Canon Maker Notes - Subject Distance

[PhilGP]

I'm sure this has been asked many times before but I just cant find an answer ... what is the 'subject distance' ?
The 10D,300D,D30 & D60 produced a CRW+THM file and this data was in the THM. The 20D,300D onwards hide this data in the 'Maker Notes' of the CR2 file but I have never found anything that can read it fully ... until I found IrfanView.

It's the only package I've found that can actually read all of the Maker Notes from CR2 files.
However, the one piece of data I'm looking for - 'Subject Distance' - is always zero. Am I missing something?
Other data is wrong too - such as 'Flash not fired' when the main EXIF data shows that it was.

My setup ..
EOS 350D
EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM ... 'should' report distance
EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 (kit) ... 'should report distance
EF 50mm f/1.8 MkII ... 'does not' report distance

The Canon site lists both my zooms as capable of reporting the distance.


Here's a sample output ...

ImageWidth - 3456
ImageLength - 2304
BitsPerSample - 8 8 8
Compression - 6 (JPG)
Make - Canon
Model - Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
StripOffset - 9728
Orientation - Top left
StripByteCount - 4305941
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
DateTime - 2007:09:15 18:43:23
IPTC/NAA - 12365714
ExifOffset - 270
ExposureTime - 1/200 seconds
FNumber - 5.60
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExifVersion - 0221
DateTimeOriginal - 2007:09:15 18:43:23
DateTimeDigitized - 2007:09:15 18:43:23
ComponentsConfiguration -
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/200 seconds
ApertureValue - F 5.60
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
Flash - Flash fired, Compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 28 mm
UserComment -
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 3456
ExifImageHeight - 2304
InteroperabilityOffset - 9304
FocalPlaneXResolution - 3954.23
FocalPlaneYResolution - 3958.76
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Inch
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Manual
SceneCaptureType - Standard

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Macro mode - Normal
Self timer - Off
Quality - RAW
Flash mode - On
Sequence mode - Continous
Focus mode - One-Shot
Image size - Large
Easy shooting mode - Manual
Digital zoom - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - High , +1
ISO Value - 32767
Metering mode - Evaluative
Focus type - Auto
AF point selected -
Exposure mode - Av-priority
Focal length - 28 - 105 mm (1 mm)
Flash activity - Not fired
Flash details - Internal
Focus mode 2 - Single
White Balance - Flash
Sequence number - 0
Flash bias - 0 EV
Subject Distance - 0
Image Type - Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Firmware Version - Firmware 1.0.3
Owner Name - ***
Camera Serial Number - ***
File number - 168 - 6871

Thumbnail: -
JpegIFOffset - 4316181
JpegIFByteCount - 10158

[Sjef]

Not showing all Exif-parameters

Hi Phil,
Exif-data doesn't seem to be a standard issue. There are different versions (0.1 - 0.2) and the parameters seems different too. Compare your Canon data with my Nikon data and see what I mean. It's not an answer to your problem, but maybe it brings you further to a solution.
In Total Commander you could use a plugin to show a specific choice of Exif data. I hope Irfan Skiljan will make this possible too in a future version. There are millions of digital camera users, so this would be a welcome addition. Here is the url to the plugin. It contains the ?SubjectDistanceRange?-parameter you are asking about.

ImageWidth - 160
ImageLength - 120
BitsPerSample - 8 8 8
Compression - 1 (None)
PhotometricInterpretation - 2
Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D40
StripOffset - 124038
Orientation - Top left
SamplesPerPixel - 3
RowsPerStrip - 120
StripByteCount - 57600
XResolution - 300
YResolution - 300
PlanarConfiguration - 1
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Ver.1.10
DateTime - 2008:03:22 23:59:50
ReferenceBlackWhite - 0
ExifOffset - 468
DateTimeOriginal - 2008:03:22 23:59:50
ExposureTime - 1/10 seconds
FNumber - 4.50
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
DateTimeOriginal - 2008:03:22 23:59:50
DateTimeDigitized - 2008:03:22 23:59:50
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 4.44
MeteringMode - Center weighted average
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired
FocalLength - 32.00 mm
UserComment - SJEF-2008
SubsecTime - 30
SubsecTimeOriginal - 30
SubsecTimeDigitized - 30
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 1 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 48 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Hard
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown
Maker Note (Vendor): -
Data version - 0210 (808595760)
ISO Setting - 200
Color Mode - COLOR
Image Quality - RAW
White Balance - AUTO
Image Sharpening - NORMAL
Focus Mode - AF-S
Flash Setting - NORMAL
Flash Mode -
White Balance Adjustment - 0
White Balance RB - 710
Exposure Adjustment - 68608
Thumbnail IFD offset - 12346
Flash Compensation - 67072
ISO 2 - 200
Tone Compensation - MED.H
Lens type - AF-D G
Lens - 786
Flash Used - Not fired
AF Focus Position - Top
Bracketing - 0
Contrast Curve - I
Color Mode - MODE1a
Light Type - NATURAL
Hue Adjustment - 0
Noise Reduction - OFF
Total pictures - 114
Optimization - CUSTOM

[Sjef]

Subject distance

However, the one piece of data I'm looking for - 'Subject Distance' - is always zero. Am I missing something?
Other data is wrong too - such as 'Flash not fired' when the main EXIF data shows that it was.

As you may know, in future all digi-fotos will be in dng-format (Digital NeGative). Here is the Exif-data of this format. No Subject Distance at all!