not sure if should be considered as an issue, but may cause some confusion (b142):

long r[][] = {{1, 0}};
  int type = TIFFTag.TIFF_RATIONAL;
  TIFFField f = new TIFFField(new TIFFTag("tag", 666, 1 << type), type, r.length, r);

  System.out.println(f.getValueAsString(0));
  System.out.println(f.getAsLong(0));
  System.out.println(f.getAsInt(0));

=> output:

  1/0
  9223372036854775807 //confusing!
  2147483647 // confusing!