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Flickr’s “Camera Finder”

This is a great use of metadata by Flickr. I think I’m hooked.

As you’ll know, virtually every image taken digitally will have an EXIF file attached, giving information to applications on the camera, settings, exposure etc. This data is often seen trivially in applications like iPhoto where you can see date, some exposure information and add to that data with your ratings and tags. Some applications can use the data for colour profiling and copyright management, or (excitingly – if you have a Nokia N95 or GPS-capable SLR) the geographical co-ordinates where the image was taken.

Flickr has made much of this metadata available via its API, but this is a very neat packaging of that data: the images uploaded – by camera model. This links to the aging (but venerable) Nikon D1, but you can find virtually any camera. You can also see an overview by manufacturer too.

This is a great resource when considering a new camera (a persistent state in my case!) as well as new way of exploring image-making. It also shows how to take data and render it as an engaging offering. A lesson to us all.