Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

Using PhotoRec to recover lost data
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sparkiemark
Posts: 5
Joined: 18 Oct 2017, 23:59

Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#1 Post by sparkiemark »

Almost two years ago my cloud drive (used for Backup) inexplicably blew away a partition (still not sure what I did, but its doesn't matter at this point), and then to make matters worse, I DID make a horrible mistake and accidentally erased my external drive which housed my media - iTunes music, movies, photos, etc. Here I was with my media gone and the backup hosed as well. External drive was on my iMac running OS-X El Capitan. The 500Gig external drive also formatted as OS-X extended.

I didn't panic... and after doing some research came across TestDisk and Photorec. To make a long story short Photorec saved the day by extracting most of media off of that drive and putting it in a much better place. Great program BTW!

Although the files did not have a recognizable name anymore,once I got use to Exiftool and its many commands and options, I was able to organize the strangely named files into a Y/M/D directory structure.

This worked fabulously for the 15,000+ camera videos and photo files, however about 5000 or so were extracted with NO metadata - no CreateDate, no Camera info, no location info, etc. Very peculiar as most of these photos were taken next to a photo that was recovered with its metadata in tact.
i.e.: When looking at the .jpg's in OS-X's "Photos" app, the "Get Info" option shows...
"f229259472.jpg
January 1, 2000 12:00:00AM
No camera information
No lens information
1080 × 1920 695 KB"

...nothing else. Looking at it using Exiftool, also does not show any of this info either.

The question I have is WHY did this happen to only 20% of the recovery, and is there something else I should have done when I extracted the files to not have had this happen?
Was the metadata somehow extracted into other files that I would need be aware of, and if so, could the .jpg be somehow merged with this metadata file to get it back?

Sincerely happy with any response.
-Sparkiemark

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cgrenier
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Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#2 Post by cgrenier »

Can you share a recovered file where you have this problem ?
If PhotoRec has set the date/time, it's because the jpg file contains exif data...

sparkiemark
Posts: 5
Joined: 18 Oct 2017, 23:59

Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#3 Post by sparkiemark »

The smallest photo size I can find is around 304MB, but I cannot attach as the file is too big.

Sorry to be a bit misleading... its been a while since I conducted this exercise and got use to looking at the lack of metadata via OS-X photos.

Its the Location and CreateDate/DateTimeOriginal tags that are not here for 5000+ photos. Lots of other info. so that's what's so bewildering. Why all this metadata in tact, but the MOST important tags gone?

But I ran the exiftool on one sample and this is what shows up

$ exiftool f229259472.jpg
ExifTool Version Number : 10.09
File Name : f229259472.jpg
Directory : .
File Size : 679 kB
File Modification Date/Time : 2000:01:01 00:00:00-04:00
File Access Date/Time : 2017:10:15 13:46:36-03:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2017:10:15 15:19:23-03:00
File Permissions : rw-rw-r--
File Type : JPEG
File Type Extension : jpg
MIME Type : image/jpeg
JFIF Version : 1.01
Resolution Unit : inches
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Comment : AppleMark.
Image Width : 1080
Image Height : 1920
Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample : 8
Color Components : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:2 (2 1)
Image Size : 1080x1920
Megapixels : 2.1


blah blah$ exiftool f54884128.jpg
ExifTool Version Number : 10.09
File Name : f54884128.jpg
Directory : .
File Size : 400 kB
File Modification Date/Time : 2000:01:01 00:00:00-04:00
File Access Date/Time : 2017:10:20 20:50:17-03:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2017:10:15 15:19:23-03:00
File Permissions : rw-rw-r--
File Type : JPEG
File Type Extension : jpg
MIME Type : image/jpeg
JFIF Version : 1.01
Resolution Unit : inches
X Resolution : 300
Y Resolution : 300
Image Width : 2448
Image Height : 3264
Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample : 8
Color Components : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Image Size : 2448x3264
Megapixels : 8.0


This particular file should have a CreateDate circa MAY2007. Any ideas? Truncation?

sparkiemark
Posts: 5
Joined: 18 Oct 2017, 23:59

Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#4 Post by sparkiemark »

Just thought I would post a GOOD photo I recovered with everything intact from that same time period, with the filename renamed to the CreateDate tag...

NOTE: These were taken with a Digital Camera which wouldn't have recorded Location... sorry to mislead you there (but that info IS missing from more recent Android and iPhone pics taken in the last few years)

