I was replacing some images in my galleries with copies that had their EXIF information changed, and discovered that it seems like EXIF information as shown under "Photo information" is not updated.
Even if the file seems to be updated, the EXIF information displayed belongs to the old photo.
Can anyone confirm that this a known problem, or is it possibly me doing something wrong?
To make sure that I did indeed replace the photos, I changed both the image size and the file name, and this information is updated. Also, when i download the full size image file from Sumgmug back to my computer, the EXIf information of that copy is in fact the correct new EXIF data, it just does not show up under Photo Information.
Uploading the same photo as a new file will display correct EXIF.

I have searched the forum, but did not find this exact problem mentioned before.

we'll check this thanks.

Currently this is by design, we'll look into a possible change -there are factors our dev guys have to consider.

Thanks.

OK, thanks. At least now I know what I have to do. Some extra work for me, but not a major disaster. Just have to replace by deleting and adding a few hundred images again. The keywording will take some time, but luckily I do not have that many keywords, so I will manage.
I very much hope you consider changing this behaviour in the future, as it would be more logical and convenient in cases like this to have the EXIF update also.

I have run into this too. I have hope, because Smugmug gave us a great "replace file" function with conflict resolution in the Java uploader, we just need the same thing for metadata. For example, when replacing files, there should be choices for metadata such as the following:

Replace Smugmug metadata - All of the uploaded image's metadata replaces the metadata currently in Smugmug.

Preserve Smugmug metadata - None of the uploaded image's metadata replaces the metadata currently in Smugmug; the entries made in Smugmug will persist.

For bonus points: If "preserve image metadata" really worked right, Smugmug would also replace the actual metadata in the uploaded image with the metadata entered in Smugmug. The reason for this is so that if someone downloads the original from Smugmug, the image contains exactly what you entered on Smugmug and not the wrong old metadata. I don't think this is currently the case, but I haven't looked at it in a while. I think the original always keeps the original metadata it had no matter what you entered in Smugmug for it.

This may seem picky, but currently (correct me if I'm wrong) it seems like there's no way to correct metadata errors in an actual image file on Smugmug (not just the site) except to delete the image and upload a new one, losing whatever status the initial image had in galleries and metadata.

Having a nice metadata replacement feature means we can get all our keywording right on our local machines and correct mistakes by uploading replacement images files to Smugmug. If this is combined with the ability to download originals from Smugmug that contain corrected metadata, we can easily ensure that metadata is 100% consistent between our local machine, Smugmug, and downloaded images (that's the ultimate goal of this).

(For extra extra bonus points, we'd be able to use a metadata filter that controlled what metadata fields of terms appears on displayed images, including the previously requested ability to allow metadata on non-original sizes, for the often recommended purpose of copyright reinforcement. I know it's pie in the sky but why not mention it. )

colourbox,
Very well written, I am completely behind you on this one.
The main problem is that there is no way to correct metadata errors without without "wiping everything clean" by deleting the image and uploading again.

I'm glad I found this post - I wanted to create an archive for all my 'stuff' - galleries, photos, captions... I often upload pictures from iPhoto (v8.1.1) and add the captions in SmugMug. This is easier since I only upload a small portion of all my photos.

I tried downloading with RapidFetcher and Smuggrabber, but I don't seem to be getting the EXIF data (I really only care about the captions / comment field).

It sounds like if the EXIF data was added in SmugMug there isn't a way to export it?

Well, I guess the captions you add in Smugmug is not really EXIF data in that sense. What you are asking for is for Smugmug to apply the Smugmug caption etc. as EXIF to the file and that is quite a bit further up the ladder, and comes under "extra bonus points" as mentioned by colourbox.
Personally I would be happy if the original problem was fixed first. The other features would be nice to have, but not critical for me.