I got the same problem for years and searched for a workaround and a behaviour to sort files (specially pictures) to look on different devices and keeping a unique archiving method.
I copied or moved entire folders for backup , etc ...
In the end, I could not rely on file date. I constantly have to pay attention to date modified or created.
Have a look to some explanations at microsoft solution center.
Description of NTFS date and time stamps for files and folders
A good solution would be to update date-modified and date-created in a batch process after copying or moving a whole bunch of files.
For example, you could do it with a php cli script.
About your problem, you have date-created and date-modified, access-date and date-taken.
All of it is the same the first time when you take a photo (jpg) in your camera.
Date is generally date-modified, may differ according to file type.
To manually tweak file dates, I recommand you StExBar - Explorer Timestamp eExtension or dirdate