Why can't I view an edited image on my camera?

Question

This question is an extension of How can I copy images to my camera for viewing?.

When I take a picture on my camera, edit it on my computer, and send it back to my camera, my camera cannot display the image. Why is this so?

This applies to many makes and models of cameras and appears to be related to the Exif data in the image file. Why does the camera need to be picky about the Exif data in the image? Is there a technical reason the Exif structures need to be in a certain format?

Asked by DragonLord

Answer

It depends on the camera but on the ones I tried it only partially works.

In particular my Fuji F300EXR shows the image with a 'Gift' icon, complete with ribbons :) and show the preview but zoom in or EXIF display is not possible.

The Sony I had (Don't remember the model HX-something) did not even like me renaming its own photos without modification! In this case there were plenty of non-image files and directories created by the camera, so I assume the camera has an index of photos, maybe even with the previews cached separately somewhere.

Some cameras do not like different EXIF but some use other data to index the card and if you put a photo that does not match, then is it simply not seen.

Answered by Zak

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