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[chriswale]

Hi!

I've taking a couple of photos and the date on the camera was set to 2027!! When I try to change/tag the date back to 2009 using MC it always seems to end up reverting back to 2027! It's very irritating. No matter what method I try to change the year, it always reverts back to 2027. Does anyone have any suggestions?? 

The files are not read only.
However, I have been able to change the date to 2009, but then I loose the day/time.

Regards,
Chris

[JimH]

The problem may be due to the tag information in the file.  MC keeps a separate database, but can also change the tag.

You could try the Library tools to do this.

Set the date in MC.

Right click on a file and choose Library Tools/Update tags from library

[chriswale]

tried that... not working

[chriswale]

as soon as I run auto import all the tags revert back to 2027.

[Alex B]

Please provide a sample file.

If you don't already have your own web space you can put one of the image files in a zip package and upload it to a free service like http://www.uploading.com/

Zipping is important because it guarantees that the file stays unaltered.

Post the downlink here.

[chriswale]

I found a solution... I tag the file in explorer and it works

[chriswale]

this was a problem with multiple images from different cameras.
Tagging the year in explorer worked. not sure why it didn't work in MC because all the other tag fields remain!

[marko]

The only thing I really use acdsee for these days is changing the "Date/Time original" exif values where they are incorrect.

Once I do that, autoimport picks up the external changes and updates the [Date] field accordingly.

It's quite frustrating that MC is not able to do this task, which must surely be one of the most common problems with digital cameras.

Yes, you can fix the date within MC, but, naturally, as soon as the photos are viewed anywhere outside of MC, the dates are still wrong.
I get many photos from my daughter, and no matter how many times I tell her, she does not set the date on her camera, so the date in her EXIF tags is always 01/01/2004

Irritating! (my daughter, not MC )

Another place that the ability to update the EXIF date tag would be handy, is for old photo prints that have been scanned into the PC. MC gives these photos the windows Date Modified date, and again, I need to use acdsee to add and EXIF original date tag.

-marko.

[Alex B]

Wasn't chriswale's problem about the date value not sticking inside MC?

Surely the tag that MC writes to the file should have preference when MC reads the tags even if the file contains date values in other tag formats.

[gappie]

ive been using exifpro for changing date and time. here is an old thread with a link and a bit of discussion: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=47195.0

[marko]

Wasn't chriswale's problem about the date value not sticking inside MC?

Surely the tag that MC writes to the file should have preference when MC reads the tags even if the file contains date values in other tag formats.

Possibly.

I think that the problem actually lies here:

as soon as I run auto import all the tags revert back to 2027.

If you change the date in MC, it sticks, but the exif info is not updated.
If you ask MC to re-read the tags, it correctly picks up the original exif date (which is wrong) and updates the library field.
If you make an external file change, and autoimport is set to watch for these, then again, it will update the library from tags, correctly importing the incorrect exif date.

The question is, I think, what is chriswhale doing that's triggering autoimport to re-read the tags?
and
Wouldn't it be simpler if we could set MC to update the exif date if that's what we want it to do?

-marko.

[marko]

Surely the tag that MC writes to the file should have preference when MC reads the tags even if the file contains date values in other tag formats.

In December 2007, jimn wrote:

The recent change made was the precedence of reading date tags. The order is: IPTC, XMP, EXIF, MJMD. This means MC tries to read the IPTC date first, if that is empty, it tries XMP, and so on.
For other tags it's IPTC, XMP, MJMD, EXIF

I don't think it's changed since then.

[chriswale]

Just to add... I change the [year] from 2027 to 2009. It updates the date and the library.
Then I select the photos and 'update tags (from library)', with 0 failures.
Then I run auto-import. But the wrong date creeps back in?

I'm not sure what to do. I was telling a friend (the one with the camera set to the wrong date) and they suggested that I should consider using software that works when I change the date!  And it should work!
Although this is an annoyance, MC has too many benefits to stop using it.
For now I will edit the dates in Explorer, which hopefully will be a temporary solution. I'd much rather edit tags in MC!

[Alex B]

The recent change made was the precedence of reading date tags. The order is: IPTC, XMP, EXIF, MJMD. This means MC tries to read the IPTC date first, if that is empty, it tries XMP, and so on.
For other tags it's IPTC, XMP, MJMD, EXIF

If that's the case, then MC should write "MC compatible" IPTC tags.

I tested this with a clean jpg file that didn't contain any tags. MC seems to write only the proprietary MMJD tags and some quite unnecessary XMP lines without any real tag data.


chriswale,

As a workaround, you could try the Change Timestamp feature in the freeware XnView program. It provides more options than Explorer.