File Naming Conventions (using multiple cameras)

[Englander]

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Jono Slack in his thread in the M8 section was asking about solutions for files having duplicate names because he was using two M8s. I also noted that in the Workflow thread only Andy Piper (as I remember) brought up renaming. So I thought I would share a simple procedure that seems to be overlooked.

 

I have never understood why camera manufacturers insist on worthless file names. Quick, can you tell me where was file L101055569 made and when? Yet every digital camera that I know about already embeds in its files' metadata the unique time an image was made and that IS useful information. Why files are not already named or nameable in-camera by time-date is a mystery to me. But it is a convention that solves a lot problems.

 

Under normal circumstances (and certainly with Leicas), no two files are going to be made at the same second by the same photographer. All the usual photo software that is made for importing files from cards or from other folders--PhotoMechanic, Aperture, Lightroom, Bridge, iView, etc-- have the ability to rename files by metadata time as they are transferred from cards or folders; most of these software even allow adjustment of time incase you forgot to properly set the camera's clock. But the best procedure is to make certain that all your cameras are set properly and time coordinated.

 

Renaming does not affect the ability of software to work with the original DNGs. Even finicky C1 continues to operate normally on files that have been renamed but not otherwise manipulated.

 

If you rename by year-month-day_hour-minute-second, eg 20070512_ 122105, you have a unique file name no matter what camera you used, no matter how many cameras you used, no matter if you used different brands of cameras, and all your files are easily sequenced by when they were made.

 

If you want more specificity, place-and-time is an even better strategy and allows easy grouping all your images from Greece no matter when they were made. Simply tell the software to change the worthless camera name to Greece_20070512_122105. All of the Greece images on your hard drive or in your file folder will be gathered together and sequenced and they will be properly segregated from your Turkish files.

 

Now without opening any software but using only your OS, you can find the photo you made in Greece last year and the one you made in Turkey this year. If you want to sort files later by which camera was used or even which lens (if they are coded), you can do a metadata sort. Software such as Lightroom (and Aperture?) keeps a running total of which lenses and which cameras you use, by the way.

 

If for some reason, probably legal, after you have given your files a useful name, you need to retrieve the camera's original unique and otherwise worthless file name, it is in the metadata as well.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Joe

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[spylaw4]

I use a freeware programme Exif Renamer which is called up by Image Capture. It is set to rename files just as you describe - YYYYMMDD - HHMM - #. As I have two different cameras I append D (for D2) or L (for L1) to the end. Simple!

[JonasYip]

I started naming my files with {date}_{time}_{camera_id} because I'm regularly sorting through files from 5-6 different digital cameras. Like the original poster said, it works great because files sorted alphabetically in any thumbnail browser or finder window (not just EXIF reading apps) are in correct chronological order. Just remember to synchronize the date/time settings across cameras. And always use two digits for months and days (20070104), else the alphabetical sorting won't be correct (1 for Jan ends up next to 12 for Dec, etc)....

 

I also add a camera identifier in the filename so that I can pick out files from any camera quickly if I need to without looking into the EXIF. I don't include the event or subject as part of the filename, but if there is an encompassing theme the files are stored in appropriately named folders ({date}-{subject}).

 

Of course you can do all this date/subject sorting in EXIF aware image management programs... but I like having the files themselves self-organized upfront.

 

j

 

Oh yeah, unfortunately I also have files from scanned film w/o correct EXIF. In this case I use just the date, and a sequential number instead of time. Still fits in there more-or-less...