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ADrobkov
ADrobkov
Known Participant
July 15, 2020
Answered

LR 9.2.1 does not display the camera's serial number if there are no digits in it.

  • July 15, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 460 views

I use the Serial number field to store information about the shooting side. I have it either DARK or LIGHT. Filling in data via exiftool. And it displays it correctly. And LR doesn't want to. If I add numbers, everything is displayed correctly. Where can I write about this? There was no such problem before.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer johnrellis

The EXIF specification allows EXIF:BodySerialNumber (what Exiftool calls SerialNumber) to be an arbitrary ASCII string. So LR 9.3 isn't conforming with the spec here. 

 

You can post a bug report in the official Adobe feedback forum, where Adobe wants all bug reports and feature suggestions: 
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/categories/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightroom

Be sure to include the first ten lines of the menu command Help > System Info.  Provide all the details, rather than linking back to this thread -- experience shows that Adobe developers tend not to follow the links. (Safari users, uncheck the option Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Prevent Cross-Site Tracking or use Chrome or Firefox.)

 

But to build on Bob's comment, I think it's unlikely Adobe will fix this (unless Nikon starts using serial numbers not containing digits) -- there metadata problems affecting large numbers of users that have gone unfixed for years.  You might consider using another standard field, such as EXIF:UserComment or one of the many IPTC fields, or perhaps add a hierarchical keyword.

 

[Use the blue reply button under the first post to ensure replies sort properly.]

 

 

2 replies

johnrellis
johnrellisCorrect answer
Legend
July 15, 2020

The EXIF specification allows EXIF:BodySerialNumber (what Exiftool calls SerialNumber) to be an arbitrary ASCII string. So LR 9.3 isn't conforming with the spec here. 

 

You can post a bug report in the official Adobe feedback forum, where Adobe wants all bug reports and feature suggestions: 
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/categories/photoshop_family_photoshop_lightroom

Be sure to include the first ten lines of the menu command Help > System Info.  Provide all the details, rather than linking back to this thread -- experience shows that Adobe developers tend not to follow the links. (Safari users, uncheck the option Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Prevent Cross-Site Tracking or use Chrome or Firefox.)

 

But to build on Bob's comment, I think it's unlikely Adobe will fix this (unless Nikon starts using serial numbers not containing digits) -- there metadata problems affecting large numbers of users that have gone unfixed for years.  You might consider using another standard field, such as EXIF:UserComment or one of the many IPTC fields, or perhaps add a hierarchical keyword.

 

[Use the blue reply button under the first post to ensure replies sort properly.]

 

 

    ADrobkov
    ADrobkovAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 16, 2020

    Thanks! Yes, you are probably right. It's just a shame that something that worked suddenly stopped working. Not that it won't happen to something else.
    You'll have to use a different field.

    Bob Somrak
    Bob Somrak
    Legend
    July 15, 2020

    Whether it worked before or not is a mute point.  You are trying to use a field for something it wasn't intended/designed for so if the behavior was changed I wouldn't expect Adobe to change it back if it still works for serial numbers.

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