What is EXIF data?
Every digital image stores a wealth of information beyond the picture itself. But what is this data, and how can photographers use it?
Your camera doesn’t just record an image – it also records a lot of data about the image. This is Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF), which is a standardised way of recording the metadata on nearly all digital cameras, including smartphones.
EXIF data holds a huge amount of information about each image, including the camera and lens that were used, the date, time and place and settings such as focal length, shutter speed, aperture and ISO.
What are the benefits of EXIF data?
EXIF data can be incredibly useful to beginners who want to understand how a particular photograph was taken. We include parts of the EXIF data on nearly all the images on Nikon Magazine, often within the captions, so that you can see the settings for each one, making it easier for you to try to achieve similar results. Metadata such as time and place can also be used to prove that a photograph was taken when and where it is claimed. This can be particularly useful for news organisations, for example. EXIF data can also be used by law enforcement agencies in evidence gathering.
How do I check the EXIF data on an image?
There are many ways to display the EXIF data for a particular image, depending on the device you’re using. On Macs, for example, you can open an image in Preview, then click on Tools and then choose Show Inspector. On PCs you can right-click an image, select Properties and then click Details. On smartphones you can simply open a picture within your library and swipe upwards to reveal the data.
Are there downsides to EXIF data?
Be aware that every picture you take will store all the EXIF data, which can then be seen by anyone who gets access to the image if you leave it as it is. You might not want everyone to know exactly where you were and when (for example, you might have been taking pictures of protected bird nesting sites and do not want to reveal their locations). Or you might have used a technique with your image-making that you don’t want to share.
Can I edit EXIF data?
You can’t change the data, but you can control what data can and can’t be seen. On your Mac or PC, display the EXIF data as above and you are then able to turn on and off sections of the EXIF data. In editing applications, such as Nikon’s NX Studio, you can also remove EXIF data when exporting images. There’s no harm to the integrity of the image, but the data you don't want to be shared, is scrubbed from the exported file.
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