IPTC in Nikon NEF files

[C-F]

Hello,

while busy indexing my image collection into iMatch, I ran into a little 'oddity'.
(I am using Photo Mechanic 5 for all my initial, basic ingesting info and HD folder/file structure before indexing into iMatch) - I do not use xmp sidecar files but have all info written into the NEF file itself.

Now, when looking at the Metadata template [3 image], there are, amongst others, 2 sections: xmp IPTC Core and xmp ITPC Extension.
2 line items that should belong to ITPC Extension are showing in IPTC Core. (ISO Country Code, and Location) because these items have nothing to do with the 'Creators contact information' but were entered under 'Event and Location' info as shown in IPTC Extension section.
Is this a known 'bug' or am I doing something wrong here?

See attached screenshot.
Thanks for any insight!

[Mario]

The sample Metadata Panel layout 3 uses the metadata browser to show all data it has found in the file.
The "captions" shown are delivered by ExifTool. IMatch uses the original ExifTool tag groups for this purpose.
ExifTool reports the tag ISO Country Code to be in IPTCCore, which is correct by the standard.

I do not use xmp sidecar files but have all info written into the NEF file itself.

EXIF, GPS and legacy (IIM3) IPTC should go into the NEF file. XMP should go into the sidecar file. That's were most applications expect to find XMP data for RAW files.
Embedding XMP in the RAW was done by the old Nikon Capture software, and that was a really dumb idea. Also, some newer Nikon models embed a rudimentary XMP record in the NEF, with useless or even nonsense data like Rating=0. Sigh.

By default, IMatch updates existing EXIF/GPS/legacy IPTC in NEF and writes XMP metadata to the sidecar file.

[lbo]

Embedding XMP in the RAW was done by the old Nikon Capture software, and that was a really dumb idea. Also, some newer Nikon models embed a rudimentary XMP record in the NEF, with useless or even nonsense data like Rating=0. Sigh.

I hope, IMatch assignes higher priority to the sidecar data by default?

Until now, I also embedded XMP data in the RAW files (Canon CR2 and Sony ARW in my case) with Geosetter (using exiftool), and DXO transported everything correctly to the produced jpeg files.

If you advice against embedding XMP in raw files, I have to check how to manage these legacy files.

Especially "interesting" is how to deal with future edits of raw files containing XMP data.

Oliver

[Mario]

The XMP standard and the Metadata Working Group always recommended to store XMP data for proprietary (and undocumented) RAW formats in the XMP sidecar file.
Not embedding it in the RAW file itself. RAW files are proprietary and undocumented and updating them may be risky.
Many software products out there don't even detect XMP embedded in RAW files.

IMatch gives you option to deal with both.
I recommend reading the corresponding sections:

Metadata Storage
Metadata 2
Per File Extension Options

I hope, IMatch assignes higher priority to the sidecar data by default?

IMatch by default favors XMP in sidecar files but also detects and used XMP embedded in RAW files.
See the corresponding documentation (links above).
Let us know if you have detail questions.