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Archive 2017 · Canon File Numbering question....

  
 
krautland
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canon File Numbering question....


The captured images are assigned a sequential four-digit file number from 0001 to 9999 and saved in one folder. You can change how the file number is assigned.

Well, I would like to change from four-letter plus four digits to a three-letter and five digit filename format.
Anyone know if this is possible? I can't find any way in the manual, not even with the custom function.

Too many duplicate filenames already :-(



Mar 20, 2017 at 03:03 AM
rabbitmountain
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canon File Numbering question....


Cannot be done. Do you use Lightroom? Upon import, you can set a file rename scheme that will change say "IMG_0001" to "IMG10001", "IMG20001", "IMG30001" and so on once you reach _9999 on your camera.

Ralph

PS judging from your avatar it must be very cold in China



Mar 20, 2017 at 05:17 AM
krautland
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canon File Numbering question....


rabbitmountain wrote:
PS judging from your avatar it must be very cold in China


Yes, that was taken in -25C and snowstorm conditions. Going on top of the Mt Paekdu Volcano in February was not my smartest idea. Usually it's much nicer though.





Mar 20, 2017 at 07:37 AM
jcolwell
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canon File Numbering question....


I don't care about the file names used on the cards. When I get home, I copy all image files (usually RAW + small.fine.jpg) onto a desktop internal archive drive, with a separate directory for each card, with the folder name set to the date.string, e.g. foldername = "2017-03-20c", for the third archive folder I make today. Next, I copy all of the new folders to an external archive drive, which acts as a mirror of the internal drive.

I use IrfanView to flip through new archive folders, to identify keepers and copy them to my workspace on a different internal drive. I use Bridge CS6 to rename everything to the 'taken' date-timestamp; e.g. filename = "20170320-084517dz", where 'dz' is a random character-pair that's appended to each filename (by Bridge), that avoids duplicate filenames when you're shooting many frames per second. Before a shoot, I synch my camera clocks. Once all the keepers are in workspace, with date.timestamp filenames, everything falls into the right sequence, even when I was shooting with multiple cameras.



Mar 20, 2017 at 09:50 AM
rabbitmountain
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canon File Numbering question....


Sounds complicated Jim, but knowing you it must be a good way and probably is when you are used to doing it all the time.

I set the file name prefix in the camera ("5DS" for my 5DsR, "1DX" for 1Dx, "5D4" if I ever get one) and rely on file renumbering in Lightroom. This way I can never have duplicate filenames as long as I don't own more than one of each body type, which I always intend to do.

Ralph



Mar 20, 2017 at 10:02 AM
jcolwell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canon File Numbering question....


rabbitmountain wrote:
Sounds complicated Jim, but knowing you it must be a good way and probably is when you are used to doing it all the time.


It comes natural. Same process I've used for years for experimental and full scale trials to support R&D work. Everything gets a date-time stamp, and you'll never have trouble finding it (assuming you have something that can read old media).

I started doing this long before automated, image-library handling became commonplace, and I much prefer it. I hate having to use a program to access original data.



Mar 20, 2017 at 10:20 AM
garyvot
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canon File Numbering question....


I basically ignore the filenames created in camera. I always rename the files after downloading to PC. After images are downloaded, I sort by capture date and then use the Batch Rename feature in Adobe Bridge to rename all images to a standard format. I also apply basic metadata at this time, prior to any editing.

Since I regularly work with two bodies, the most important thing I can recommend is to sync the clocks of both cameras prior to an important shoot, so that you can easily rename files in capture order.

I used to use Breeze Downloader to rename images as they were "ingested" (you can also use Photo Mechanic or various other tools for this), but it was hard to completely avoid filename collisions when using multiple bodies.

These days I just drag and drop in Windows File and Explorer (and let Windows handle temporary file renames in the case of collisions) followed by renaming everything in Bridge.



