Multiple Camera workflow - help

[Izzy]

I am getting ready to get a T1i from my mother as a gift. I would like to shoot it in conjunction with my XS which I like.

Presently I dump everything into one folder "2010 Catalog"
I use Lightroom 3.

Now I know that Light room will automatically append the file to "-2" However when I would look at them in the film strip view below they would be all screwed up in the matter of order.

I was thinking of making a separate folder for camera 1 and camera 2 and then import them as separate collections.

I wanted to ask those with multiple cameras how they go about optimizing their workflow for multiple cameras. Right now these cameras will be about 5,000 shots out of sync so they would be no issues for awhile if I had a new folder shooting them from where they presently are. Considering that I have 5,000 for 2 months of shooting this time frame would be short.

Any suggestions would be helpful

Keep Shooting

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by Izzy

I am getting ready to get a T1i from my mother as a gift. I would like to shoot it in conjunction with my XS which I like.

Presently I dump everything into one folder "2010 Catalog"
I use Lightroom 3.

Now I know that Light room will automatically append the file to "-2" However when I would look at them in the film strip view below they would be all screwed up in the matter of order.

I was thinking of making a separate folder for camera 1 and camera 2 and then import them as separate collections.

I wanted to ask those with multiple cameras how they go about optimizing their workflow for multiple cameras. Right now these cameras will be about 5,000 shots out of sync so they would be no issues for awhile if I had a new folder shooting them from where they presently are. Considering that I have 5,000 for 2 months of shooting this time frame would be short.

Any suggestions would be helpful

Keep Shooting

This may not be any help, but when I shoot I don't spray and pray (throwback from film I guess?), so I don't have that many images to begin with. I shoot with a D40 and a D70, and usually dump them in the same folder, unless it's for some special project. The order being out of sorts doesn't bother me so much, because 2/3 of my shots are deleted before I even get to the develop module anyway.

[IABoomer]

Sync the clocks on both cameras. Then, in Lightroom, you can order shots by time taken, which will keep them in chronological order regardless of what kind of goofy filenames the images end up with.

You could also use the metadata filters to pick just shots from the XS, or the T1i if you knew which camera took the shot you're looking for, or if you're doing something like color-correcting for a particular camera.

[Jim Bryant]

I use mainly three to four cameras depending on the type of assignment covered. I download them all in the same folder. I set the cameras shot counter on continuous frames, so that there is no duplications of numbering for each camera. Once the assignment is completed I edit in Photomechanics and rename the photos for the specific jobs, such as Chargers vs. Mariners and reset the sequence variables at 001. Not sure about lightroom as I don't use that program.

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by IABoomer

Sync the clocks on both cameras. Then, in Lightroom, you can order shots by time taken, which will keep them in chronological order regardless of what kind of goofy filenames the images end up with..

Do you know where those settings are? I am sort of new to Lightroom 3 and can't find the "arrange by" dialogue. I am guessing it is similar to LR2.

[IABoomer]

At the bottom of the library view, there's a "Sort" option with choices which include "capture time" and "added order", so if you added all the pictures from one camera first, then the other, you'd have them grouped by camera.

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by IABoomer

At the bottom of the library view, there's a "Sort" option with choices which include "capture time" and "added order", so if you added all the pictures from one camera first, then the other, you'd have them grouped by camera.

Thanks for your help, I finally found it - had to add it to the panel but all is good now. Thanks to everyone for contributing to my photo addiction

[ravncat]

I find setting the file names different is great too

for example, ti######### and xs######### so the first two or three letters of the file name prevent my numbers from overwriting eachother. I assume canon let's you do this


I put all images in the same folder

[sk66]

You can just filter the library/catalog by camera info (metadata)
Or, in grid view turn on view>show filter bar and then you can select by any number of options (camera, date, lens, etc etc...)

[rosserx]

Keywording in Lightroom is a great way to sort your files also. Start by configuring the way you want the import to work. The way I have mine (now everyone has their own way that's comfortable for them):

I always import directly from the SD card. But before I import I had setup a custom metadata preset with my name, copyright, contact info etc. Then after inserting the card into the reader, launch Lightroom. Lightroom automatically goes into import mode. I have it configured to A) import into the catalog on my main drive and B) make a second copy in a folder on an external drive. So in one click I have 2 copies of my images. But before I hit the Import button I choose from the Metadata dropdown window on the right the preset I created. And below that is a box for keywords. After the import you'll see a new sub-folder in the pallet on the left with the date the images were taken. Both cameras images will be in the same folder but here's what you can do...

In the keyword box write "XS" or "T1i" for whichever card you're importing. So when you are in the Library looking at the thumbnails, you can sort by keyword and bring up one camera's images at a time. Keywording is great for everything. Say you want to view all the weddings you ever shot or view all the shots that have cars in them, highlight the root folder and if you assigned keywords to your various imports, you can get to the images you're looking for instantly!