How do you know which lens you used?

I see lots of threads where someone will post pictures using a particular lens.

How do you all know what lens you used for each picture?

 

I have Opanda, and it will tell me which focal length the picture was taken at.

Lets say 50mm. That could have been my 50mm 1.8 or an 18-70 lens.

The lens ID is in the EXIF data. I'm not sure just what programs will read it. EXIFTOOL is one of them. Freeware.

Both Nikon Capture NX and Nikon View tell you. I like View as a picture browser, and on the top left there's a pull-down Menu called Shooting Data, that tells you almost everything you want to know. Even 3rd party lens are read and on a zoom it will indicate where in the range the exposure was made -- like say @ 22mm. The Basic edition of View is a free download on the Nikon site (I like this version better than View NX.

Most of the time I just remember (and I can remember the f stop often enough too). But on digital cameras you can see the EXIF data and even the F6 gives you the ability to store that kind of information too.

Do you really use that many lenses? I use three on a routine basis can tell which of my lenses it was pretty much just by looking at the image and seeing its field of view.

Well, I have a photographic memory. Joke. However, if I do forget, my post software displays all EXIF data for lens correction etc. It can be necessary when batching out 100+ photos from a multiple shooter shoot.

 

Another tip, when I save out my files to my computer, I make sub-folders for each lens used on the job. Again, makes post easier on large jobs with multiple shooters.

 

Good luck.

I can program my D200 for non CPU lenses.. I tell it focal length and maximun f stop. With CS3 the actual lens then shows in the raw converter upper right, 50 1.4 or 18/70 @ 50. If it a prime CPU, I do not have to manually program it in.

 

If you look at EXIF data under file, information-camera 1 data- then the actual stop used appears.

Sign of the change of the times. If you are shooting film there is no EXIF file to store all the settings--except the one in you head.

Erik - some of us own a LOT of lenses and if they are zooms with overlapping ranges it is hard to remember which was used.

 

Wayne - in the film days some people wrote down settings in notebooks or used voice recorders. I only did when I was bracketing where I thought the meter would get fooled, experimenting, or testing new equipment.

If it isn't automatically captured in the EXIF data, which can be read by Nikon View, a little notepad in my camera case does just fine.

I use Nikon Capture NX - - it's right there for me to read. So convenient. Any AI or AIS lenses are programed into the camera (D200) and the camera inserts that information so available in NX. Especially wonderful to have when shooting tests with several lenses. I love having all the information available through NX. I've learned a lot this way.

 

JMHO

 

Lil

David and Walt, just for an example, I opened a scrap image in Nikon View 6. I've heavily cropped this screenshot, but looking at the arrows, you can see how the program tells the camera used (the D200), the lens used (the 12-24mm G/DX) and the focal length the zoom was set at (24mm).<div></div>

Wayne,

 

Actually my F100 plus Camera Companion or Softtalk 2000 plus mc-33 cord also allows me to retrieve shooting data as well as let me know which lens I used for each shot as long as the lens has a cpu chip. When using a zoom lens it even tells you what focal length your zoom was set on.

 

If your using the Softtalk program the same goes for the n90/n90s and F5. I'd be willing to bet the F6 does the same with either type lenses, AF(chipped) or MF(as long as you have the focal lenghth stored on the camera).

 

With that being said Im sure some film users use a notepad or mini-recorder to keep track of shooting info when needed.

And just so we're clear, Nikon View 6.2.7 can be downloaded for free from Nikon's U.S. website:

 

 

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=276&productNr=NikonView

I pretty much have to guess based on the photograph (Since I shoot film). But since I only have 2 lenses that are close in FoV (My 85/1.8 K and Tamron 90 macro), it's usually fairly easy.

For modern digital (and film, sometimes) cameras it is all there for you, as clearly pointed out already...

 

Sometimes when I'm feeling nostalgic, I miss the old dog-eared notebooks I carried around to record information about each exposure. BUT mostly I really really really like not worrying about that sort of detail, knowing my camera does it for me. Course, those extra notes...location, thoughts/feelings I had at the time are missed. Always thought I'd try audio annotating or some such, but so far no go.

Nikon Capture NX tells you the lens used, and if it was a zoom, what focal length it was set to in addition to f stop, and shutter speed and ISO and other settings. Joe Smith

Thanks for all the replys. I downloaded Nikon View. I will use that and Opanda. I finally did figure out where it shows it in Opanda. Too bad there wasn't a way to batch them by what lens was used. Thanks again.

 

Looking forward to learning lots from you people.

Lightroom will automatically batch by lens type, as well as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.