Mar 20, 2017 at 11:47 AM
rabbitmountain
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canon File Numbering question....


jcolwell wrote:
It comes natural. Same process I've used for years for experimental and full scale trials to support R&D work. Everything gets a date-time stamp, and you'll never have trouble finding it (assuming you have something that can read old media).

I started doing this long before automated, image-library handling became commonplace, and I much prefer it. I hate having to use a program to access original data.


Almost forgot, I also use LR to create date stamped folders for each day of shooting (e.g. 20170320), and then manually adjust to 20170320a, 20170320b if there is more than 1 shoot per day (not common for me). Then I also type a small subject text behind the date, so a typical folder name could turn out as "20170320c - Wedding Lisa Jim". By doing so I can always access the files from bridge and quickly find them.
File names only get their camera model prefix, so it's easy for me to see that while processing.

My efforts are aimed at a balance of minimal amount of work, unique file names and maximum findability.



Mar 20, 2017 at 12:13 PM
rabbitmountain
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon File Numbering question....


garyvot wrote:
Since I regularly work with two bodies, the most important thing I can recommend is to sync the clocks of both cameras prior to an important shoot, so that you can easily rename files in capture order.


Very important indeed! I found I need to resync frequently as 1D bodies seem to be much more precise than 5D bodies.




Mar 20, 2017 at 12:17 PM
charlyw
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canon File Numbering question....


krautland wrote:
The captured images are assigned a sequential four-digit file number from 0001 to 9999 and saved in one folder. You can change how the file number is assigned.

Well, I would like to change from four-letter plus four digits to a three-letter and five digit filename format.
Anyone know if this is possible? I can't find any way in the manual, not even with the custom function.

Too many duplicate filenames already :-(


It can't be done because the file naming scheme is an industry standard that cameras must adhere to - including the _ as a replacement for the first character if you select AdobeRGB as color space...



Mar 20, 2017 at 03:21 PM
krautland
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canon File Numbering question....


charlyw wrote:
It can't be done because the file naming scheme is an industry standard that cameras must adhere to


Wow, I did not know that. That explains a lot.



Mar 20, 2017 at 10:10 PM
jrhoffman75
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Canon File Numbering question....


The 1D series bodies allow for changing the four alphanumerical. The first character becomes an underscore if you shoot Adobe RGB.

But one could set the file name to 1DX0 and track the first 9999 images; then change to 1DX1, 1DX2, etc. as shooting progresses.



Mar 20, 2017 at 11:36 PM
dwweiche
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Canon File Numbering question....


Dumb question, but to what do you sync your multiple cameras? Do you sync them to your PC's clock so they have a common reference?

This is done with EOS Utility or something similar?

I've never looked into this when I had multiple bodies, so I'm ignorant.



Mar 20, 2017 at 11:48 PM
Jeff
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Canon File Numbering question....


charlyw wrote:
It can't be done because the file naming scheme is an industry standard that cameras must adhere to

krautland wrote:
Wow, I did not know that. That explains a lot.


While that's sort of 'technically' true, it's not completely true in context of your question. Unlike most here, I often rely on the unique file name generated in-camera to be able to quickly search for an image, instead of looking for its location (this obviously requires that I know that number, which I usually do when a client needs an image).

As you probably know, you can change the file ID prefix to whatever you want, given the number of digits you have to work with. I use that to add another digit to the beginning of the file name, such that I can have 99,999 unique IDs for a given camera, rather than the paltry 9,999 given by default.

I do this by changing the standard "5DS_" to either "5DS0" or "5D_0", and then after the first 9999 shots, change the "0" to "1", giving you your extra order of magnitude, and so on. This, of course, requires that you change the user ID every 10000 shots, and I usually have to use Bridge to batch rename a few dozen images when it rolls over during a shoot.

It's not as hard as it sounds, it gives you unique file IDs for a relatively long period, and you sort of get used to looking for the changeover. Works well for me.



