Variable {actuations} no longer works on Sony RX100ii

[rowellj]

I have a Sony RX100ii and when ingesting images I have always used PM to rename the images to {datesort}_RX100_{actuations}. This gave me a unique filename of "YYYYMMDD_RX100_camera shutter actuation number".

At some point, the {actuations} variable stopped working. As I don't use this camera all that often, I can't pinpoint when it stopped working. Since PM still accepts the actuation number from my Nikon bodies, I'm guessing this might be a glitch in how PM currently reads the .ARW data.

Any suggestions on how to fix this, or does it need to be addressed in a version update? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Kirk Baker]

I have a Sony RX100ii and when ingesting images I have always used PM to rename the images to {datesort}_RX100_{actuations}. This gave me a unique filename of "YYYYMMDD_RX100_camera shutter actuation number".

At some point, the {actuations} variable stopped working. As I don't use this camera all that often, I can't pinpoint when it stopped working. Since PM still accepts the actuation number from my Nikon bodies, I'm guessing this might be a glitch in how PM currently reads the .ARW data.

Any suggestions on how to fix this, or does it need to be addressed in a version update? Thanks in advance for your help.

We'll look into it and let you know.

-Kirk

[dennis]

Do you have any other software (e.g. Exiftool or Sony's) that shows that actuations correctly?

Maybe it was a firmware update on the camera?

If you can find an image that shows actuations in Exiftool then send me a private message and I'll let you know where to upload this file to and then I can hunt it down.

--dennis

[dennis]

After looking into this, I don't think Sony stores any actuation (or shutter) count for this model.  Apparently only "some DSLR models" support this such as A200, A230, A290, A300, A330, A350, A380, A390, A700, A850 and A900 (this is according to Exiftool's Sony webpage).  I cannot find any such value using Exiftool for this model.

And upon examining our code, we don't even parse the maker notes for Sony cameras because there are so many different variations!

So I'm afraid this never actually worked on your RX100ii.  You might try using {frame4} instead (the last four digits of the filename when ingesting).  Should be sufficient for your limited use of the camera perhaps.

--dennis

[rowellj]

Dennis,

Thank you for your quick response. I've looked through the metadata on a file and must agree with you. Apparently, Sony does not track actuation count.

I suspect that I used to have the variable set to {frame4} and then mistakenly changed it when updating some of my saved strings. Your suggestion to go back to that is a good one given the limited use of this camera.

Thanks very much, and sorry for any inconvenience. As it too often the case, this appears to be another example of operator error.