What Information Can EXIF Contain? A Field Reference
Published August 18, 2026
What Is EXIF Metadata? explains what EXIF is and why it exists. This is the reference version — the specific fields you might actually find, grouped by category.
Device and camera
| Field | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| Make / Model | Camera or phone manufacturer and model |
| LensModel | The specific lens used, on interchangeable-lens cameras |
| Software | The app or firmware that created or last saved the file |
| SerialNumber (some cameras) | The individual camera unit's serial number |
Exposure and technical settings
| Field | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| ISO | Sensor sensitivity setting |
| FNumber | Aperture (f-stop) |
| ExposureTime | Shutter speed |
| FocalLength | Lens focal length at capture |
| Flash | Whether flash fired and in what mode |
| WhiteBalance | Color temperature setting |
Timestamps
| Field | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| DateTimeOriginal | When the photo was actually taken |
| ModifyDate | When the file was last saved/edited |
| OffsetTime | Time zone offset, on cameras/phones that record it |
Location (the highest-privacy-risk category)
| Field | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| GPSLatitude / GPSLongitude | Precise coordinates, typically accurate to a few meters |
| GPSAltitude | Elevation at capture |
| GPSTimeStamp | UTC time the GPS fix was recorded |
| GPSImgDirection | Compass direction the camera was pointing |
See How GPS Location Is Stored in Photos for how these values are actually encoded.
Image properties
| Field | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Rotation needed for correct display |
| ImageWidth / ImageHeight | Pixel dimensions |
| ColorSpace | sRGB, Adobe RGB, etc. |
What's usually not in EXIF
EXIF does not typically carry a human-written caption, a copyright notice, or keyword tags — those live in IPTC or XMP instead, if present. A single file can carry all of these formats simultaneously; our Metadata Viewer shows them together in one place.
Checking what's actually in a specific file
Field lists like this describe what's possible — any individual photo may carry only a handful of these, or none. The only way to know for a specific file is to look. Our EXIF Viewer reads and displays every EXIF field a file actually contains, entirely in your browser.