Short Script:
<?
$exif_data = read_exif_data("/path/to/IMAGE.JPG");
echo "Hello World!";
?>

my configure line (taken from phpinfo()):
(--enable-memory-limit patch enabled)

 './configure' '--prefix=/usr' 
'--with-config-file-path=/etc' '--disable-debug' 
'--enable-pic' '--enable-shared' 
'--enable-inline-optimization' 
'--with-apxs=/usr/sbin/apxs' '--with-exec-dir=/usr/bin' 
'--with-regex=system' '--with-gettext' '--with-gd' 
'--with-jpeg-dir=/usr' '--with-png' '--with-zlib' 
'--with-db2' '--with-db3' '--with-gdbm' 
'--enable-debugger' '--enable-magic-quotes' 
'--enable-safe-mode' '--enable-sockets' '--enable-sysvsem' 
'--enable-sysvshm' '--enable-track-vars' '--enable-ftp' 
'--enable-wddx' '--enable-exif' '--without-oracle' 
'--without-oci8' '--with-xml' '--enable-memory-limit'

I had the same problem without --enable-memory-limit
(and without the patch) 

Tell me, if you need any further information

-Marc