# Help with image numbering 5d mark 3



## notoriouslightning (Jun 22, 2014)

Hi All,
I had a question and I was hoping you all may be able to help. Yesterday while shooting a wedding I had a weird thing happened with my image numbering. In the first few minutes of the wedding my image counter rolled over from 9999 to 0001. I continued to shoot to about 0365 or so, then switched memory cards. But this is where the weirdness starts. After switching memory card the counter started at 0001 again and I shot maybe another 400 images. My problem is that I now have roughly 350 images with the exact same name. 

I would like to mentioned that I have been doing this a while and never have I had this happen. I shoot with a 5d mark 3 set to continuous numbering. Before every wedding I format all of my cards, both cards are sandisc 16gb CF cards. I shoot all of my images in full raw and my editing in lightroom 5. 

Let me know if anyone has seen this before, or has any advice for a fix. I can just renumber the ones that are the same, but I would rather save the hassle if possible.
Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## dgatwood (Jun 22, 2014)

Unfortunately, Canon elected to name their files in a way that fits into the legacy 8+3 DOS naming convention (eight characters + a 3-character file extension). The initial IMG_ wastes four of them, leaving only four characters for the file number.

I have no idea why they still do this a good decade after the last person on Earth stopped caring about DOS. It really defeats the purpose of continuous numbering.


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## neuroanatomist (Jun 22, 2014)

dgatwood said:


> The initial IMG_ wastes four of them, leaving only four characters for the file number.



The 5DIII and 1-series bodies allow you to customize the prefix. Personally, I use my two initials, then an underscore, then a sequential number (0, 1, 2, etc.) that I manually change in the camera when the image count rolls over from 9999. When I exceed 100,000 pics, I'll replace the underscore with a number for a two-digit prefix.


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## notoriouslightning (Jun 22, 2014)

I guess the thing that is confusing me it that once I switched memory cards it started over to 0001 again from 360. Usually it would continue the number sequence. This has not happened before.


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## neuroanatomist (Jun 22, 2014)

notoriouslightning said:


> I guess the thing that is confusing me it that once I switched memory cards it started over to 0001 again from 360. Usually it would continue the number sequence. This has not happened before.



When it rolled over, did it create a new folder (101 vs. the default 100)? If so, and that folder wasn't on the new card, it would start renumbering from 0001 in the 100 folder.


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## notoriouslightning (Jun 22, 2014)

I think it may have created a new folder, that would explain it. Will have to wait till I get home from work to check. As for a way to fix the two sets of identical numbered pictures, any ideas? I think when exporting from Lightroom you can prompt it to rename the files? If so that would solve the problem and keep them in order.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 22, 2014)

dgatwood said:


> Unfortunately, Canon elected to name their files in a way that fits into the legacy 8+3 DOS naming convention (eight characters + a 3-character file extension). The initial IMG_ wastes four of them, leaving only four characters for the file number.
> 
> I have no idea why they still do this a good decade after the last person on Earth stopped caring about DOS. It really defeats the purpose of continuous numbering.


 
Its pretty simple, Canon follows the DSF standard that they and other camera manufacturers have agreed to use for file numbering.

I'm not defending it, but since you did not understand why they do this, here it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_rule_for_Camera_File_system

Its important to understand how a camera numbers and organizes files, by using lightroom or one of many other photo editing software packages to import files, you can rename them to avoid a issue, and the file name will be modified if there is a conflict. 

Those who choose to drag and drop might be at risk of overwriting, but I always get a warning message if this happens when copying to the same folder. Renaming files while importing is a best practice.

BTW, Now you also know why I think its a bad idea for manufacturers to create a standard for RAW. We'll still be using in 50 years, and no improvements will be possible.


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## neuroanatomist (Jun 22, 2014)

I have a free batch file renaming utility on my Mac. I'm sure there are several available for any OS.


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## notoriouslightning (Jun 22, 2014)

I'm running a mac as well, do you have the name of the program you are using? Thanks


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## neuroanatomist (Jun 22, 2014)

http://mrrsoftware.com/namechanger/


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## notoriouslightning (Jun 22, 2014)

neuroanatomist,
Thanks for the link. This is exactly what I need. It looks like second restart was due to double folders being created. Not sure how that happened? Either way thanks for the link, that program will do the fix and in sure I will find use for it again.
Thanks


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