Looks like there is some Unicode in the exif tags.
Can you check it out?

As i can see from PhotoStudio's Markers Exif Info tab both camera make and camera model fields are ascii strings. Can i ask you where you got the unicode thing from?

See the output of exif_read_data(). It looks pretty much like a b0rked unicode.

That's what i get on output. No unicode data in there as far as i can see.

Array
(
    [FileName] => 16722_DKGY6J.jpg
    [FileDateTime] => 1155822608
    [FileSize] => 43699
    [FileType] => 2
    [MimeType] => image/jpeg
    [SectionsFound] => ANY_TAG, IFD0, EXIF
    [COMPUTED] => Array
        (
            [html] => width="600" height="450"
            [Height] => 450
            [Width] => 600
            [IsColor] => 1
            [ByteOrderMotorola] => 0
            [ApertureFNumber] => f/74099368.0
            [FocusDistance] => 0.77m
            [UserComment] => Y
        )

    [ImageDescription] => IF
    [Make] => 
    [Model] => GE Z6 v1.00
    [XResolution] => 1128877647/1229791297
    [YResolution] => 1414287182/1229201473
    [ResolutionUnit] => 2
    [Software] => GITAL CAMERA
    [DateTime] => 
    [WhitePoint] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1162297677/3562016
            [1] => 808464896/925907510
        )

    [PrimaryChromaticities] => Array
        (
            [0] => 540095034/825898801
            [1] => 875838008/0
            [2] => 1111490560/15
            [3] => 1111490560/15
            [4] => 1111490560/15
            [5] => 1111490560/15
        )

    [YCbCrCoefficients] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1111490560/15
            [1] => 1111490560/15
            [2] => 1111490560/15
        )

    [YCbCrPositioning] => 1
    [ReferenceBlackWhite] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1111490560/15
            [1] => 1111490560/15
            [2] => 1111490560/15
            [3] => 1111490560/15
            [4] => 1111490560/15
            [5] => 1111490560/15
        )

    [Exif_IFD_Pointer] => 468
    [ExposureTime] => 1111490560/15
    [FNumber] => 1111490560/15
    [ExposureProgram] => 8
    [ISOSpeedRatings] => Array
        (
            [0] => 50
            [1] => 50
        )

    [ExifVersion] => 0220
    [DateTimeOriginal] => 
    [DateTimeDigitized] => 
    [CompressedBitsPerPixel] => 942750263/3421242
    [ShutterSpeedValue] => 808464896/925907510
    [ApertureValue] => 540095034/825898801
    [BrightnessValue] => 875838008/0
    [ExposureBiasValue] => 1111490560/15
    [MaxApertureValue] => 1111490560/15
    [SubjectDistance] => 1111490560/1449132047
    [MeteringMode] => 5
    [LightSource] => 0
    [Flash] => 88
    [FocalLength] => 1111490668/15
    [UserComment] => Y
    [FlashPixVersion] => 0010
    [ColorSpace] => 1
    [ExifImageWidth] => 2816
    [ExifImageLength] => 2112
    [FocalPlaneXResolution] => 1111490560/-960495601
    [FocalPlaneYResolution] => 1111490605/15
    [FocalPlaneResolutionUnit] => 0
    [ExposureIndex] => 1111490560/1747910671
    [SensingMethod] => 0
    [FileSource] => 0
    [SceneType] => 0
)

According to exiftags the image contains a number of corrupt 
exif properties, which subsequently cause some tags to be 
mis-handled.

exiftags: field count mismatch (DateTime)
exiftags: field count mismatch (DateTimeOriginal)
exiftags: field count mismatch (DateTimeDigitized)
exiftags: field type mismatch (ShutterSpeedValue)
exiftags: field type mismatch (BrightnessValue)
exiftags: field type mismatch (ExposureBiasValue)
exiftags: field type mismatch (FileSource)
exiftags: field type mismatch (SceneType)