Changing the date on photos

[Speicher]

The batteries in my camera went flat recently. This may explain why photos taken last month have been filed incorrectly under a date of April 2004.

I am using Olympus Master as it is easy peasy to use, and files all my photos chronologically (usually). I am learning to edit and alter etc my photos by trial and error, practising on the duff photos so that it does not matter if I muck them up or loose them.

I would now like to move the wrongly dated photos and put them into September 2009, so that I can find them again (and not lose them in the process).

The editing feature allows me to add a title to the photo, but not change the date. Can some kind person explain how to put this right.

On the subject of batteries, what sort are the best/longest lasting ones? I try always to carry spare brand new ones with the camera, but got caught out last month. My camera seems not to like re-chargeable batteries.

I have looked on the internet for a mains lead, to use for editing photos. Is it editing that drains so much power from the batteries?

You can easily read that I am no expert on photo editing. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Coco]

Not used the Olympus one, but a lot of programs use the date stored IN the image file - its called EXIF data. Look for an EXIF editor. Are you using Windows?

Also what kind of camera do you have? Sometimes its easier just to get a card reader for the computer and take the storage card from the camera and read the files that way. No need for camera power in that case.

 

[Speicher]

It is an Olympus Camedia C-370 Zoom with 3.2 mega pixels. It is easy to use and produces good photos from my point of view. But then I am just taking photos on holiday and days out and family etc, not expert stuff.

There is a lead from the camera to the USB port to transfer images to the computer, and that seems very straightfoward. The editing process (that I think is eating up the batteries) is when I am looking at the small screen in the camera and editing that way, to save the memory getting full.

Would it be simpler to carry a spare memory card to put in the camera, rather than editing on the camera, as it were. Then confine my editing to when I am at the computer?

When finances permit, I might get another camera with a larger screen to view the photos, and more pixels. What is a sensible number of pixels to expect bearing in mind not spending more than say £100 on a new camera?

 

[rh100]

Hi Speicher

IMO - It is worth getting a spare memory card and a USB card reader as suggested above - the memory card would then show up as another disk drive on your PC, then just copy them across to the PC's drive for editing. Much easier and more efficient to edit on the PC than on the camera, plus if the large LCD screen on the camera is in constant use it will drain the battery quickly.

At the same time, I would advise getting an external hard disk, and keeping another copy of the photo's on there as backup. It's a shame to lose pictures due to disk failure.

As far as megapixels go, IMO the quality of the lens and the CCD (the part behind the lens that captures the picture from the lens) is the important part, rather than the amount of pixels it captures. eg Some mobile phones capture a high amount of megapixels now, but my Canon DSLR captures 6 megapixels and it will always be far superior than any phone camera because of the quality of the optics etc.

So don't worry too much about pixels, anything around 6 megapixel should be fine unless you want to make massive blowups of the picture, just get a quality camera, Olymus, Canon, Nikon etc. And go to a proper camera shop for best advice, not Argos etc.

Hope this helps, just my opinion though

Rich

 

[HJ]

IrfanView lets you edits the EXIF data and it is free for personal use...

 

[Speicher]

I have been very careful with back ups. After holidays, I have down loaded the photos onto a disk at the local Boots. I also have an external hard drive as constant back up to the computer.

I was beginning to suspect it was editing on the little screen that was draining the memory.

Thank you both for your help.