EXIF Shutter Count?

Question

In .jpg files from my camera and in the .xmp files written by LR, there is a keyword, "Shutter Count." At least that's what exiftool and Opanda Exif tell me. When I try to find this through LR metadata, I not only don't find it, but I find misleading information. Looking at EXIF metadata (I'm looking from the Library module) there is nothing that says "Shutter Count." There is an arrow next to Serial Number, and hovering over the arrow gives me the helpful information "Photos taken with this camera." If I click on the arrow, I get much good information, but the photos taken with this camera is not the shutter count; it is not derived from the metadata created by the camera; and I do not believe that it is actually EXIF metadata.

The number is actually the number of photos in the catalog that were taken with the camera in question. In my catalog, I occasionally have more than one file (.nef, .psd, edit.tif, etc.) derived from the same original image. Also, some of the photos I have taken with this camera have never been imported into LR, or were imported into a different catalog. So, there is no relationship between the number of "photos taken with this camera" and the exif shutter count.

I believe that Lightroom (and Photoshop and Bridge) should allow me to find out what the exif shutter count is, and not give a misleading number of "photos taken with this camera" that appears as if it comes from exif.

johnrellis · Accepted Answer

To build on Hal's reply, there is no industry-standard EXIF field for shutter count. Some camera manufacturers store shutter count in the proprietary "MakerNotes" section of the metadata; but LR doesn't display the MakerNotes.

In .jpg files from my camera and in the .xmp files written by LR, there is a keyword, "Shutter Count."

While raws and JPEGs have a MakerNotes section, .xmp sidecars do not. Perhaps Opanda is actually showing you the metadata stored in the corresponding raw file.

There are a few plugins that display and search arbitrary metadata fields not shown by LR proper -- if you let us know what you want to do with the shutter count, I can suggest a plugin.

Hal P Anderson · Answer

That arrow, when you click on it, simply filters your catalogue to show all imported photos taken by that camera. It works like most of the other arrows in the Metadata panel. The arrow to the right of Lens shows all the images taken by that lens, for instance.

Shutter count is one of those EXIF fields that are in a different place and format for each manufacturer, and LR tends not to show fields of that type.

Hal

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