Flickr EXIF search URL builder

Build search URLs using Flickr's undocumented EXIF filter parameters. Confirmed working June 2026.

v1.0 — last updated 19 June 2026, 08:40 GMT

Scope to a specific user
This field accepts either a person's regular Flickr username (the one in their profile URL) or their Flickr NSID — both work here. Whatever you type is used exactly as entered, with no automatic reformatting. Leave blank to search all of Flickr.
A multi-word display name doesn't always become hyphenated in the actual username — "John Brown" might be john-brown, or it might be johnbrown with no separator at all, or something else entirely. If guessing doesn't work, check the person's profile page directly — the real username appears in the address bar after flickr.com/people/.
Exclude users
Useful when one or more people's mistagged or overtagged photos are cluttering your results. This one specifically requires Flickr NSIDs — a plain username does not work here. To find one, search "flickr nsid of username" in Google AI Mode, or view the page source of their profile and search for "nsid". Multiple users can be excluded at once by separating their NSIDs with a comma, e.g. 11111111@N01,22222222@N02. Leave blank to exclude no one.
Text and tag search
Text searches titles and descriptions. Tags searches tag fields only. Both can be used together.
If a tag has a hyphen in it, like alexandra-park, searching for it exactly that way won't find it. Type it with a space instead — alexandra park — or put it in quotes: "alexandra park". To search for that tag together with another word, put both in their own quotes: "alexandra park" "tree".
If you've just added, removed, or edited a tag, it can take several minutes for Flickr's search to catch up.
To scope results to one user's photos, enter their Flickr NSID or username in the field above. Without it, the search covers all of Flickr.
Geographic radius
Maximum radius is 32km, or just under 21 miles. Minimum tested working radius is 0.01km (about 10 metres).
This filter does not work combined with the "Scope to a specific user" field above — testing found that adding a username or NSID alongside geo search silently ignores the geo filter and falls back to showing that user's entire photostream. Leave the user field blank to use geo search.
To get coordinates: on Google Maps, right-click any spot — the decimal coordinates appear at the top of the menu and copy to your clipboard when clicked on. Alternatively, CalcMaps (built on OpenStreetMap) lets you find coordinates on a map and visually draw out the radius circle. Either way you'll get latitude and longitude together separated by a comma — paste that pair straight into the box above and it'll split into the two fields automatically.
Camera
Lowercase, make/model separated by slash, spaces as underscores: canon/eos_5d nikon/d800 sony/ilce-7m3
Only works if Flickr recorded a model string in the EXIF. If results look wrong, switch to tag/text method below.
Aperture
f-number
f-number
Shutter speed / exposure
seconds
seconds
Fractional shutter speeds work correctly — e.g. xel=0.001 for 1/1000s. Known display bug: the text shown above the results page may incorrectly round these to 0, but the filtering itself is accurate.
Focal length
mm
mm
Uses actual focal length as recorded in EXIF — not 35mm equivalent. Decimal values are supported (e.g. 25.64).
Results sometimes include photos slightly outside the range you set — a search for exactly 35mm might also return a few results around 33.5mm or 35.6mm. The filter appears to be approximate rather than a hard cutoff.
Image dimensions
px
px
Filters by the largest available image size for each photo. Both width and height must be supplied together — neither works alone, and neither works without selecting a mode above.
Results can include photos that no longer actually have an image available at the size that matched — for example if the uploader's account is no longer Pro, or for other unexplained Flickr reasons. The dimension filter reflects what was once true for that photo, not necessarily what's downloadable today.
Content type
Without this parameter, Flickr's search appears to include all content types by default (Photos, Screenshots, Illustration/Art, Virtual Photography, and Videos). Use this filter to narrow results down to only the types you tick — for example, ticking only Photos excludes screenshots and illustrations from your results.
Sort order & display
view_all=1 prevents Flickr splitting results across photos/people/groups tabs.
Generated URL
All confirmed working parameters
Parameter Meaning Unit Status
xalMin aperturef-numberworks
xahMax aperturef-numberworks
exif_min_apertureMin aperture (alt style)f-numberworks
exif_max_apertureMax aperture (alt style)f-numberworks
xelMin exposuresecondsworks
xehMax exposuresecondsworks
exif_min_exposureMin exposure (alt style)secondsworks
exif_max_exposureMax exposure (alt style)secondsworks
xflMin focal lengthmm (actual)works
xfhMax focal lengthmm (actual)works
exif_min_focallenMin focal length (alt style)mm (actual)works
exif_max_focallenMax focal length (alt style)mm (actual)works
cmCamera modelmake/model stringworks*
wScope to user (Flickr NSID only — a plain username does not work)e.g. 99999999@N00works
user_idScope to user — accepts either a plain username or NSIDe.g. someusername or 99999999@N00works
euiExclude one or more users' photos (comma-separated, NSID only)Flickr NSIDworks
lat + lonCenter point for a geographic radius searchdecimal degreesworks
radiusDistance from lat/lon to search within (requires lat/lon to be set)up to 32 (km), just under 21 (mi)works
radius_unitsUnit for radius — km or mi (defaults to km if omitted)km / miworks
textText searchstringworks
tagsTag searchstringworks
sortSort ordersee builderworks
view_all=1Single results view—works
dimension_search_modeImage size filter modemin / maxworks
width + heightImage size threshold (with dimension_search_mode)pixelsworks
content_typesContent type filtercomma-separated IDs, see belowworks
xil / xihISO range—not working
exif_min/max_isoISO range (alt style)—not working
xffFlash fired—not working
lens / exif_lensLens model—not working
* cm= requires the camera model to be present in the photo's EXIF. Many cameras do not have a model string recorded by Flickr — in that case use tags= or text= with the camera name instead. Focal length parameters use actual recorded focal length, not 35mm equivalent. width=/height= only take effect when dimension_search_mode= is also set — both width and height are required together, and standalone forms like min_width= have no effect. content_types= IDs: 0=Photos, 1=Screenshots, 2=Illustration/Art, 3=Virtual Photography, 4=Videos — testing found the default search (with no content_types= set) includes all of these, contradicting the Flickr Foundation's documentation. Use content_types= to narrow down to specific types.