diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 9fd5f77..76fe977 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -38,6 +38,10 @@ pub enum Error {
     Io(io::Error),
     /// Exif attribute information was not found.
     NotFound(&'static str),
+    /// The value of the field is blank.  Some fields have blank values
+    /// whose meanings are defined as "unknown".  Such a blank value
+    /// should be treated the same as the absence of the field.
+    BlankValue(&'static str),
 }
 
 impl From<io::Error> for Error {
@@ -52,6 +56,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for Error {
             Error::InvalidFormat(msg) => f.write_str(msg),
             Error::Io(ref err) => err.fmt(f),
             Error::NotFound(msg) => f.write_str(msg),
+            Error::BlankValue(msg) => f.write_str(msg),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -62,6 +67,7 @@ impl error::Error for Error {
             Error::InvalidFormat(msg) => msg,
             Error::Io(ref err) => err.description(),
             Error::NotFound(msg) => msg,
+            Error::BlankValue(msg) => msg,
         }
     }
 
@@ -70,6 +76,7 @@ impl error::Error for Error {
             Error::InvalidFormat(_) => None,
             Error::Io(ref err) => Some(err),
             Error::NotFound(_) => None,
+            Error::BlankValue(_) => None,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 6e542e4..16526f3 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ pub use jpeg::get_exif_attr as get_exif_attr_from_jpeg;
 pub use reader::Reader;
 pub use tag_priv::{Context, Tag};
 pub use tag_priv::constants as tag;
-pub use tiff::Field;
+pub use tiff::{DateTime, Field};
 pub use tiff::parse_exif;
 pub use value::Value;
 pub use value::{Rational, SRational};
diff --git a/src/tiff.rs b/src/tiff.rs
index f7cd11e..32c7292 100644
--- a/src/tiff.rs
+++ b/src/tiff.rs
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ use tag;
 use tag_priv::{Context, Tag};
 use value::Value;
 use value::get_type_info;
+use util::atou16;
 
 // TIFF header magic numbers [EXIF23 4.5.2].
 const TIFF_BE: u16 = 0x4d4d;
@@ -155,6 +156,40 @@ pub fn is_tiff(buf: &[u8]) -> bool {
     buf.starts_with(&TIFF_BE_SIG) || buf.starts_with(&TIFF_LE_SIG)
 }
 
+/// A struct used to parse a DateTime field.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct DateTime {
+    pub year: u16,
+    pub month: u8,
+    pub day: u8,
+    pub hour: u8,
+    pub minute: u8,
+    pub second: u8,
+}
+
+impl DateTime {
+    /// Parse an ASCII data of a DateTime field.  The range of a number
+    /// is not validated, so, for example, 13 may be returned as the month.
+    pub fn from_ascii(data: &[u8]) -> Result<DateTime, Error> {
+        if data == b"    :  :     :  :  " || data == b"                   " {
+            return Err(Error::BlankValue("DateTime is blank"));
+        } else if data.len() < 19 {
+            return Err(Error::InvalidFormat("DateTime too short"));
+        } else if !(data[4] == b':' && data[7] == b':' && data[10] == b' ' &&
+                    data[13] == b':' && data[16] == b':') {
+            return Err(Error::InvalidFormat("Invalid DateTime delimiter"));
+        }
+        Ok(DateTime {
+            year: try!(atou16(&data[0..4])),
+            month: try!(atou16(&data[5..7])) as u8,
+            day: try!(atou16(&data[8..10])) as u8,
+            hour: try!(atou16(&data[11..13])) as u8,
+            minute: try!(atou16(&data[14..16])) as u8,
+            second: try!(atou16(&data[17..19])) as u8,
+        })
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use error::Error;
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index a73b67e..f549c8a 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 
 use std::io;
 
+use error::Error;
+
 pub fn read8<R>(reader: &mut R) -> Result<u8, io::Error> where R: io::Read {
     let mut buf: [u8; 1] = unsafe { ::std::mem::uninitialized() };
     reader.read_exact(&mut buf).and(Ok(buf[0]))
@@ -37,6 +39,27 @@ pub fn read16<R>(reader: &mut R) -> Result<u16, io::Error> where R: io::Read {
     Ok(((buf[0] as u16) << 8) + buf[1] as u16)
 }
 
+// This function must not be called with more than 4 bytes.
+pub fn atou16(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<u16, Error> {
+    const ASCII_0: u8 = 0x30;
+    const ASCII_9: u8 = 0x39;
+
+    if cfg!(debug_assertions) && bytes.len() >= 5 {
+        panic!("atou16 accepts up to 4 bytes");
+    }
+    if bytes.len() == 0 {
+        return Err(Error::InvalidFormat("Not a number"));
+    }
+    let mut n = 0;
+    for &c in bytes {
+        if c < ASCII_0 || ASCII_9 < c {
+            return Err(Error::InvalidFormat("Not a number"));
+        }
+        n = n * 10 + (c - ASCII_0) as u16;
+    }
+    Ok(n)
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use std::io::Cursor;
@@ -71,4 +94,15 @@ mod tests {
         assert_ok!(reader.read_to_end(&mut buf), 1);
         assert_eq!(buf, [0x03]);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn atou16_misc() {
+        assert_ok!(atou16(b"0"), 0);
+        assert_ok!(atou16(b"0010"), 10);
+        assert_ok!(atou16(b"9999"), 9999);
+        assert_err_pat!(atou16(b""), Error::InvalidFormat(_));
+        assert_err_pat!(atou16(b"/"), Error::InvalidFormat(_));
+        assert_err_pat!(atou16(b":"), Error::InvalidFormat(_));
+        assert_err_pat!(atou16(b"-1"), Error::InvalidFormat(_));
+    }
 }