Adding tag AF-Area Mode in Layout Editor

[kiwilink]

Bought a new Nikon Z8.  I'm trying to add AF-Area Mode which has "Wide-area AF, Custom" or "Wide-area AF (L)", etc.

I went thru a lot of the tags in the attachments and I get no returned value. Went to Edit, Preferences, Metadata and the tags for Nikon seem to be there.  

Is there a way for me to easily identify which Tag this is? I chose many of these tags in the attachment and they returned no value.

Thank you!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

Use the ExifTool Command Processor to identify the tag in the image.
Make sure the tags are imported via the Tag Manager
Tags with this amount of numbers in their key usually indicate camera-specific or even firmware-specific names ExifTool makes up at runtime and IMatch then imports the tag. The tag may not exist before that so you need to check in the Tag Manager. This is a common problem with all of these undocumented maker notes.

[kiwilink]

Mario

Thanks for the reply.  I should have mentioned that was the first thing I did.  Went to EXIFtool and their website.  Is there a way for me to see exactly what the tag is that he used?

I'm pretty sure I'm getting the tags into IMATCH.

Thanks!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

I don't follow, sorry.
It would be helpful to actually have an image to look at.

When you see the tag in the ECP, and the tag is also enabled in the Tag Manager, it will show in the Metadata Panel when you switch to the "Browser" layout. Then you'll know.

[Jingo]

In the Tag Manger - take a look for these Nikon Specific Tag Groups - various AF modes are listed within so it is just a matter of including them all and then seeing which shows the details you are looking for:



By the way, I use this website all the time to find camera maker specific fields... hopefully it is helpful for you as well:

https://exiv2.org/tags-nikon.html

Enjoy! - Andy.

[Mario]

And use Shift+Ctrl+F5 > Reload Metadata after changing something in Tag Manager.
As the screen shot shows, Nikon "invents" new AF tags very often, placing them differently. ExifTool makes up names for new AF tags as Phil and the ExifTool user base identifies them.

[kiwilink]

Thank you Mario and Jingo for trying to help me. 

 I went into Edit and Preferences and I added (see attachment tags) all the tags.  Then I reloaded the metadata and started trying each tag (one at a time) in edit layout by clicking on apply.  I usually get nothing except one tage returned a number (196) which wasn't what I wanted (see attachment tag return).

I believe I can copy each tag to Vartoy and see if it returns something but I'm not sure about this.  There are many AFAREAMode tags so there must be a better way than trying each one (one at a time).

My guess is the Version referenced in the name of the tag is the firmware version of the tag.  Since I have a Z8 there was a tag under that in the tag selector but it returned nothing.

If there is a better way for me to check all the tags please let me know.  I did not turn on all Nikon tags because I thought that was overkill but maybe I need to do this.

Thanks for all the help.

Kiwilink

Mario:  I attached an image.  Jingo, I'm looking at your web site reference now.  Thank yoiu both!!! 

[Mario]

The attached image does not contain any Nikon maker notes. Not usable for this analysis.
Please provide an original for download or send to (with a link to this thread) to support email address.

Also: ALL tags IMatch has imported are visible in the Metadata Panel, in the Browser layout. No need for guessing or using variables or whatnot. If the tag you're looking for is not in the Metadata Panel, it is not in the database.

[kiwilink]

Mario

The Browser suggestion was a big help.  I did not know this.  Now I see that the tag was imported.  However, the browser shows AF Area Mode in English (Wide (L) but when I use the layout editor it shows the number 196.

Is there a conversion I must do to display what I see in the browser Metadata to be the same as the Layout Editor?

Thank you!  PS sent image to you email due to size

Kiwilink

[Mario]

You use a variable. Check out the information about Metadata Variables: Formatted and Raw, which explains what you see. You need to make your variable return the formatted (text) not the raw (numeric) value.

The Browser suggestion was a big help.  I did not know this. 

That's the purpose of the Browser layout - to show you all metadata IMatch has in the database for a file.
Not that often needed, but when needed, very helpful.

[kiwilink]

Mario

Success!!!!  Thank you very much for the reference.

Jingo:  Thank you for the web site address.  Very helpful!

Kiwilink

[jch2103]

@kiwilink - As a fellow Nikon user, I'd be interested in your solution.

[kiwilink]

My Pleasure JCH2103!

I have attached three screen captures that show how I setup my Layout editor so I could overlay some additional Nikon tags on my images.  Mario and Jingo told me how to do it.  I had to first go to Edit and Preferences and bring in a few additional Nikon tags.  Marios suggestion about going to the Metadata Browser to see the tag was a big help.  

The reason I overlay focus mode and exposure program is so I don't have to go back and forth looking at the metadata panel.  I look at the images, spot the bad ones, and see what my settings were when I shot the picture.

I also create a sort choice in my Media and folders view so I can sort by these tags.

If you need any other help about what I did let me know.  All the info came form Mario and Jingo.

Kiwilink

[jch2103]

Thanks, @kiwilink. I've added metadata tags via the Tag Manager/Layout editor many times before, but I'm having problems finding the proper AF Area Mode tag(s) from my Nikon Z6III. It appears that the Nikon tags currently include at least a dozen 'af area mode' variations. I found one tag that works properly for one set of images, but it's not populating for other images (). I can see the tag information via the EXIF Tool Command Processor, but ECP doesn't give the full tag name. I think it's time for a break before I get back to this...

[kiwilink]

Yes, there are a lot of them.  I went into edit and checked quite a few Nikon boxes and then reloaded just a few images.  Then I went into the Metadata Browser to find the tag I was looking for.  Then I went back and turned off the tags I didn't need.  

Lots of trial and error to find the right tags.  It appears that Nikon is sometimes naming the tag after the firmware version released for the Z cameras.

Good Luck!!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

Metadata Panel, "Browser" layout. Look for the tag you're interested in. Right-click into the header > Copy as Variable.

If you have images where the AF data is in different tags, it's because these are maker notes, proprietary, and Nikon shifts them around after firmware updates. Phil then only can come up with a new tag name.

You can easily do a "if there is a value in this tag, use it, else look for a value in this tag" by using the hasvalue formatting function.

[jch2103]

Finally solved my issue after lots of working with Tag Manager/Layout editor, etc. In the end, a Force Rescan succeeded in populating the AFAreaMode tag (I thought I'd done so before, but apparently not). 

Thank you, @kiwilink and @mario!