New app for making "exif notes"

Tommi, just a quick update. I've been using this since landing in Iceland, it is so easy to use that one doesn't wish to not use it.

Received the 1.9.3 update, thank you.

Yesterday I was scrolling through some of the rolls of film, the information, although basic, was enough to give me a mental picture of just what I had shot and where and of course, when. This has revolutionised my note taking, which to be honest, was very scant in roll film format.

Wondering how I'll adapt this program for my 4x5" cameras, twill be interesting.

I have one question, will the application work where there is no phone reception?

Still travelling in Iceland, where mobile phone coverage seems to be universal, or so I think, I'm wondering about when I get back to Australia where vast amounts of land where we often go to, have no mobile phone coverage for sometimes hundreds of square kilometres and in some cases, literally thousands of square kilometres.

Still trying to give you a hot chocolate drink.

Mick.

 

I'm a long-time user of some other apps, but recently changed phone service and the web-based one I was using is dead if you don't have a signal and I frequently lose signal (thanks T-Mobile.). I just installed Exif Notes and it looks good. I have a bunch of notes/requests based on my usage and observations. Just so you know where I am, in my last program I had created 41 cameras, 46 lenses, and logged 113 rolls of film in 22 months. Currently using a Samsung S7 Edge.

Some observations about adding new gear:
I don't seem to be able to set up a fixed lens camera, so I guess I have to create a lens entry for each camera and associate it. Not the end of the world, but most of my cameras are fixed lens.

When I set up a lens, sometimes the first aperture is not a full stop but the camera only has full stop clicks. For instance, Bronica 150mm f3.5 starts at f3.5 but has f4 and only has full stops from f4 to f22. The way around this would be to ask for the widest aperture, then the full stop range. So for this lens I'd have to enter 3.5, 4, 22. Many 50mm do the same thing when they have 1.8 or 1.7 for the widest aperture, or they skip 2.

Can the default for aperture stops be changed (or have a setting) to 1-stop instead of 1/3-stop? I've never seen a lens with 1/3 stops other than at widest aperture, and most of my lenses do not even have half stops.

The "Add new frame" UI is cumbersome. For me, the most important items are Aperture and Shutter Speed, but those are so far down the page that I have to scroll to get to Shutter Speed. Things that I'm not likely to need to change (Date, Time, Location, Focal Length, Compensation, No of Exposures) should all be further down the page. Also, the "Add" button being at the top would avoid the problem with the keyboard covering the form. There is a lot of wasted space on the form, ideally the whole Add New Frame dialog would fit on a single phone screen. I'd be happy to help out with a page design.

The frames list should sort in reverse order so the most recent frame is at the top of the list. I can't find a way to do this and sorting by date still puts the frames from the same date in frame number order.

I have other ideas for useful features, but don't want to make this too long (like it already is) and don't want to sound like I'm complaining. From what I've seen and used so far, this is a great app. Feel free to PM or email me with questions.

-Jon

 

Some interesting observations there.

With regard to having the whole add new frame fit onto a single screen may be fine for people with good eyesight and a whopping big screen, a bit of scrolling, actually a flick of a finger, is easy as anything.

Having the frames running from first down to last is a natural fit for me, when it is in a printed out form after being in a spreadsheet, this also looks normal. I realise you think differently and may wish for an added feature of being able to reverse the frame feature, but I sure do not wish this.

Mick.

 

In a printout or spreadsheet, of course. I just want to be able to look at the list on my phone when I'm out shooting and have the most recent shots visible. That has helped in the past when something was not set right and I could see the settings. It should be a simple matter to allow people to sort as they wish, I certainly wouldn't want to mandate it for everyone.

 

Hello once again!

Just a quick idea - maybe the Film Rolls screen could show a little more information? Meaning - if user inputs more text than fits on screen on given font size, maybe the font size could then shrink to adapt and display some more info? Or just be smaller?

Because after I insert "YY.Roll No. in that year - Film Used - Description" - I for example can hardly see that description on what's in the roll.

And maybe all the info that's provided when making a new roll, could be exported in the Exif Tool commands file in the beginning or after the commands for user to be able to identify the roll later by doing some indexed search?

And one more thing that I deal with every time when doing data import into my TIF files:
It would be nice to have an option to offset the Frame count number in app to match frame numbers imprinted on film. For example - one batch can end up on frame 0 as first photo on the physical roll, but other batch - on 00. And on rare cases - on frame No. 1. By doing the same manual roll insertion operation to the millimetre - each time. But in the app I always start with 0. So, taking all those imprinted numbering issues into account, it would be nice for app to feature an offset option, so the entered data could match the frame described on film. Otherwise I often end up describing frame No. 0, when on actual film it refers to frame No. 00 or 1.
And that would help to correct other user errors - like misnumbering, forgetting to add frame, etc.

And thanks again for the amazing experience!

