EXIF information

My two DFA lenses show 'No lens information' on EXIF data when attached both K1 and K20 cameras. Other information - focal length, aperture, shutter speed is shown correctly. DA lenses show lens information correctly. Firmware is updated.
Any suggestions please?

Just the two DFA lenses? Others are OK?

Welcome to your first post by the way!

No idea but I know that Pentax cameras store the lens name in a field that other manufacturers don't use for that purpose, hence why Flickr never knows what lens I used from the EXIF. Maybe with the DFAs they started using the right field but the cameras can't read it?

I've just done a quick check, with pics from my old K10D.

1. Windows/Properties doesn't report the lens
2, PSE-11/File Info does
3. Flickr EXIF listing does
4. IIRC, it's never shown up in the competition galleries

It would seem Pentax may be using EXIF in a non-standard way.

News to me. Any program/app capable of reading exif , including Flickr can identify my lenses whether they be the latest DFA* 85mm 1.4 or the old FA 50mm 1.4.

Perhaps something to do with your processing workflow is stripping the exif re. lens ID.

It is also important to have the latest camera firmware especially with the latest lenses.

We simply don't have enough information to answer the question yet!

Just to add to the questions. What method have you used to determine the EXIF info is missing with those lenses? I'd suggest it might show up using an alternative method if the software you have used predates those lenses.

The lens type data is stored numerically in the EXIF and requires a lookup table in the software to translate it.
This is that table:
https://exiftool.org/TagNames/Pentax.html#LensType
If the table in the software you are using hasn't had those lenses included it wouldn't be able to make the conversion, hence without knowing where you saw 'No lens information' we can have no definitive answer!

The camera will pick up the number from the lens if it has one, even with future lenses. However the camera wouldn't be able to apply in-body corrections to a lens it doesn't know about, hence the firmware update requirement to enable that feature with the new lenses. Other software may be able to make the conversion and identify the lens even if the camera cannot.

Thanks for all your efforts.
I’ve looked at the table suggested and both lenses are listed
‘8 61’ For the 28-105mm
‘8 63’. For the 15- 30mm

The K1 camera’s firmware is Version 1.53 (updated last week).
The software used on the computer is Apple’s Photo Version 1.5 (370.420), with no updates available.
It may be that the computer is too old and obsolete (like me). Answer may be a new computer or just live with the issue, as it is easy to work out which lens from the focal length as only 28, 29 and 30mm overlap.

You could try this perhaps:
https://exiftool.org
which will allow you to Read, Write and Edit Meta Information and it's regularly kept up to date.

I can't advise on Apple’s Photo Version 1.5 as I've not used it but presume it predates those DFA lenses. Surely other more recent software is available such as Photoshop Elements or even Freeware alternatives?

However it you're happy with Apple’s Photo Version and use it with ExifTool to update the lens info you'll probably be fine.

Thank you JAK, I’m sure this would answer the problem, but it look quite complicated, certainly outside my comfort zone. I think I’ll just have to live with it as it’s only a minor irritation.
Thanks to all who have contributed!!!

Hope it clarified why you had the problem. If you have access to a Windows PC, ExifTool has a version with a front end program available which is ExifToolGUI, making it much simpler to use:
https://exiftool.org/gui/
I'm not aware of an Apple version though, but maybe you can track down something similar.
Is there an update to your Apple Photos? I tried to see if there is but Apple's website doesn't seem very helpful.