1# @(#) $Id: MAKER_NOTES,v 1.8 2005/07/05 17:02:24 alex Exp $ 2 3Only one camera maker (Foveon, for the Sigma/Foveon camera) currently 4publishes the form or interpretation of their makernote data; the data is 5apparently recorded just to make the image file larger. 6 7Exifprobe's identification and interpretation of tags in MakerNotes is 8based largely upon information reverse-engineered by others and posted to 9the Web (see CREDITS). A few items are based upon examination of images 10downloaded from websites whose operators are kind enough to make camera 11images available for download (including some rather *large* images). 12 13I recommend that you examine any output for your camera to assure yourself 14that the associations between tag identifiers and the interpretation of 15the associated values is reasonable and correct. Please report to me 16(dhh@virtual-cafe.com) any corrections you think should be made for any 17make or model of camera, and any additional information you may deduce for 18any camera (or other device). 19 20It should be noted that tag numbers, types, and values shown by exifprobe 21will be correct if shown...they are read directly from the image file. It 22is the "interpretation" of tags and associated values which could be 23suspect. 24 25The strategy used by exifprobe to read MakerNotes does *not* depend upon a 26table of makes and models. The program scans the offset given for the note 27to see if it can find an ID string, a TIFF header, and/or a valid IFD entry 28or two at a reasonable offset and in either byteorder. The features it 29finds are recorded as a "scheme" which is used for reading and printing the 30MakerNote information. If a valid IFD is found the program consults make 31and model information for the oddball variations used by some manufacturers 32(e.g. offsets relative to the start of the note or start of each entry) and 33to see if tagnames and value interpretations are available. If tagnames and 34interpretations are not available, the program will print the raw data with 35tagnames constructed from the tag number. 36 37 38dhh@virtual-cafe.com 39