Software to analyze my photos and show which focal lengths I use most
Asked 1/19/2011
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I’m choosing a prime lens and would like to base the decision on the focal lengths I actually use most often in my existing photos. Is there software that can scan a large photo library and report how many images were taken at each focal length? Ideally it would read the EXIF metadata and show a breakdown or histogram of focal-length usage.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Someone referred me once to Exposure Plot. This is a free Windows utility which is very simple. It shows you graphs of different parameters, one of them being focal-length.
If you already use image management application like Lightroom or Bibble Pro, then you can also usually see that data in the filter interface.
For Lightroom for example, you need to activate the filter bar (/), select Metadata and change one of the columns to show Focal-Length. You'll get to see all the focal-lengths used and the number of photos taken at each focal-length. What's neat is that you can combine things like rating and focal-length, to find out which focal-length is used in your best images.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
15y ago
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Yes. If your images include EXIF focal-length metadata, several tools can analyze this.
- ExposurePlot: a free Windows utility that can graph shooting data, including focal length.
- Adobe Lightroom: in the Library module, enable the Filter Bar (
/), choose Metadata, and set a column to Focal Length. It will show each focal length and the number of photos shot there. You can also combine this with ratings to see which focal lengths appear in your best images. - Bibble Pro and similar image managers often provide similar metadata filtering.
- ExifTool / exif: command-line tools that can extract focal-length metadata and summarize usage, but they require more technical setup.
A good caveat: zoom-lens data can be spread across many focal lengths, so look for clusters rather than a single exact number. If you’re buying a prime, your most-used zoom setting can be a strong indicator of which prime focal length will suit you.
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