Is exiftool Hard to Use?
The basics are easy. Getting a Takeout export right with it is not.
Reading a date is one short command. That part is genuinely easy, and worth knowing even if you use something else for the bulk work.
Writing thousands of files correctly is where it gets hard. You have to pair each photo with the right sidecar, decide which date wins when two disagree, and get it right first time, because there is no undo.
Takeout JSON Metadata Fixer makes those decisions and shows you the result before it writes. It runs on your own computer and is free for your first 500 photos.