Managing CF cards between mutiple cameras

Now that I got my 20D and reused the CF card I have been using with my 300D the filenumbering started with whatver was last used on that card.

I also know that to reset that I change the numbering to auto reset.

But how do I prevent my 300D to reset numbering next time I use a card in that camera?

Those of You that have mutiple cameras what do You do? Do You use seperate cards for each camera or use auto reset and then rename files when loading to pc or a something completely different?


Tough I don't expect this problem to be a long term problem because I will probably sell my 300D in a couple of weeks but would still like to know anyway.

I format the card when I insert it or the next time I turn it on. I have never had the numbers reset or change from the normal sequence.

I would not recommend swapping cards with images on them between cameras.

Have Fun,

From my understanding...CF cards should never be traded between different cameras.

I fromat every time, but swap between the 20D and 10D.

I wrote a Perl script that grabs images from my card reader and X-Drive II. It hunts through the dirs and dowloads the images to my RAW directory. Then, based on extension, it renames them. I rolled over my 10D, so they get renamed to CRW_1xxxx.*, and the 20D files get renamed to _MG_5xxxx.*

Honestly, I have a poor sort/storing/renaming workflow. But it works for me.

Scottes,

I just noticed that your 20D files are _MG_xxxx. When I first shot with my 20D the files were IMG_xxxx just like the 10D, but now they are missing the 'I'. Is that a quirk or intentional with the 20D? Should they be IMG?

You know, I thought it very odd that they were _MG_xxxx! Maybe because they're RAW? On the 10D JPGs are IMG_xxxx but RAW are CRW_xxxx.

I have no idea, but I will rename them to IMG_xxxx from now on. That makes more sense.

Scottes wrote:
You know, I thought it very odd that they were _MG_xxxx! Maybe because they're RAW? On the 10D JPGs are IMG_xxxx but RAW are CRW_xxxx.

I have no idea, but I will rename them to IMG_xxxx from now on. That makes more sense.

When the 1DmkII is set to Adobe RGB the file names are set to start with the underscore (_). Might be the same thing with the 20D, I bet (EXIF 2.21 standard).

I did set it to AdobeRGB. That must be it.

That is the answer for me too. My first pictures (with IMG) were shot straight out of the box. I then set my preferences, including Adobe RGB and now they are _MG.

If you haven't set the DR to reset numbering, it won't reset numbering.

For file management, I transfer the directories over to my HDD en masse, then rename those for my A80 to 1xxC_A80. The D60 directories stay left alone (for now). I then (command line) rename the files within each directory

(or _A80.JPG). The? keeps all file numbers intact, and the 1xx is from the folder number. For RAW, it's REN CRW_????.* 1xx-????_D60.*. This covers both the CRW and the THM files the D60 creates.

I tend to use separate media in the two cameras; what'll happen when I (inevitably) get that second DSLR, I'm not sure. But since I don't erase the media until I've transferred the files to at least one computer and burned them to CD (after renaming), I expect I'll reformat in the computer to zero things out, then if necessary, do an in-camera format.