P: Wrong folder names organizing by date when using camera USB

Report · Jul 22, 2011

When importing from a camera connected to USB (at least for a Canon EOS 40D Firmware 1.1.1 in my case), lightroom generates wrong folder names when organizing folders by date, at least for the "2011/2011-07-22" format (I guess it's the same for the other formats).

I use Lightroom 3.4.1 on Windows XP 32 Bit SP 3 and my time zone is CET+DST (Paris, Berlin). I shot six photos an hour apart around midnight CET+DST from 21:30 on Thursday to 02:30 on friday (I changed the camera's time for that) and got the following folder/file structure using a USB connection to the camera:

2011\2011-07-21\20110721-213022-IMG_0314.CR2
2011\2011-07-22\20110721-223033-IMG_0315.CR2 <<< wrong folder
2011\2011-07-22\20110721-233041-IMG_0316.CR2 <<< wrong folder
2011\2011-07-22\20110722-003049-IMG_0317.CR2
2011\2011-07-22\20110722-013055-IMG_0318.CR2
2011\2011-07-22\20110722-023102-IMG_0319.CR2

Clearly, the two marked files are in the wrong folder. Note that the file naming itself (date and time) is absolutely correct!

When I import the same six photos using a card reader from the CF card, I get the correct structure:

2011\2011-07-21\20110721-213022-IMG_0314.CR2
2011\2011-07-21\20110721-223033-IMG_0315.CR2 <<< now correct folder
2011\2011-07-21\20110721-233041-IMG_0316.CR2 <<< now correct folder
2011\2011-07-22\20110722-003049-IMG_0317.CR2
2011\2011-07-22\20110722-013055-IMG_0318.CR2
2011\2011-07-22\20110722-023102-IMG_0319.CR2

This seems to be some "time zone / daylight savings time bug" affecting all photos made from two hours before midnight until just before midnight (my local time is UTC plus two hours) - but why only for camera USB and not for card reader? I didn't test it for a date that has no DST, but I would bet that it would affect photos from *one* hour before midnight, then.

P.S. The wrong folder structure also already shows in the folder preview in the import dialog. Here is the wrong structure using USB to camera:

Image is not available

...and the correct one using a card reader:

Image is not available

Report · Jun 30, 2013

It still fails with Lightroom 5 when in the ICT (UTC+7) time zone and pictures are taken in the evening.

Report · Oct 06, 2013

Well it's Oct. 2013, more than 2 years since this thread was posted (2011-07-21) and in my LR4.4 and LR5 above comment, this issue has still not been resolved.
Please don't tell me to add another step to my workflow, (Use a card reader), work out the issue and fix it.

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Report · Oct 06, 2013

I wondered why all these great photographers use Lightroom but never complain about this longstanding bug as they travel the world. Then I realized that it was a Windows only bug and they all use Macs..

Report · Jan 15, 2014

Is there going to be a fix released for this issue any time soon? It is unbelievable to think this issue has gone unresolved for over two years.

Report · Feb 23, 2014

Just counting....
Feb 2014...import files from separate USB connected hard drive. Date starts off okay using the {Import # (00001)>>}_{Date (YYYY)>>} custom field, but after a while the folders and pictures start being saved as 00013_2032-18.JPG with the last 2 digits increasing.
It's nonesense. I'm not really interested in the 'techy' side of this and other Lightroom problems. I just want to buy a product and find it works without interrupting my process flow.

Report · Mar 24, 2014

This really needs to be fixed in the next update.
As a software developer myself, I know the fix will be relatively simple. Also as this is a workflow/productivity issue, it should really be considered a high severity issue for a core workflow/productivity application like LR.

Adding an extra step to your workflow is really not an acceptable solution for a product advertised to simplify your workflow.

Everyone else, please bump this thread if this is also important for you.

Report · May 05, 2014

It's Lr 5.4 now, three years later and the bug persists... unbelievable!

