Filenames from two 20D bodies

Hi all,

I'm going on safari next month and have bought a second-hand 20D body to use as a backup. I'm now thinking I'll leave a wide angle lens on the backup body and use my main 20D with my 100-400. I currently use Breeze Systems Downloader Pro to download files with the %T option in the filename to differentiate between files taken on the original 20D, my old 350D and Pro1. I've been searching through other posts and come across the advise to synchronize the clocks, but is there anything I can set on the cameras (other than the owner field) to automatically differentiate between files shot on the two bodies?

Many thanks!

The online help file for Downloader Pro states the following:

Options 2 and 3 look like they could be the ones you want to look at.

This info was found here

Any particular reason you feel you need to tell them apart at a glance? If it's just to check things every so often (focus, etc) you can simply look in the EXIF for the body number. Or label your bodies 1 and 2 or something and just make a mental note of which had which lens attached and go by the focal length used (also in EXIF).

Thanks ::John::, option 3 looks like the answer.

@cdifoto - as my 350D and 20D have both passed 9999 I rename the files as e.g. 20D_YYMMDD_xxxx (where xxxx is the original file number) to ensure filenames would be unique. This format also makes it easy to sort photos in order when using two bodies on the same day. I just wanted to be able separate my files out with the same convention even with two 20D bodies.

Ahh makes sense. I just name mine when I import as YYYY-MM-DD-[Sequence] into folders for that day/shoot, named for the first day in the same format of YYYY-MM-DD.

So, for example, today's images would go into a folder called 2007-05-24 and would be named 2007-05-24-001, 2007-05-24-002, 2007-05-24-003, etc. In Lightroom the camera used is displayed at a glance, but I have a 1D and 1D II, not two 1D IIs or some such. Thus it's obvious which is which.

When I first went to multiple bodies I was intent on keeping them separate so that I knew what came from which body. Then I found it really didn't matter as I was never looking at it in that finite of detail.

I now shoot with 4 digital bodies and have developed my own little internal system that works quite well for me. I copy all of images from either my cards or my digital wallet onto my hard drive. I have a numbering system that is unique to each camera type. It looks something like:

nnnnn_event_ . The nnnnn is a sequential number that I keep track of the last used number so that I know where to start next. The event is just a short descriptive so that I know the jist of the subject matter.

I do my keywording and anything else that I need with respect to EXIF. I then copy the files to a 1TB drive that I have as well as one other external hard drive. I never copy anything until the file renaming has been completed and I also never start to process until this happens.

This may sound like alot but it really only takes a short while and it works great for me. If I need to know something about an image, like the specific body, I can always refer to the exif. I've reworked this system a few times to get it to the point where I am comfortable with it. I'm not saying that this is the end all be all but it works for me.

Don't get caught up in trying to capture all that information up front when you, in all likely hood, will very seldom need it and it is available to you in any event.