SL2/SL2S file naming...why can you only change the first letter?

[Stuart Richardson]

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I was just curious if anyone knew if there was any reason for this seemingly arbitrary restriction? I just added an SL2S and I was hoping to change the file naming to SL2S*****. I have had many Leica cameras over the years, so I often run into the problem of an L**** file name being exactly the same. I was happy to see that with the M10 monochrome I could make it M10M. It leaves me thinking why can't I do this with the SL2 and SL2S? Any ideas?

[Photoworks]

no idea, but not a problem if you do proper file management and rename files on import.

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[Stuart Richardson]

5 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

no idea, but not a problem if you do proper file management and rename files on import.

Thank you for the help. I don't.

Anyone else?

[Ken Abrahams]

1 hour ago, Stuart Richardson said:

I was just curious if anyone knew if there was any reason for this seemingly arbitrary restriction? I just added an SL2S and I was hoping to change the file naming to SL2S*****. I have had many Leica cameras over the years, so I often run into the problem of an L**** file name being exactly the same. I was happy to see that with the M10 monochrome I could make it M10M. It leaves me thinking why can't I do this with the SL2 and SL2S? Any ideas?

Hi Stuart, I don’t like messing with the file numbers and the easiest way to achieve that is at the importing stage in Lightroom. I don’t do it however. It can get messy so I have different camera folders which sub files are imported into. Files are uploaded to either SL 1 or SL2 2 or SL2s ~ 11 or M10M 16 and file continuum number etc. each session uploaded has a name which corresponds to the outing with dates 
 

Edited March 9 by Ken Abrahams

[Stuart Richardson]

It is generally not an issue for me, as I sort the images through dates and it is easy to search via metadata, but the reason I would prefer the file naming to be distinct is because if I have to do a search in the OS, finding duplicate files with the same numbering can be tedious. I also tend not to rename files when I export them for web etc. I already have around 100,000 files in my lightroom catalog, so renaming them is not practical. I am just curious if there is an actual reason why Leica has made it difficult to do it in camera, which is for me at least, the easiest and most practical way to do it.

[Photoworks]

I think we have all a different system, L and ### to me do not mean anything.
If I send a gallery to a client L### does not mean anything, and working with the same people over years, they may get the same numbers again if you do a firmware update and the camera resets.

I would not go back and rename all the images you already have, but you could rename them from now on on import.

You could even keep your original name/number and add to it.

I never understood the Lightroom option to rename on export, If a client comes back to me and one image is retouched and I want to reprocess it the search becomes difficult.

[Stuart Richardson]

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Yes, I agree with not having the same system. I organize via collections and dates, not filenames, but having default camera based file names makes it a bit easier for me to keep them separated and not have duplicates for every different Leica camera I buy. Part of this is because I am also an artist, so I don't necessarily know at the time what pictures will be part of which project or exhibition, and often institutions, publications and grants all require specific file names (generally first and last name plus the project title etc, which makes it difficult to search by filename). Because of this, the ability to rename on export is crucial, particularly if I am submitting the same project to several different grants all of which have their own naming requirements.

When I am doing work for a particular client, I will organize it in a collection set with their name for all their work, and subsequent collection sets or collections for the work. This is also because most of my clients submit files to me too, and it is counter productive to rename their files on import, as they often refer to them in their instructions. For example, they might give me a list of file names along with print sizes or notes.

In any case, given that we all have our own requirements, I wish Leica were a bit more flexible about this, especially since they already allow it in their other cameras.

Edited March 9 by Stuart Richardson

[Photoworks]

yes sure they could do that, most cameras use a very simple OS.

But my suggestion was to rename on import to what is convenient to you, If you have L00001 you can also do SL300001.

Don't have to wait a years for leica to come around 

[algrove]

I ALWAYS change the first letter on my SL2S cameras so that I can later tell which camera I was using. S for the first one and T for the second. Q for the Q3 and like you get specific on my M11 bodies.

In the past I had so many L files that it became totally unworkable for me after 10-15 cameras all with L. In addition all my RAW folders I now create a new folder for each camera used on a shoot for a specific location. Sometimes I have 6 cameras with me-Q, M11-A, M11-B, M11M, SL2S-A, SL2S-B. Now I have the SL3 and I use Z file naming for something totally different.

Edited March 21 by algrove