Report · Aug 14, 2014

Anyone try this in LR 5.6? I ran into this while demoing LR and it has kept me from making a purchase.

Report · Sep 15, 2014

I'm a new user of LR v5.6.
I am auto-importing JPG images from a scanner. The scanned images are placed in a temp folder and LR auto-imports to a "Destination" folder using a file renaming template......
{Date (YYYMMDD)>>}_{Hour>>}{Minute>>}{Second>>}
And, of course the hour appears to be off by my timezone offset to UTC. Or something like that.
So, I don't see how the SDcard work around can help me out.
Also, waiting for the fix, I guess. Maybe only another year, or so. 8-)

Report · Sep 15, 2014

Just use the "Metadata > Edit Capture Time" feature using "Shift by fixed number of hours", (In some case you don't have to shift anything - you go in it shows the "right time" - you execute the commard).

The above will work on batches of photos preserving their date/times relative to each other.

Then go into "Library>Rename Photo" where you have similar options to "Import" for filenaming.

I'm not sure why the time of capture of the scan is particularly important or would cause concern (as long as scan times relative to each other are consistent). i can see why the original correct capture time of the photo is useful (as metadata)- but not the scan of the photo.

Report · Sep 15, 2014

Well, you are right that the time of capture is "not important". The point is that LR is not performing the operation , as intended. The end product that I need is a unique filename.
When I first tried to import a batch of scans, the hour-minute-seconds piece of the filename that was assigned by LR didn't make sense to me. I thought that I messed up the "filename template editor". So, I came to this forum looking for solutions. And I find that others have been experiencing this issue for a long time.
I understand it is a bug in Windows but not for the Mac.
Don't you think Adobe would want to make it right?

Report · Sep 17, 2014

I have been "watching" this bug for a while and I am pretty sure its not an easy fix and possibly not a LR bug. here are 3 examples.
1. If I import from and SD card I get different outcome to importing the same stuff from the camera through a USB interface. This suggests an operating system problem rather than an LR problem.
2. It only happens for windows not Macs - LR picks up data from fields populated by the OS - (same conclusion as for 1 above)
3. In LR I use a preset to rename images to a date/time format. Sometimes this is wrong. I go in to Edit capture time, change nothing in the dialog since I see the capture time shown is correct (but not the one used by the preset) then still execute the change capture time, then reuse the preset and the time is now right. So different bits of LR pickup different time stamps - I know there are squillions of timestamps to choose from in the metadata associated with a file and I suspect that in Windows these may not be defined as well as they should be - so programs comply with the not clear definitions but the outcome is confusing. So this last one gives me hope that even if LR is not the problem, it could maybe fix things up by working around a windows problem (as it does in getting the time for the edit capture time dialog) - however not sure if such a fix will introduce other problems - or will cause probelms downstream.

Report · May 04, 2015

More than anything, it's plain shameful to Adobe that 3(!!!) major releases of lightroom were released since this problem was reported and many more smaller releases and this bug hasn't been fixed. It's lightroom 6 now, people!

Seems like a relatively easy thing to fix as the problem has been already pinned down to certain circumstances.

I just can't get why isn't anyone dealing with this.

Report · May 06, 2015

"I just can't get why isn't anyone dealing with this."

This may have been rhetorical, but in case not, I'll answer it. We need to prioritize everything we do. Low impact bugs with easy workarounds get prioritized lower. It doesn't necessarily mean that it will never be fixed, but it does mean it's hard for it to get to the top of the list.

-Ben

Report · May 10, 2015

I never found an easy work around. I always had to manually do a lot of work every time I did an import to ensure that the correct folders were created and photos moved into them.

Perhaps you could be so kind as to outline the easy workarounds??

This ancient but still present bug no longer affects me. I did an expensive workaround and bought a Mac and bug does not exist in the Mac version. However I'm sure the Windows users would be grateful for any tidbit of help you can reveal to workaround this painful yet trivial to fix bug.