Mar 20, 2017 at 11:49 PM
garyvot
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Canon File Numbering question....


dwweiche wrote:
Dumb question, but to what do you sync your multiple cameras? Do you sync them to your PC's clock so they have a common reference?

This is done with EOS Utility or something similar?

I've never looked into this when I had multiple bodies, so I'm ignorant.


Yes, to your PC's clock (which of course can also be a laptop or even a small Windows tablet you carry on site if you like), which these days is synced to the Internet time service and accurate too. Macs can obviously work the same.

For Canon you just use EOS Utility for this; you can configure it so that it always syncs the PC time automatically when you plug in the camera.

Not sure about smartphone apps, since I am a Windows phone holdout, but there may be a feature to do this there also if your camera has WiFi.



Mar 22, 2017 at 01:48 PM
krementz
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Canon File Numbering question....


I don't rename my files. I download them in to directories by date, eg, 2017-03-18. I keep the 4 digit number with the file, even after naming, adding print size, etc.

Yes, there are a few collisions, but figuring out which "img_9876" is the one wanted is not difficult by eye. I don't think I have ever had more than a dozen collisions at a time, usually only one or two.



Mar 22, 2017 at 06:31 PM
schlotz
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Canon File Numbering question....


krementz wrote:
I don't rename my files. I download them in to directories by date, eg, 2017-03-18. I keep the 4 digit number with the file, even after naming, adding print size, etc.

Yes, there are a few collisions, but figuring out which "img_9876" is the one wanted is not difficult by eye. I don't think I have ever had more than a dozen collisions at a time, usually only one or two.


Rick here makes a good point. While I take it one step further in that I increment using 5 digit numbers, the few collisions I get really aren't much of a bother as they are quickly recognized during a search/view session.

Guess it could be more of an issue if shooting large amounts of photos per year i.e. north of 100,000 and maintaining a 4 digit file name.



Mar 23, 2017 at 07:14 AM
dwweiche
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Canon File Numbering question....


garyvot wrote:
Yes, to your PC's clock (which of course can also be a laptop or even a small Windows tablet you carry on site if you like), which these days is synced to the Internet time service and accurate too. Macs can obviously work the same.

For Canon you just use EOS Utility for this; you can configure it so that it always syncs the PC time automatically when you plug in the camera.

Not sure about smartphone apps, since I am a Windows phone holdout, but there may be a feature to do this there also if your camera has WiFi.


Thanks.

P.S. Window's Phone! So you're the one still using it... God Speed!




Mar 23, 2017 at 10:31 PM
garyvot
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Canon File Numbering question....


dwweiche wrote:
Thanks.

P.S. Window's Phone! So you're the one still using it... God Speed!


Haha! There are actually about 3 million of us left in the US (never the strongest market).

But at least now I know what it feels like to be part of the 1%.



Mar 24, 2017 at 04:36 PM
Alan321
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Canon File Numbering question....


The camera uses numbered folders as well as numbered file names. Usually, the first folder is 100. New folders are generated as required and the numbers increment by 1. Some software that can rename files, such as Downloader Pro (for Windows only), can automatically combine the folder number and the image number to form a larger number, as well as let you use all or part of other camera and image info to form a new filename. Mine look like "camera_yyyy-mm-dd-hhmmss_longimagenumber". If I look at the last file. There's a lot of info in it that can be seen with any software, but in Lr I have access to heaps of other data too.

Other software such as Lr can manipulate the image numbers but don't access the folder number or camera model, in which case I just use a slightly different numbering preset according to the combination of camera and folder. That works for me because it takes me ages to reach a new camera folder for each camera, but it certainly is not as convenient as Downloader Pro.

Be aware that some software can extract the trailing digits of a file name but not digits between other characters, so that if I add a comment to the file name then it cannot extract the image number. Lr is (or was) like that.

- Alan



Mar 26, 2017 at 05:04 AM





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