Exposures count : Lc1

[zenonzinonos]

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Forgive me if this has been answered elsewhere (tried searching the forum, but no success); can someone please tell me how I can ascertain how many exposures have been made with my LC1? Thanks ZZ

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[ASpes]

Forgive me if this has been answered elsewhere (tried searching the forum, but no success); can someone please tell me how I can ascertain how many exposures have been made with my LC1? Thanks ZZ

 

Sorry, but as far as I know, for both the LC1 and the D/2, no info has ever been found or disclosed on how to get to the camera total pic number.

Your only option is to refer to the folder number that the camera is using (subtract 100 as that is the base and multiply the remainder by 1k + the actual pic count in the current one).

Of course this not a sure thing as it could have been reset both ways, but most users do not care or need to do that, so ...

 

Hope this helps.

[zenonzinonos]

Sorry, but as far as I know, for both the LC1 and the D/2, no info has ever been found or disclosed on how to get to the camera total pic number.

Your only option is to refer to the folder number that the camera is using (subtract 100 as that is the base and multiply the remainder by 1k + the actual pic count in the current one).

Of course this not a sure thing as it could have been reset both ways, but most users do not care or need to do that, so ...

 

Hope this helps.

 

Sounds very complicated but I'll give it a try - thanks!

[ASpes]

Sounds very complicated but I'll give it a try - thanks!

 

Actually it's rather simple ... once you got the hang of it.

 

There are two progressive numbering involved, one for the folder containing the picture files on your card, and a second one for the pictures inside it.

 

The folder name is a number that usually starts at 100 in a new camera, and the picture numbering in a folder goes from 1 to 999 (for the LC1 or D/2).

When the files get to 999, a new folder is created with a number increased by one [101,102, etc.]. The next file will be saved inside this new folder and the file number is reset to 1. This is repeated at each 999 iteration.

 

Now, the picture filenames are made by joining both the folder and the file number, so we can parse them easily.

As an example, if your *last* picture has a filename of P1040756.JPG, we can assume that your camera has shot 4.756 pictures.

 

In more detail:

P1040756.JPG

P=Panasonic (L=Leica)

104 is the folder name/number that the file was saved into

--> 104-100=4 --> in other words, a folder was filled 4 times in that camera

756 is the file number in that folder

--> total number is 4*1000+756=4.756

 

Just remember that if we reset the counter (there's a menu option for that), what we have is not the total number of pictures since new, but just the total number since last reset. Anyway, as most users do not do that, this could show the real number of actuations that a camera has done.

 

Hope this helps.

[mjh]

Just remember that if we reset the counter (there's a menu option for that), what we have is not the total number of pictures since new, but just the total number since last reset. Anyway, as most users do not do that, this could show the real number of actuations that a camera has done.

Also swapping cards between different cameras can mess up the counter.

[zenonzinonos]

Actually it's rather simple ... once you got the hang of it.

 

There are two progressive numbering involved, one for the folder containing the picture files on your card, and a second one for the pictures inside it.

 

The folder name is a number that usually starts at 100 in a new camera, and the picture numbering in a folder goes from 1 to 999 (for the LC1 or D/2).

When the files get to 999, a new folder is created with a number increased by one [101,102, etc.]. The next file will be saved inside this new folder and the file number is reset to 1. This is repeated at each 999 iteration.

 

Now, the picture filenames are made by joining both the folder and the file number, so we can parse them easily.

As an example, if your *last* picture has a filename of P1040756.JPG, we can assume that your camera has shot 4.756 pictures.

 

In more detail:

P1040756.JPG

P=Panasonic (L=Leica)

104 is the folder name/number that the file was saved into

--> 104-100=4 --> in other words, a folder was filled 4 times in that camera

756 is the file number in that folder

--> total number is 4*1000+756=4.756

 

Just remember that if we reset the counter (there's a menu option for that), what we have is not the total number of pictures since new, but just the total number since last reset. Anyway, as most users do not do that, this could show the real number of actuations that a camera has done.

 

Hope this helps.

 

OK, now I get it - thanks! However, why would changing cards make a difference to the count? Surely the actuations are kept in the camera's memory and shouldn't be effected by the card, especially as the card could be formatted repeatedly?

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OK, now I get it - thanks! However, why would changing cards make a difference to the count? Surely the actuations are kept in the camera's memory and shouldn't be effected by the card, especially as the card could be formatted repeatedly?

 

I think there might be problem if a card already contains pictures with filenames the camera was about to issue. In this case the camera presumably would skip the numbers which are already in use on the card.

[ASpes]

OK, now I get it - thanks! However, why would changing cards make a difference to the count? Surely the actuations are kept in the camera's memory and shouldn't be effected by the card, especially as the card could be formatted repeatedly?

 

That issue arises only when you happen to use more than one camera of the same type or that use the same folder structure/naming, and that's why in my first post I said "it can be reset both ways" ...

And that's also why I always format my cards after downloading them to my computer, so I do not have to remember which card goes into which camera... (the folder structure is cleared on format but is usually re-created just on first save)

 

The logic behind this is that when a camera saves a file, it tries not to have a filename numbering that clashes with any existing pictures, so if it finds on the card a picture file with a number *higher* than what it has in memory, it assumes it should go on from there and therefore aligns its numbering to it.

 

This behaviour can be quite useful in some situations.

For instance, I keep my cameras offset by a couple thousands numbers to avoid filename clashes when downloading, and then I rename all files to a single sequence specific to an event.

 

Another situation could arise when you have lost your numbering by error, an upgrade, repair, or whatever. If you reset the numbering in the menu and then insert a card with your last folder/picture, it aligns to it and goes on from there like nothing had happened.

 

All the best.

[mjh]

However, why would changing cards make a difference to the count? Surely the actuations are kept in the camera's memory and shouldn't be effected by the card, especially as the card could be formatted repeatedly?

The thing is that the number of actuations is not kept. What the camera does store is the file and folder number of the last image written to the card so it knows which number to give to the next image. When you insert a different card and the camera realizes that there is an image with a higher number on that card, it will increase its internal counter so as to make sure to create images with higher numbers than those already on the card. That is, the counter will jump, and it will never jump back by itself, even when you switch back to using your original card. This way some people managed to reach number 9.999.999, the highest image number there is, at which point the camera gets stuck.