blah blah $ exiftool 20070428_233332_.jpg
ExifTool Version Number : 10.09
File Name : 20070428_233332_.jpg
Directory : .
File Size : 1724 kB
File Modification Date/Time : 2007:04:28 23:33:32-03:00
File Access Date/Time : 2017:10:20 21:23:58-03:00
File Inode Change Date/Time : 2017:10:15 15:19:16-03:00
File Permissions : rw-rw-r--
File Type : JPEG
File Type Extension : jpg
MIME Type : image/jpeg
Exif Byte Order : Little-endian (Intel, II)
Image Description : OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Make : OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Camera Model Name : SP350
Orientation : Horizontal (normal)
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Resolution Unit : inches
Software : Version 1.0
Modify Date : 2007:04:28 23:33:32
Y Cb Cr Positioning : Co-sited
Exposure Time : 1/30
F Number : 2.8
Exposure Program : Creative (Slow speed)
ISO : 200
Exif Version : 0221
Date/Time Original : 2007:04:28 23:33:32
Create Date : 2007:04:28 23:33:32
Components Configuration : Y, Cb, Cr, -
Compressed Bits Per Pixel : 2
Exposure Compensation : 0
Max Aperture Value : 2.8
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Light Source : Unknown
Flash : Auto, Fired
Focal Length : 8.0 mm
Special Mode : Normal, Sequence: 0, Panorama: (none)
Quality : HQ (Normal)
Macro : Off
Black And White Mode : Off
Digital Zoom : 1.0
Focal Plane Diagonal : 9.095 mm
Lens Distortion Params : -212 -492 -601 -153 -385 -473
Resolution : 1
Camera Type : SP350
Camera ID : OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Pre Capture Frames : 0
White Board : 0
One Touch WB : Off
White Balance Bracket : 0
White Balance Bias : 0
Data Dump : (Binary data 1502 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Scene Mode : Auto
Serial Number : 000J26024608
Firmware : U78
User Comment :
Flashpix Version : 0100
Color Space : sRGB
Exif Image Width : 3264
Exif Image Height : 2448
Interoperability Index : R98 - DCF basic file (sRGB)
Interoperability Version : 0100
File Source : Digital Camera
Scene Type : Directly photographed
Custom Rendered : Normal
Exposure Mode : Auto
White Balance : Auto
Digital Zoom Ratio : 0
Scene Capture Type : Standard
Gain Control : Low gain up
Contrast : Normal
Saturation : Normal
Sharpness : Normal
PrintIM Version : 0300
Compression : JPEG (old-style)
Thumbnail Offset : 5632
Thumbnail Length : 4207
Profile CMM Type : appl
Profile Version : 2.2.0
Profile Class : Input Device Profile
Color Space Data : RGB
Profile Connection Space : XYZ
Profile Date Time : 2003:07:01 00:00:00
Profile File Signature : acsp
Primary Platform : Apple Computer Inc.
CMM Flags : Not Embedded, Independent
Device Manufacturer : appl
Device Model :
Device Attributes : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color
Rendering Intent : Perceptual
Connection Space Illuminant : 0.9642 1 0.82491
Profile Creator : appl
Profile ID : 0
Red Matrix Column : 0.45427 0.24263 0.01482
Green Matrix Column : 0.35332 0.67441 0.09042
Blue Matrix Column : 0.15662 0.08336 0.71953
Media White Point : 0.95047 1 1.0891
Chromatic Adaptation : 1.04788 0.02292 -0.0502 0.02957 0.99049 -0.01706 -0.00923 0.01508 0.75165
Red Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Green Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Blue Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Profile Description : Camera RGB Profile
Profile Copyright : Copyright 2003 Apple Computer Inc., all rights reserved.
Profile Description ML : Camera RGB Profile
Profile Description ML (es-ES) : Perfil RGB para Cámara
Profile Description ML (da-DK) : RGB-beskrivelse til Kamera
Profile Description ML (de-DE) : RGB-Profil für Kameras
Profile Description ML (fi-FI) : Kameran RGB-profiili
Profile Description ML (fr-FU) : Profil RVB de l’appareil-photo
Profile Description ML (it-IT) : Profilo RGB Fotocamera
Profile Description ML (nl-NL) : RGB-profiel Camera
Profile Description ML (no-NO) : RGB-kameraprofil
Profile Description ML (pt-BR) : Perfil RGB de Câmera
Profile Description ML (sv-SE) : RGB-profil för Kamera
Profile Description ML (ja-JP) : カメラ RGB プロファイル
Profile Description ML (ko-KR) : 카메라 RGB 프로파일
Profile Description ML (zh-TW) : 數位相機 RGB 色彩描述
Profile Description ML (zh-CN) : 相机 RGB 描述文件
Image Width : 3264
Image Height : 2448
Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample : 8
Color Components : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:2:2 (2 1)
Aperture : 2.8
Image Size : 3264x2448
Megapixels : 8.0
Scale Factor To 35 mm Equivalent: 4.8
Shutter Speed : 1/30
Thumbnail Image : (Binary data 4207 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Circle Of Confusion : 0.006 mm
Field Of View : 50.6 deg
Focal Length : 8.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 38.1 mm)
Hyperfocal Distance : 3.62 m
Light Value : 6.9

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cgrenier
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Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#5 Post by cgrenier »

Looks like all the EXIF metatadata are here, only OS-X metadata are missing. I don't know how there are stored, at the end of the jpg file, in a separate file (one per jpg) or in a single database (ie. sqlite file).

sparkiemark
Posts: 5
Joined: 18 Oct 2017, 23:59

Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#6 Post by sparkiemark »

But why is there no CreateDate tag? That is Exif standard and nothing to do with OS-X. That is what I find strange.

Thanks for listening and appreciate the prompt responses

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Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#7 Post by cgrenier »

Can you post a link or send me an email where this 2007 picture can be downloaded ?

sparkiemark
Posts: 5
Joined: 18 Oct 2017, 23:59

Re: Photorec does not recover jpg metadata

#8 Post by sparkiemark »

Sorry, missed your response. What email can I send it to?

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