Easily edit f-stop metadata in Lightroom? Or anywhere?

[bill t.]

For technical reasons, the f-stop field in the metadata of my raw files is always blank.

The Lightroom->Oloneo export plug-in chokes on files with blank f-stop metadata.  Go figure.  Oloneo thinks this is a feature, not a problem.

It would be nice if I could use Lightroom to stuff "f8" into the f-stop field of either my image files or the exported tifs, either at import or export or anywhere in between.  Any suggestions?  I've tried and failed.

I do not intend to use this information for criminal purposes, but one senses that suspicion at almost every turn regarding metadata.  You can look, but you can't touch.

PS, it's because I use my old Nikkors in manual mode on my 5D2, how geeky is that?  They play together, but they don't talk.  And I otherwise like Oloneo very much.  And yes there are ways around this, but they all require too much work and too many giant temporary files.  I want the direct, one-step export from Lightroom to work.

[Rhossydd]

PS, it's because I use my old Nikkors in manual mode on my 5D2, how geeky is that?  They play together, but they don't talk. 

Have you thought about chipping the lenses ?  Jeffrey Friedel shows how it's done on his blog at  http://regex.info/blog/2012-03-30/1967
Not the easiest of jobs, but it would only ever need to done once.

[jaapb]

Have you thought about chipping the lenses ?

This is for F-mount only, Bill uses a 5D2
For EXIF manipulation look here
Maybe John Beardsworth can chime in to explain syntax.

Hope this helps,

Jaap

[Rhossydd]

This is for F-mount only, Bill uses a 5D2

In that case, it's even easier, just use a chipped adaptor. There are loads on eBay for very modest amounts eg:-  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-AF-Confirm-Nikon-Lens-Canon-EOS-EF-5D-7D-10D-60D-50D-T3i-Adapter-Ring-/260880840526?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item3cbdb5b74e

[Redcrown]

I use the Oloneo stand-alone, not the LR plugin, so things might be different but...

It's pretty easy to overide the f-stops in Oloneo. After you "add" images, the shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO are all editable.

Change them to anything you want. They don't have to be real, but they should have the approximate delta of the real numbers.

On bracketed sets with alignment problems, I sometimes use Photoshop to align by loading 3 files as layers, aligning, and then saving the layers as files.
Those saved files all have the same EXIF, so I just edit the numbers in Oloneo (or Photomatix, or other HDR progams). Much easier than editing the actual file EXIF.

[bill t.]

Thanks to all for the input.

Can't use the chip solution because I already have a gazillion files without f-stop data.  Also, will soon be moving to a D800 which will solve the problem all by itself, and which will not like the chips.  But was surprised to see how easy it is to do.

Will have a look at the Photographer's Toolbox thing.  Looks like it can chomp a bunch of files at once.  I've been using their LR/Enfuse tool for certain HDR situations, and it's a thing of beauty, much praise to Timothy Armes.  It gives you a tif that edits like a file from a good MF camera.

Was glad to see that I can directly edit f-stop and shutter speed in Oloneo itself, but unfortunately that's not a option with the LR->Oloneo plug-in which doesn't let me get that far.  In most cases exif-challenged tifs can be loaded from within Oloneo itself without a fuss, but not so from the LR plug-in.