custom prefix for 20D filename???

[clemsonc]

Hi guys, I am new on this board.

I use two 20Ds for event photography. And I really hate to have the filename on the two cameras being the same (sometimes). Anyone knows any hacks to change the prefix "IMG_" to something else semi-permanently? I will be VERY interested to know a solution.

Basically, I am trying to eliminate steps in my workflow. Currently, I have to:
Remember which cards used in which camera.
Create "C1", "C2" folders
Copy all the images from C1-card1 to C1 folder, C2-card1 to C2, and so on.
Then add a prefix to all the images from folder C1 as "C1_" (ie: C1_IMG_7684.JPG)add a prefix to all the images from folder C2 as "C2_" (ie: C2_IMG_4334.JPG)
Then merge two folders. And rename again to {event}_0001.JPG.

If my 20Ds have custom prefix for the filenames, and stores all the files in one folder, then it will save me ton of time before I can edit them.

(Maybe I should let Picasa imports all the images from the cards first).

I will love hear how you guys do it.

Regards,
--Clemson

[CoolToolGuy]

Welcome to the forum. I hope you will find this a valuable place to visit.

I wanted to do the same thing, but it seems this is not available in the camera (yet). For now I copy to folders named with the camera they came from and the date of the copy. Hence, I have CFTD_2005_0712 (if it is copied today) for the 20D, CFDR_2005_0712 for the Digital Rebel, and CFG3_2005_0712 for the G3. Not very elegant, but it works for now. That does not help if I have two identical cards and can't tell which one came from which camera, though.

I have been told that Downloader Pro from Breeze systems can rename the individual images while downloading, so that may help, but you still need to know which camera the card came from.

My two cents - hope it helps.

Have Fun,

[gasrocks]

When I am downloading images from my card reader, I put them into a folder (on my desktop) called pix 2 renumber. I have a free pgm called Batch Rename. After deleting/erasing the bad images, I renumber the files before storing them.

[robertwgross]

I'm afraid that there isn't any good way of doing it within the camera.

However, once the file is on the computer, the RAW-to-TIF converter will allow custom prefixes to the file number, e.g. JulyParty2939_RT8.TIF.

That's about as simple as you get.

---Bob Gross---

[wolf]

The only way I know of to change the prefix in camera is to change the in camera color space. sRGB will result in a prefix of IMG_xxxxx and Abobe RGB will result in MG_xxxxxx

[ssim]

You're stuck with it the way it is in-camera right now.

I do very similar to what everyone else does. Copy each card to a dedicated folder and I use Breezebrowser for batch renaming. Then I amalgamate them into one folder. BB is quite handy for this with alot of wildcard options available to you.