Maker notes and the focus point

The camera's own settings in plain English, and where it focused.

Besides the standard information every camera records, each brand stores its own settings in a private part of the file called the maker notes: focus mode, drive mode, film simulation, shutter count and more. Most tools show these as raw codes. ExifXplorer translates them.

Reading them

Open a photo and scroll to Maker notes at the bottom of its panel. The section names the brand and lists its settings in words, such as “AF-C”, “Single point” or “Classic Chrome”. If a file was saved by editing software that stripped the maker notes, the panel says so.

What’s shown depends on the brand. See Supported files and cameras for the full list.

Shutter count

For bodies that record it, Shutter count is the camera’s lifetime number of exposures, like a car’s odometer. It’s useful when buying a used camera, or watching wear on your own. The Insights page tracks it over time.

The focus point

Where the camera records exactly where it focused, ExifXplorer draws it on the photo. Turn on Show focus point (opens full image) in the maker notes section: the full-screen view opens with a rectangle on the focus area. The rectangle has a dark edge on each side so it stays visible on bright and dark subjects alike, and it never changes the photo itself.

The switch stays on as you move between photos with the arrow keys, so you can check focus across a whole burst.

No rectangle? The camera may not have used a single focus point: zone, wide-area and subject-tracking modes often don’t record one. Some brands don’t record the position at all.

In Finder

You can see maker notes and the focus point without importing a photo: press Space on a RAW file in Finder, or use the Inspector. See Finder: Inspector and Quick Look.