Finding Lens via Metadata

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

I am trying to see if there is a program that can go through a folder and find the lens used without having to pull the image into Lightroom

Something that like Lightroom I could search for, for example all shots with Canon EF 100-400Lii

 

[the durkarian]

I am trying to see if there is a program that can go through a folder and find the lens used without having to pull the image into Lightroom

Something that like Lightroom I could search for, for example all shots with Canon EF 100-400Lii

Well if you have Lightroom why not use it.

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

Well if you have Lightroom why not use it.

multi step process, you have to pull all the images in to the catalog which I don't use and then search them. Just wondering if there is a thing like the search in explorer that would do it.

 

[Anton Largiader]

All images in one folder, or nested sub folders?

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

nested sub-folders, many

 

[Capn Jack]

I think windows has a scripting language, like UNIX, that allows searching within files and saving the output as a text file. Are you talking RAW or JPEG?

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

I always shoot both Raw and L Fine JPG, process raw but find it faster the cull the jpgs

 

[Capn Jack]

I always shoot both Raw and L Fine JPG, process raw but find it faster the cull the jpgs

I'm sure that someone who does programming everyday will give you an answer faster, but I'll mull it over. I'm thinking that using a PowerShell script might work looking for RAW files, and looking for a string or strings indicating the lens information, and piping it put to a text file listing the file name, path, and lens information. I know it can be done, I just haven't done anything like this in many years!!

 

[the durkarian]

I'm sorry, but if you already have Lightroom I really don't understand your reluctance to use it. It has been designed to do exactly what it is that you are trying to do. You tell it where to search and what to search for, and the results are instant. You can even filter the results.

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

just thought I would ask what was out there

 

[Anton Largiader]

It wasn't that long ago that you started a thread saying how you downloaded photos into folders labeled by camera and lens, right?. Although none of the screenshots showed folders labeled by camera and lens. The technology for everything you ask is out there... you just don't want to use it.

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

It wasn't that long ago that you started a thread saying how you downloaded photos into folders labeled by camera and lens, right?. Although none of the screenshots showed folders labeled by camera and lens. The technology for everything you ask is out there... you just don't want to use it.

No, once in a while while I am culling photos I will have a folder with the camera name and often the lens or just the date, but then once they are culled they go to folders by activity, birds, beaches, trips etc and nothing about the camera and lens so that gets lost except for metadata
I did drag the one of my 30 bird folders into LR and searched by lens but was wondering if there anything easier.

Remember the only dumb question is the one not asked....

 

[BigAl]

Bridge will do it for you without a catalogue. But honestly, if you have LrC installed it would probably be quicker to just import all of the files to a temporary catalogue. The problem with doing the search on the individual files, the way that Bridge does it is that you have to allow the program to constantly index the files. It seems to start over every single time that you change something. At least with the Lr catalogue once the images are in there filtering the data within the database is really really quick. Even with over 200000 images on a seven year old PC.

Alan

 

[Anton Largiader]

If you just want to look through a single folder, DPP is great for that. It'll let you sort the photos by lens, camera, whatever. Just by opening the folder.

 

[gewb]

Exif Pilot (for Windows):

Exif Pilot

 

[Arbby]

The advanced search feature in digikam will do this. The folder containing the files will have to be added to the list digikam scans or be part of a hierarchy that has already been added. digikam will have to read all new files once to extract metadata and generate thumbnails which it stores in its database. I don't use lightroom so I don't know how that compares to 'pulling' into lightroom.

didikam is an impressive and free DAM which I use a lot.

 

[Lubos-PM]

Bridge will do it for you without a catalogue.

It was thanks to you that I discovered advanced search in Bridge... Of course I knew that bridge can filter images by lens in one directory, but I didn't know that with advanced search I can also search in subdirectories or on the whole HDD.

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

Thanks everyone for the help.

As I had mentioned when I first upload images I have them by date>camera>lens or camera>lens>date then I cull the images

Once I cull the images I move them to folders 00Temp from Cameras>date (sometimes I put the camera and/or lens as part of the folder name) that is where I work the images in LR/PS
Once I get a finished image for example a Cardinal I move the finished TIF to a "Best Cardinals" folder D:My Pictures>Nature>animals>best cardinals. The original CR3 and edited files also go into D:My Pictures>Nature>animals>BIRDS>Cardinals.
Under Animals there are 25 "Best *****" and then under for example BIRDS there are another 25 folders for each type or group of birds. None are ID'd by camera or lens rather only by type of bird. Under the "Best Cardinals" there are hundreds of best cardinal images and even more under the generic cardinal thread.
I find it easy to find an image of for example a "best" cardinal by simply expanding the folder and seeing all the images on one of my two 27" monitors.

I do keep some folders by camera and lens when I have been testing various gear, for example I still have a folder of dup images taken with a rental RF 100-500.

I have never worried about what camera lens combo I took a shot with until I saw threads here saying post your images with such and such a lens or camera. I will check out all the suggestions.

To many people this would be a horror show of a filing system, but I have been using since I went digital and like it.

 

[the durkarian]

Thanks everyone for the help.

As I had mentioned when I first upload images I have them by date>camera>lens or camera>lens>date then I cull the images

Once I cull the images I move them to folders 00Temp from Cameras>date (sometimes I put the camera and/or lens as part of the folder name) that is where I work the images in LR/PS
Once I get a finished image for example a Cardinal I move the finished TIF to a "Best Cardinals" folder D:My Pictures>Nature>animals>best cardinals. The original CR3 and edited files also go into D:My Pictures>Nature>animals>BIRDS>Cardinals.
Under Animals there are 25 "Best *****" and then under for example BIRDS there are another 25 folders for each type or group of birds. None are ID'd by camera or lens rather only by type of bird. Under the "Best Cardinals" there are hundreds of best cardinal images and even more under the generic cardinal thread.
I find it easy to find an image of for example a "best" cardinal by simply expanding the folder and seeing all the images on one of my two 27" monitors.

I do keep some folders by camera and lens when I have been testing various gear, for example I still have a folder of dup images taken with a rental RF 100-500.

I have never worried about what camera lens combo I took a shot with until I saw threads here saying post your images with such and such a lens or camera. I will check out all the suggestions.

To many people this would be a horror show of a filing system, but I have been using since I went digital and like it.

But you can do all of that in Lightroom without having to create any of the folders, and without having to move any photographs from one folder to another.

Simply by importing into Lightroom by shooting date, and adding a few judicious keywords to your photographs, and then creating some "Smart Collections” Lightroom will automatically do all of the organising for you.

 

[Jeff USN Photog 72-76]

But you can do all of that in Lightroom without having to create any of the folders, and without having to move any photographs from one folder to another.

Simply by importing into Lightroom by shooting date, and adding a few judicious keywords to your photographs, and then creating some "Smart Collections” Lightroom will automatically do all of the organising for you.

Ouch sounds like a lot of work.

I have over 300,000 images stored on the cloud as backup. It is winter time so lots of time inside but the wife wants me off the PC as much as possible, said it is bad for me at my great age...