EXIF is short for Exchangeable Image File Format. This EXIF data is able to capture all kinds of technical information from a camera and stores it in the photo file, whether it is compressed (TIFF, JPG, etc.) or raw (NEF, CR2, etc.). The technical data recorded by the EXIF includes the camera model, ISO settings, aperture, lighting, shutter speed and more.
There are several versions of EXIF available and it is constantly updated, depending on the information the EXIF is able to capture. What changes from EXIF Version to EXIF Version is, among others, the name of certain fields and the order they are displayed in. New or additional information are also often introduced in new EXIF Versions.
New cameras are usually updated with the newest EXIF Version. However, they may not be able to write the new data fields introduced in the version. Hence why a camera that supports EXIF Version 0230 may still produce photos with an EXIF Version of 0221 or other.
There are several ways in which the EXIF Version might be portrayed in the metadata of an image. Common formats are 0230 or 230 which all refer to EXIF Version 2.3. .