LR File renaming question...

Question

I have two identical cameras and I use a file renaming system that uses the camera model - original file number. LR finds the camera model in the meta data.

Does the use of the second camera with the same preset create a problem when the file number has already been used by the first one?

What worries me is that it either won't import since the number would be duplicate or that it would overwrite the first camera's file. I don't care if it creates two files with the same name and number - when I search on the number I can see which one I want.

The solution I've been using is that I created a different preset for just the second camera but that requires remembering to change the import settings to match the camera and that is more likely to be a problem than the automatic system I'm used to...

thanks.

tom

dj_paige · Accepted Answer

What worries me is that it either won't import since the number would be duplicate or that it would overwrite the first camera's file. I don't care if it creates two files with the same name and number - when I search on the number I can see which one I want.

Lightroom will not overwrite your original images that have the same file name. (As long as you're not putting them in the exact same folder, I don't know what would happen in that case).

Lightroom is smart enough to know that to be a "true" duplicate, photos must have the same original name, same capture date and time, and same file size. NOTE: Camera make or camera model is not used, nor is it needed, to make the decision that file are not duplicates. When it encounters a file with the same file name that is not a "true" duplicate, it does the smart thing and imports it as a different photo than the first file with that name. It doesn't overwrite the first file with that file name.

So, really, there is no need to do all this renaming for Lightroom's benefit (but of course you can do the renaming if you still want to). I have three photos with the exact same original name, taken at three different times, in my Lightroom catalog, and I haven't renamed them. It's not a problem.

Just Shoot Me · Answer

Depending on the camera make and model most allow you to set a custom first section of the file name, XXX00000 and YYY0000. So when I've had either 2 camera of the same make, even if they are different models, I use that feature to name the image file accordingly so I can tell which shot came from which camera without look at the serial number recorded in the EXIF.

When I had 2 Leica M8's I had one name the files L1xxxxxx and the other L2xxxxxx. With that naming system I had 9 hundred 99 thousand 9 hundred 99 images, 999,999 before that 1 or 2 after the L changed (I don't think I will live that long or that the cameras would last that long). Now I have 2 Fuji cameras of different models, X-E2 and I just got a X-T2. So I use the feature built into the Fuji cameras to name the file XE200000 and XT200000. If I had 2 of the same model I would use a 1 and a another number after the model designation to separate them, XT210000 and probably something like XT250000.

This stops all the bull of renaming files on import and you can just RUN the cameras. I some times copy images to my drive before I import them using the "Add" option in the import dialog which doesn't allow you to rename them.

Even if your cameras don't have a file naming option in the camera there are ways around that. The Leica's didn't but there was a way to rename the starting part of a image on the computer and then when you loaded the card card back in the camera and took a shot it would pick up the changed name and continue on numbering them from that last rename image that was already on the card.

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