What Is The Camera Model?

Camera Model is the name of the specific device that captured the file. Where Camera Make gives you the manufacturer, the Model tells you which of that maker's cameras or phones was used.

Which files carry it

All kinds of files created with a camera can hold it, whether the camera is a compact, a DSLR or the one built into a phone or tablet. That covers raw camera images such as NEF and CR2, compressed image files such as JPEG and TIFF, and video taken with a camera such as MOV and MP4.

The device writes its own model name into the exif metadata as the file is saved, so the value comes from the camera and not from a person. It travels with the file when the file is copied, and it often survives being opened and re-saved in an editor. Exporting for the web or deliberately stripping the metadata removes it.

What the values look like

Digital cameras add their precise model name, so the value is usually recognizable:

• Canon EOS 1300D
• KODAK C310 DIGITAL CAMERA
• DSLR-A330, which refers to a Sony digital camera

With smartphones and tablets the model name is often the name of the device itself:

• iPhone 8
• HTC One
• Galaxy Nexus

Sometimes the value does not give away instantly which camera was used. In those cases it is an internal product or component code rather than the marketing name, for example:

• SM-G930V, the code for a Samsung Galaxy S7
• E6810, which refers to the Kyocera DuraForce Pro phone
• 8MPAF_S0, the camera fitted to an ET1 tablet

Why it matters for your file

For anyone sorting an archive, the Model is the field that separates the pictures from one body or phone from another, which is far more reliable than remembering which trip used which camera. Photo editors use it too: raw conversion, lens distortion correction and noise profiles are all tuned per model, so the name decides how the file is interpreted.

It is also the most identifying of the plain device fields, and that is the reason to look at it before publishing. A model name narrows a file down to one product, and next to a serial number it can point at one physical camera. Combined with capture dates and, on phones, a GPS position, a handful of published photos can be tied together and traced back to the same device. The value says nothing about your name, but it does describe your equipment, so if that is not information you want to hand out, remove the exif data from the copy you share.