File numbers up to IMG_999999 ?

[DramaticIrony]

This might be a silly question, but does anyone else out there get annoyed at having lots of files with the same name, because file numbering is limited from IMG_0000 to IMG_9999?

Apologies if this is already available on some camera bodies, but could the 1DX number its files from IMG_000000 to IMG_999999? If there is a problem adding the extra numbers due to the length of the file name, then maybe the letters 'MG' could be left out (e.g. I_000001).

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[handsomerob]

Sadly, most modern cameras, if not all, use the stupid 4-digit numbering in filenames, which eventually becomes problematic as you noticed.

Best way to deal with this is renaming your photos as soon as you import them on your hard drive. Lightroom/Aperture and other software that lets you organize your photos offer batch renaming option. You could even create presets with different naming conventions. If you don't use such software, there are lots of open source batch renaming programs you can use (or do it manually one by one hehe).

You could keep it simple and add the date photo is taken to the name; 20111223_IMG_4960.jpg instead of IMG_4960.jpg for instance.

This will solve the problem, unless you shoot more than 10k photos in a single day

 

[JR]

Best way to deal with this is renaming your photos as soon as you import them on your hard drive.

Agreed! This is what I do. With Lightroom when you import your photos you can rename them so many different way that it will actually make your picture filling easier in the long run. Just a simple way to get around the 4 digit limitation.

 

[7enderbender]

This might be a silly question, but does anyone else out there get annoyed at having lots of files with the same name, because file numbering is limited from IMG_0000 to IMG_9999?

Apologies if this is already available on some camera bodies, but could the 1DX number its files from IMG_000000 to IMG_999999? If there is a problem adding the extra numbers due to the length of the file name, then maybe the letters 'MG' could be left out (e.g. I_000001).

Any thoughts or ideas?

There are different ways of getting there. I use the EOS utility program to manage that and make it a point to always use one PC to do the imports from the camera. All copying to backup drives and other locations happens right after that. So there is a reduced chance that I mess it up or end up with out-of sequence files or duplicates. Lightroom and other programs can do that for you as well but I don't use them for it.

In the EOS utility program you can go into "preferences" and then "file name" and set a naming convention. The camera already puts files towards a three-digit "folder", so you really have 100-999 with each having photos 0000-9999 in them. Then obviously the date makes things unique and in my workflow is the key identifier for everything and get stored also in dated folders.

My naming convention:

"<Shooting Day yy/mm/dd> | <Folder Number> | <Image Number>"

So I end up with:

2012_12_23_101_9998.CR2

Makes it easy to keep things unique in the long run and I can also find things more easily in the order it was shot. But there are multiple ways to set things up depending on your preferences.

 

[handsomerob]

Here is an interesting article if you want to know more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_rule_for_Camera_File_system

It seems that the first four chars are free to choose, that's why different camera makers use different names (Nikon uses DSC_ and Canon uses IMG_ etc). Next four chars have to be numeric, from 0001 to 9999 because each DCF directory can hold up to 9999 DCF objects (standalone files).

It actually makes sense to follow certain rules/protocols to assure compatibility. Especially if you consider the amount of different devices; cameras, computers, image viewers, etc. Good thing is that you are free to rename your photos once they are on your hard drive

A canon 1 series camera lets you set those first four characters, so I personalized mine. You do not have to use IMG_

 

[DramaticIrony]

Thanks everyone for the information and ideas!

 

[Edwin Herdman]

IMG_ is a relic of bad old days and design for the worst common denominator. In truth, I don't believe any of the major OSes used to interface with digital cameras ever needed IMG, especially if a file extension is appended (Apple computers read the metadata for assigning file type, I believe). It would be nice if they hadn't designed it that way in the first place, but I guess the idea was that users wouldn't be interested in a continuous file numbering system (i.e. as a way of tracking shutter count...which, as we know, isn't reliably tracked on cameras anyway) and you should use date stamps or renamed files for your filing system anyway.

 

[dr croubie]

I started my photography sorting when I was travelling, every time I went to a new country I started a new subdirectory in my Photos/ folder to sort them out nicely.
Problem is, with my old camera the filenames were Pxyy where x was month (Jan-Sep 1-9, Oct-Dec A-C), yy was day.
But when New Years rolled around, files starting P101xxxx would be placed in the folder before the last years' PC31xxxx, so I started a new directory again even if I was in the same country.

When I got the 7D, this format continued, but now as well as starting a new folder when changing countries, and changing years, I also start a new folder when I roll around from _9999 to _0000.

Maybe not the best solution, but it works for me...

 

[niccyboy]

I've not had the need for my Canons. But with my D3x's we have different prefixs for each camera... instead of DSC we have ASP, BSP, CSP... for the A, B and C body respectively, and the other two letters represent the client. This is because we often have each body shooting on the same day and with up to 2-4000 shots been taken we needed different prefixes.

I've never had the need to do this with a Canon, but if it cannot be done currently, it would be handy edition to the new comers to the pro line.

 

[Edwin Herdman]

Actually, that does sound useful...unfortunately, they didn't declare that user renaming of the prefix could be done through the camera or easily. I guess EOS Utility allows renaming but I'm not sure if it's possible for Rebels or which cameras exactly. Of course, an extra digit (99,999) would have been good.