What does it mean when a lens adapter has “fixed EXIF” like 50mm f/1.4?
Asked 12/25/2013
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I’m looking at an adapter to use a Minolta AF 500mm reflex lens on a Canon 600D. One adapter says its EXIF is fixed at 50mm f/1.4. What does that mean in practice for my photos? Will it affect image quality or camera functions, and is there anything I should turn off in-camera when using an adapter like this?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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That means that fake lens data is transmitted to the camera. The camera therefore records that it took a photo with a 50mm F/1.4, probably always at F/1.4 regardless of which lens you actually have mounted on the adapter. Some adapters do not send any data and show Unknown Lens instead.
Now since you are asking this, I am guessing you do not look much at the metadata from images, so the fact that it is faked should have little impact to you.
The only thing you should care for is to deactivate any lens-based correction in-camera since that would apply the wrong profile given it does not know what lens is mounted. This applies to optical distortion correction, vignetting correction and chromatic aberration removal. You can still use HTP and the like which apply to the image the same way regardless of the lens.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
“Fixed EXIF” means the adapter sends the camera a preset, fake lens identity, so your files will be tagged as if they were shot with a 50mm f/1.4 lens, regardless of the actual lens mounted. EXIF is just image metadata stored with the photo.
This usually does not affect image quality directly. The main effect is that your recorded metadata will be wrong, which matters if you sort, search, or review photos by focal length/aperture later.
What can matter is any in-camera lens-specific correction. If the camera thinks a 50mm f/1.4 is attached, it may try to apply the wrong lens profile. So it’s best to disable lens-based corrections such as distortion correction, vignetting/peripheral illumination correction, and chromatic aberration correction when using that kind of adapter.
If an adapter sends no data at all, the camera may instead record the lens as unknown. For many users, that is preferable to incorrect metadata.
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