If the correct date and time set on your camera is important to you, you may want to check it a couple of times a year. That may be especially important to those of you who use more than one camera when you photograph and you want to upload and catalog your images in the order in which they were made. Also, for potential legal reasons, you may want to ensure the time you made certain photographs is accurate. In my experience, the clock function in digital cameras is notoriously poor.
I recommend checking each camera's time at least twice per year, whenever Daylight Savings Time starts and ends; more if you find your camera's clock keeps time poorly. I didn't check a week ago when Daylight Savings time ended but I did remember to check it over this past weekend. Additionally, some cameras will automatically switch to and from Daylight Savings Time while others won't. That could throw off your time reference by an hour.
I found the time shown in every one of my cameras was incorrect. Only one of my cameras automatically switched from Daylight Savings Time to regular time.
If you don't care what time is set on your cameras, then this is not of a concern. I find sometimes I use two different cameras when photographing (usually the X-T5 and X-H2S) and when I look at my images in Lightroom I want them correctly sequenced by time. Also, many times I've wanted to go back to a specific location to photograph. I'll pull up the images I made before and see if the light could have been better if I had photographed at a different time of day. If so or if not, the time can then give me a reference point as to when is the best time of the day to return. I count on the camera's clock reflecting the correct time.
So, why can't the camera manufacturers engineer a clock as accurate as a cheap battery powered wrist watch? They made a very sophisticated 'computer with a lens' but can't make a clock that is accurate? I don't get it.
Then there is the issue of changing time zones on long road trips...and then changing back. Don't get me started with that! lol.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Good reminder! Having my cameras keep accurate time is critical for me. Since I mainly shoot trains, I like to add a passenger train's number to the file name when I edit the photos. But it isn't practical to try and take notes on each train I shoot during rush hour when my two local commuter lines and Amtrak are running trains almost constantly past my location. If I have an accurate time stamp for each train I photograph I can look them up in the timetables once I get home and match them to the station where I took the photos.
ReplyDeleteAlso, sometimes I'll take two cameras to large auto shows or other events and during editing I want the files sorted in the order I took them, not by camera.
Good to hear from a fellow railroad enthusiast. I’ve been a railfan since I was a child. In fact, my friends and I used to hang out in the local rail yard when we were 10-14 years old and sometimes the engineer of one of the switch engines would actually allow us to get up into the locomotive with him as he built trains and moved cars around the yard. No way that would happen today but it made me a lifelong fan of railroads and the men and women who work there. Knowing that you appreciate railroad photos, I’ll have to post a few more than I normally do. I’ll see if I can dig a good one up for Monochome Monday next week. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteThanks! We always enjoy seeing your scenic photos of east coast railroading, something I've seldom photographed.
DeleteA black and white from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac RR on Monday. ~Dennis
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