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Leica T Serial Number in EXIF


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Mine is showing all zeroes for the serial number also.

M lenses now showing properly in EXIF, identifying for example, 50mm Summilux as a f/1.4 and also providing an equivalent full frame focal length (75mm).

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The camera’s serial number gets recorded in the DNG meta data, but not in the EXIF meta data. Thus DNG files have the serial number while JPEG files do not.

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Any reason for this. All the other cameras record it in the EXIF too.

The original EXIF standard did not specify a field for storing the serial number. This was only added in 2010 with revision 2.3 of the standard. Many vendors have since adopted version 2.3, but not every vendor that did uses that field to store the body’s or camera’s serial number; Fuji, for example, does not. Leica still sticks to EXIF 2.2 anyway. They used to store a serial number in the proprietary Maker Notes; this is how the M9 handles this. Maybe the T does the same; I haven’t checked.

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They used to store a serial number in the proprietary Maker Notes; this is how the M9 handles this.

 

My M9 (leica m9 firmware 1.196) has the serial number in field SerialNumber as reported by

exiftool -SerialNumber

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The camera’s serial number gets recorded in the DNG meta data, but not in the EXIF meta data. Thus DNG files have the serial number while JPEG files do not.

 

My DNG files also consistently show a serial number of all zeroes because all it can see is exif data. (Adobe Bridge CC). Is there another place where DNG data gets reported and where is it made visible? I don't see this as a huge issue as I can add copyright data if I want to, but why wouldn't (and why shouldn't) Leica provide a readout of serial number in EXIF?

Edited by WeinschelA
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Is there another place where DNG data gets reported and where is it made visible?

ExifTool can display DNG meta data; that’s what I have used (actually GraphicConverter that relies on ExifTool internally).

 

I don't see this as a huge issue as I can add copyright data if I want to, but why wouldn't (and why shouldn't) Leica provide a readout of serial number in EXIF?

They could if they used EXIF 2.3 rather than 2.21 as they do now – EXIF 2.21 doesn’t support this. The BodySerialNumber tag was only added with version 2.3, as well as tags for the lens serial number, the make, model, and specification of the lens, and the camera owner name. The M8 and M9 could not use that tag as it didn’t exist back then, and Leica never got around to switch to EXIF 2.3 (introduced in 2010).

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The camera’s serial number gets recorded in the DNG meta data, but not in the EXIF meta data. Thus DNG files have the serial number while JPEG files do not.

 

?

 

The DNGs I have seen have all zero serial numbers........

 

Sandy

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Leica never got around to switch to EXIF 2.3 (introduced in 2010).

 

Thank you Michael. Then my question is for Leica: "Why in 2014 is a pre- 2010 vintage technology still being used?" It cannot be so hard to adopt Exif 2.3. Or am I missing something?

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Thank you Michael. Then my question is for Leica: "Why in 2014 is a pre- 2010 vintage technology still being used?" It cannot be so hard to adopt Exif 2.3. Or am I missing something?

 

Leica is missing something. If the serial number shows up on the M9, then why not the T?

.

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Interesting that marker fields fields x0404 (focus mode) and x040A (distance, focal length, etc.) are used in the same way as for the X Vario. There, field x0303 contains the serial number, but now it seems to be the lens type...

Best regards, Gerd

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Sure it does, but has that ever been the question? The serial number is included in the Maker Notes of JPEG files and is also included in the DNG meta data.

 

What did I misunderstand in your post below?

 

The M8 and M9 could not use that tag as it didn’t exist back then, and Leica never got around to switch to EXIF 2.3 (introduced in 2010).
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What did I misunderstand in your post below?

As I said the T (or any other Leica camera) cannot and does not use the tag BodySerialNumber as that tag was introduced with EXIF 2.3 and Leica still uses 2.2. That’s why Leica stores the serial number in the Maker Notes (i.e. proprietary extensions of the EXIF standard), at least with the M8 and M9.

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As I said the T (or any other Leica camera) cannot and does not use the tag BodySerialNumber as that tag was introduced with EXIF 2.3 and Leica still uses 2.2. That’s why Leica stores the serial number in the Maker Notes (i.e. proprietary extensions of the EXIF standard), at least with the M8 and M9.

 

Just to be clear, I was talking of the M9, and you are saying that what ExifTool reported was taken from the Maker notes. I don't think so. (Note that ExifTool reports just Serial Number.)

 

Exif 2.2 includes

0xc62f 50735 Image Exif.Image.CameraSerialNumber

... and 0xa431 is BodySerialNumber

 

That is a TIFF standard tag. Why would it not be in Exif Version 2.2?

Edited by pico
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