File Naming

[ccarlson]

On my Nikon d7000 I used the factory default file naming which was DSC 0001 through 9999. Now that I have topped that number of shots, it has started over at 0001 which is messing up my lightroom catalog system.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the letters DSC and/or can I just change those prefix letters to any letters I want? I see where to change them in the menu, just wondering what the significance is of the letters if any.

Thanks,

ccarlson

[Dbl]

I think you can rename your files in the d7000, you don't need to use DSC. Those three letters you can change to whatever you want. My cameras use four digits so I typically use the last digit of the current year followed by my initials. So this year my files are named 3DBL followed by the assigned camera sequence.

You may want to change yours to your initials with a number, something like this;

First 9999 images: 1CC_0001 through 1CC_9999

Second 9999 images: 2CC_0001 through 2CC_9999

Third 9999 images: 3CC_0001 through 3CC_9999

You just have to remember to reassign each time you hit 9999 on your file number.

That is part of my cataloging set up as well. I can easily glance at a file and see what year it was produced and for who. I usually put files into folders but I also add another four digit alphanumeric code after my camera assigned (after I assigned it). So I may have a file that looks like 3DBL_AGBV_1234. In this case it is 2013 shot by me for Armstrong Girls Basketball, varsity. You can do something similar using any code you want. Say SB04 which might mean spring birds April (04). I do use a separate program for renaming files so I can a large batch at once. I sometimes deal with 10,000+ shots in a weekend so I need something that keeps it all straight while hitting the file number sequence.

When I tried Lightroom that was one of the big limitations I hated about the program. It messed up my own system!

[ccarlson]

Thanks DBL. As usual, great information and very helpful. I wish I would have used your system from the beginning but better now than never.

Thanks again,

ccarlson