Report · May 11, 2015

Sure thing. The bug occurs only when importing directly from a connected camera. If you use a card reader, the bug will not occur. If you don't have a card reader, you can connect your camera directly, and first copy the photos from the camera to your hard drive in the OS, then import into Lightroom from the hard drive.

Report · May 20, 2015

Can someone explain how this isnt resolved... its a right royal pain in the butt!

EVERY TIME I IMPORT!

Report · May 20, 2015

Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those programmer "engineer" type dude or dudettes explain this?

Report · May 20, 2015

Immediately above your post are two posts from Benjamin Warde (Lightroom Engineer). The first explains why the problem has not yet been fixed, and the second explains the very simple workaround.

Report · May 20, 2015

The two workarounds would be fine if importing was something you did every few months. However a serious user may do importing four or five times a day, every day, and in this case the annoyance of using the workaround multiples many fold until you just want to scream.

In particular one workaround suggested was to remove the memory card from your camera and use a card reader. This is ok if done rarely but I would never suggest that one do this repeatedly. The memory card and card reader are physical devices and if stressed repeatedly they will fail. If the memory card reader in your camera fails or becomes intermittent you must throw the camera away...

The other work around where you copy the files via usb to the computer and then import from a folder takes a lot of monitoring by the photographer to make each step happen. Comparing that to just plugging the camera into the computer and clicking import you end up wasting a tremendous amount of your time waiting for copying to occur and you end up thinking poorly of Adobe.

As a programmer myself working on a long running project with many releases I understand the concept of reviewing bugs and choosing those to be fixed in the next release. You have someone at Adobe who is doing that job and I suggest you fire that person and hire someone who is a photographer and who uses the Windows platform. I guarantee that this bug will get fixed. The fact that it still exists after all this time is a tremendous embarrassment to Adobe.

Report · May 20, 2015

I take the opposite view. In my experience, importing via card reader (built-in or usb-attached) is both quicker and safer (and has the other advantage of being bug-free). If I'm asked for a recommendation, I'll always say use a card-reader, which is the method used by the majority of my photographer acquaintances.

I spend a great deal of time on various Lightroom forums, trying to help other users with their varied problems. And I can honestly say that the number of problems I've seen, which are directly attributable to importing via direct camera attachment, far outweigh the number of card-reader associated issues. Only today I was dealing with such a problem at the Adobe U2U site: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1849151

Not wishing to be argumentative, just wanted to offer a counter-view.

Report · May 20, 2015

Yes, save to desktop first or use a card reader?
I travel and whilst card readers are minimal sized, I will move heaven and earth to travel with one less apparatus in my burgeoning camera bag.
and saving to HD first...egad, it's a work around..yes it is

For me, maybe moving my camera date to Greenich (is that the problem?) would be the easiest...I cant think when ive checked a time on the camera?

Report · May 20, 2015

and all the while Adobe are silent...

Report · May 20, 2015

"and all the while Adobe are silent..." Actually, search the entire thread in your browser for comments from Benjamin Warde (employee). He's provided updates to this thread for the past several years, he's explained why Adobe hasn't prioritized a fix, and he's provided workarounds. (You need to expand some of the comments to see all of his replies.) You may obviously disagree with him, but it's unfair to say that Adobe has been silent.

Report · May 20, 2015

thanks John. Perhaps I should say ineffectual. I have used many different importing/file storage solutions over the years and none have had this flaw reading from a camera.
Reading other forums it seems this module is quite "unstable" and I would expect a company of Adobe's reputation to have dealt with it in the time frame of this thread!
I guess firstly I was quite happy to see it wasn't something I had inadvertently missed in camera setup and that this was a common problem expressed in this thread..however when I then read the date of the posting... and scrolled

Ill do one of the work rounds (like everybody else) but it really ought to be resolved

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P: Wrong folder names organizing by date when using camera USB