Image Date" field:

'12/22/09 5:15:52 PM CST' - before timezone adjustment
'12/22/09 6:15:52 PM EST' - after timezone adjustment

Is this 'EST'/'CST' a legitimate EXIF field, or is this something that Aperture has created?

If it is legitimate, is there a way for me to tell PM to be able to display and/or modify this field, in addition to the date & time?

Currently it seems I can only modify the hours/minutes. For example, for the above original image if I tell PM to add one hour to compensate for my error, then Aperture (just to compare against the above two entries) reports the following:

'12/22/2009 6:15:52 PM CST'

...which strictly speaking, isn't correct for what I'm trying to do. I'd like it to report EST, if this is a legitimate field.

There is only a GMT offset in the EXIF time format.  Aperture is interpreting the GMT offset and is displaying common terms for various offsets.

-Kirk

Offline ramblinwreck

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Re: time zone info in EXIF?
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2010, 06:43:30 PM »
Hi Kirk,

Thanks - that makes sense.

Is there any way to change the GMT offset using PM?

Chris

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: time zone info in EXIF?
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2010, 07:03:18 PM »
Chris,

Thanks - that makes sense.

Is there any way to change the GMT offset using PM?

No, there is no facility in PM that changes GMT offset.

-Kirk