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Know Your Lens Model and Other Metadata Tricks in Aperture

Inside Aperture Podcast 30

by Derrick Story
06/05/2008

Would you like to know the exact lens you used for every shot in your Aperture library? In this podcast with Joe Schorr, Derrick Story learns about the new "Lens Model" field and how to use it. Plus Joe explains how to update your previously uploaded images in Aperture to also display this information. Other helpful techniques include tapping the power of the Query HUD and changes in Aperture 2 to help you better look inside Stacks.

The Lens Model field is very useful. Say that you have two different models of a 70-200mm zoom -- f/4 and f/2.8 versions, and you want to know which lens you used for a particular shoot. The Lens Model field will distinguish between the two. By default, this field should appear in the "General" metadata view. If yours isn't displaying it, then click on the EXIF tab at the bottom of the view and check the box next to Lens Model. You can move the field to any position you want by clicking on its label and dragging. You can also create custom metadata fields that include just the information you're interested in.

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Derrick Story is the author of The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers, The Digital Photography Companion, and Digital Photography Hacks, and coauthor of iPhoto: The Missing Manual, with David Pogue. You can follow him on Twitter or visit www.thedigitalstory.com.

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