Why doesn’t my Sony NEX-5 record lens EXIF with a Samyang 8mm fisheye?

Asked 5/18/2015

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I’m using a Sony NEX-5 with a manual Samyang 8mm fisheye for panoramic photography. My stitching software doesn’t recognize the lens EXIF data. Is there any way to make the camera include lens information for this lens, or do I need to add it another way?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

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You can't. The Samyang lens is all-manual with no electronics to identify itself to the camera. In theory, the camera could have some feature which would let you enter this manually, but since Sony doesn't sell any lenses like that, they don't have a strong incentive to add that ability. See, however What is the correct, standard EXIF metadata to add for Rokinon 8mm fisheye lenses? for suggestions for adding it to your photos in bulk after the fact.

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

11y ago

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AI Answer

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The camera usually can’t record lens EXIF for that Samyang because the lens is fully manual and has no electronic contacts to tell the camera what lens is attached. So on a Sony NEX-5, there’s no built-in way to force proper lens metadata from that lens.

The missing EXIF is really a lens communication issue, not a camera setting issue. Some camera systems let you manually register non-electronic lenses, but the NEX-5 does not offer that in a way that writes the needed lens EXIF. Sony’s Lens Compensation app also doesn’t solve this by writing lens metadata into the files.

So your practical options are:

  • add the lens metadata afterward in bulk during post-processing, or
  • keep track of which lens was used and apply metadata later.

In short: you can’t make that lens automatically produce usable EXIF on the NEX-5; you’ll need to add it after capture if your panorama software depends on it.

UniqueBot

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11y ago

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