 

Just to share the pleasant experience : )
Marshall London, Exif Notes: Apiņu kadrs by Ivo Stunga, on Flickr

 

Yeah, absolutely - the sound is marvelous. Both - from on-board speakers and headphones. Best sounding phone even as of now. Sadly - the rest is not on par. Not even close.
GPS is non-existent almost, so that affects this app too. But it's ok, can live with imperfections
: )


Have a blast! Jealous of your working hours bank. Latvia has a millennia of development in front to reach Finlands levels of awesome. To come even close. Soviet breath is still here sadly. But, oh well, we're alive and having this awesome app and film to shoot, thanks!

 

Any chance this will make it to iOS?

 

Having the aperture and shutter speed on the first window you look at (so to speak) is certainly better.
Many thanks.
Mick.

 

Hello there again! Have a quick idea to consider!

Maybe it would be useful to make a Development module in your app? Say, you're developing your film yourself and of course - in the end - you want to know which development recipe, agitation and timing gave what results. Because they both affect your work strongly. Recipes could be populated from Massive Dev Chart or other database, or custom-made - step-by-step - by hand - required for some multi-step, multi-dev recipes.

So, you would have your list of rolls, and you would have your DEV module with recipes and their respective ratio/dilution calculators.

User would then combine defined recipe to a roll, and this combo could then be imported in Caption or Comments, or some other EXIF field, constructing a simple sentence that's used in WEB: {Film} in {Developer} for {Development Time} or something like that, or/and use FilmDev format. Like shown here: http://filmdev.org/recipe/finder/?find=HP5++in+HC110

Result - awesome app made even more awesome by combining notes on shooting and development, its timing. So, you would have Exif Notes + Dilution Calculator + Development Timer in one app. Would be sweet in theory, huh? You could then take a quick snap of your drying strip to add to the information of roll for a quick glance...

 

Retained comments ++

Hi everyone. Thanks a lot Tommi for this wonderful app and sharing it with us! It has become a permanent partner in my photo tours (though there aren't many of them right now in -15 c degrees in Norway.

After having used the app for some time now, here are some humble suggestions for improvement from my side.

1) A way of setting same comment on all frames i a roll: there might be a way of doing it but I have not found it. It would be nice to have a standard comment field for all frames, e.g. type of film or developer. This can be either set at the roll level or at the first frame and retained for the rest of the frames in the roll unless you delete it. For instance, the same way you retain lens and aperture values from frame to frame, you could also retain the comment (though it would be easier to have a "frame comment" field set at roll level). This "roll comment" can then be appended to the Exif comment of each frame.

2) Easier setting of coordinates: The process now is that you have to click on the location field, go into a map, click on your location and get an address or coordinate (is there an easier way already? I did not find it). I suggest to also have a faster options. For instance, have two buttons in the location field, one called "fetch coordinates" that does it without going to a map, and one called "set address" where you can go to a map and find an address as you do now.

3) Archiving developed rolls: My list of film rolls gets longer and I hate to delete the developed films (I hate to delete anything. Can we have an option for either archiving (so the roll can disappear and go into an "archived rolls" list) or just mark them as hidden?

4) Multiple film backs on multiple bodies: I also have an issue with my Hasselblad bodies and backs (I have two old V bodies and two film backs). The app does not allow film to be moved between bodies. I am not sure how to implement it and if it is worth spending time on it. I just add all the two film backs to the same body for now. It works but I don't know which frame was shot with which body. (I also have a Canon Elan IIe that allows you to rewind and take out the 35 film roll in the middle of shooting for e.g. shifting between two film speeds, I have not tried that feature yet).

That's all for now. Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks! I see the location update in the settings now. I will give it a try in my next photo tour!

 

A bug/annoyance report.

GPS on my phone is so bad that I want to turn location off completely. I did. Both in Exif Notes and System Settings.
But Exif Notes still asks for location every time app is opened. When disabled in app - it should not ask for location, right? : )

And/Or app could use approx location when Battery Saving option (No GPS) is turned on in Location settings. I'd prefer this with ill GPS I assume. Approx location is still better than no location and those prompt pop-ups : )

 

Weekend shall be fun then!

 

Tommi, after reading this I opened the app and allowed the update, that archiving feature is very nice indeed.

Once again, many thanks for providing this.

Mick.

 

Very appreciated update Tommi! I have now been using the GPS function for a couple of rolls and it works very well, even indoors!!

The archive function is also appreciated, and very elegantly implemented. Thanks!

Some suggestions after having used this app for a while now:
- Please make a donate version so we can buy you a beer!
- I often forget to register a frame. I then have to insert it in the right frame position. The problem is that I have to change frame number of all the frames that come afterwards. Probably a bit complicated to automate this. But it would be nice
- I would also appreciate a lot an option that can append the comment from the film roll to the comment field in each frame. In this way I can have roll-wide comments (e.g. what film I used, what developer I used, if I pushed or not).

Cheers.