macOS Photos Subtracts 6 Hours from Capture Time on Canon Video Files

[optimisticcynic]

I've decided to abandon Lightroom (6.14) and migrate to macOS Photos (High Sierra, 10.13.3), so I've been putting Photos through its paces before taking the plunge.

I've discovered that, for some bizarre reason, Photos subtracts 6 hours from the capture date/time of any videos shot with any of the Canon cameras I've tested (e.g., if I shoot a video at 8:00am, Photos displays it as being shot at 2:00am). I have a T4i/650D at home, and I ran to the local store to test a 77D, 80D, and M5. All produced the same result. Still photos are unaffected.

Lightroom reports the correct capture date/time for both stills and videos.

I've been trying to figure out why this is happening and am coming up blank. I thought it might have to do with Canon's Time Zone feature, but changing that had no effect.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Is there any chance of a workaround?

[TCampbell]

I don't have a T4i but I just tested this with my 5D IV using both Adobe Lightroom and Apple Photos.

What I discovered is... my 5D IV is still set to the daylight saving time (whoops)... but both Lightroom and Photos agree on the capture time for both photos and videos.

I am also using High Sierra (10.13.3).  

It's surprising to me that you also had the same experience with several other cameras.

Can you describe exactlly what steps you do to perform the import?

For example... in my case, I took 

1 photo

1 video clip (about 6 seconds long)

I switched off the camera, inserted the memory card into my computer... and I made a copy of the files.

I imported one copy (one photo and one video) into Lightroom

I imported the other copy (one photo and one video) in Photos.

I opened both and inspected the date/time stamps (which is when I discovered my camera is still on DST because it's +1 hour) but otherwise both Lightroom and Photos are reporting the identical time.

Also, please check your Mac's "System Preferences" -> "Date & Time" -> "Time Zone" and verify that your mac is on the correct time zone.  Also verify time on your mac is correct.

Lastly... what time zone do you live in and have you set the correct time zone on your camera?

This is a bit of a head-scratcher because if it were simply a matter of camera or computer settings then you'd think BOTH photos and videos would have the wrong time... not just videos.  (it should be consistent).

This is why I wanted you to outline exactly what steps you used ... did you first import to one, then export... then re-import on the other (I didn't test that... I made a duplicate copy of the original files and imported one to Lightroom and the other to Photos).  I'm wondering if something the steps you performed has caused the time to change.

[optimisticcynic]

TCampbell,

Thank you for your response.

I snapped the test photos and videos in the camera, turned the camera off, and used Image Capture to pull them off the SD card before loading them into Adobe Lightroom (6.14) and macOS Photos (macOS 10.13.3).

I did some more research and, near as I can tell, it's something with the way that macOS Photos handles the difference between the local timezone and the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) timezone.

I live in Central Time, which is GMT-6:00. This exactly matches the discrepancy in capture time that Photos is reporting for my Canon T4i videos. This happens regardless of what timezone the camera is set for, as it's occurred when the camera is set for Central Time or for GMT, with the local time adjusted accordingly (i.e., setting the camera for GMT with my correct local time produces the same result as setting the camera for Central Time and my correct local time).

I've come across other people with other cameras (Canon, Nikon, Sony, and other brands) in Apple's support forums that have this problem with macOS Photos as well, but to a greater or lesser degree (i.e., some people report a 5-hour discrepancy, whereas others report a 2-hour or 8-hour discrepancy). This is likely because they live in different timezones relative to GMT. A friend of mine who lives in Eastern Time (GMT-5:00) has this same problem, but with a 5-hour discrepancy, for instance.

TL;DR macOS Photos is likely to blame and still in need of a LOT of work before it's truly ready for prime time.

[TCampbell]

You might try to do a direct copy off the SD card (insert the SD card into your mac).  That’s how I did it when I tested and I didn’t get the time zone shift.

I am using a different camera... but the same version of macOS.