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Inspiring
April 15, 2017

P: Video capture time shifted by time zone offset

  • April 15, 2017
  • 57 replies
  • 5557 views

I recently got a 5D IV and just noticed that capture times on video files shows 5 hours ahead in Lightroom (photos are fine). This causes videos taken late in the day to be imported into the folder for the next day. I'm running the latest Lightroom (6.10) and 5D Firmware (1.04). I checked my old 5D Mark III videos and they are fine. 

I suspect Lightroom ins't picking up the timezone info and is using UTC time.  Is this a bug?

57 replies

johnrellis
Legend
May 24, 2017
Can you please upload a sample file to Dropbox or similar and post the sharing link here? I'd like to confirm precisely which fields contain what on both cameras.  
torstenv58075562
Participating Frequently
May 24, 2017
I am experiencing the same problem with my Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II.

The MP4 file's related metadata are contained in

- EXIF
--- DateTimeOriginal: (correct) local date and time
- Maker Canon
--- TimeZone: +02:00  (in my case: the offset from UTC for CET summer time)

My conclusion for a fix in this case: Lightroom should simply grab and display "DateTimeOriginal" as apparently done correctly for photos and disregard "TimeZone".

I am using Lightroom 6.10.
Inspiring
May 5, 2017


When I import videos from Canon 5D Mk IV, Lightroom assigns incorrect Timestamp to the video, but assigns correct timestamp to photo files. The video timestamp ignores UTC timezone and assumes GMT 0. Since I'm in GMT -5, video files recorded in the evening hours get time stamped with next day date. Lightroom also creates import folder with the corresponding wrong date and places the files into that wrong folder.

When I view the same file in Canon's EOS Movie utility it shows the correct timestamp.

When I look at the file in Windows File Explorer, DateModified shows correct timestamp, DateCreated shows incorrect timestamp.

Here's what I see:

Canon EOS Movie Utility: Shooting Date/Time:  5/3/2017 7:55:20 PM (This is correct)
Windows Explorer: Date Created: 5/4/2017 1:51 PM
Windows Explorer: Date Modified: 5/3/2017 7:56 PM
Lightroom: Date Time Digitized: 5/4/217 12:55:20 AM
Lightroom: Date Time: 5/4/2017 1:47:40 PM

I'm using Adobe Ligthroom CC 2015.10 [1111918]
johnrellis
Legend
April 17, 2017
Excellent.
Adobe Employee
April 17, 2017
There is an LrD existing bug on this and the fix is on its way. Canon stores the time zone info in a proprietary location where Lr needs to look for it. This act (amounting to reverse engineering) requires legal reviews and consents from both companies)
johnrellis
Legend
April 17, 2017
Most likely this is due to the poorly written Quicktime (MP4) spec, which "strongly recommends" that capture date be recorded in UTC but doesn't provide any standard field in which to record time zone.   Traditionally, most cameras have ignored the spec and recorded local time rather than UTC, so by default LR interprets the capture time in Quicktime videos as local time.   But smartphones have tended to record capture date as UTC, with time zone sometimes recorded in proprietary metadata fields.

So perhaps the 5D IV is now recording capture time in UTC.  Why don't you upload a very short sample video to Dropbox or similar and post the link here, and we can determine that authoritatively.

LR CC 2015.10 / 6.10 introduced a fix specific to iPhones (which record UTC), reading the time zone from an Apple proprietary metadata field.   Adobe could continue along that path for less widely used cameras, but obviously, identifying the appropriate time zone field for each make and model is much more effort.  
Rikk Flohr_Photography
Community Manager
Community Manager
April 17, 2017
I shot some test videos with a Canon 5D Mark IV this morning and Lightroom is showing them as the correct (local) time.  I do not have the newest firmware installed yet. 
Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org