Why does my Canon EOS 20D create folders like 327CANON and 328CANON on the memory card?
Asked 11/4/2013
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My Canon EOS 20D saves images inside DCIM subfolders such as 327CANON and 328CANON rather than putting everything directly in DCIM. What is the purpose of these folders, and what causes the camera to create a new one? I shoot RAW+JPEG on CompactFlash.
Originally by user19032. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user19032
12y ago
2 Answers
3
Why are not all images simply in DCIM?
Slightly unhelpful answer: because that would violate the Design rule for Camera File System. Perhaps more helpfully, given that image files can have only 4 numbers in them (again due to the design rule), what would you expect to happen if you have more than 10000 images on one card - perhaps slightly unlikely for a 20D, but certainly feasible with today's cameras and card sizes.
Also, which event triggers the creation of these sub-folders?
According to the 20D manual (page 61), a new folder is created every 100 images. On more recent cameras, this tends to be a larger number (10000 on my T2i/550D); I suspect the lower limit on the 20D is due to problems that computers of the day would have had handling a folder with 10000 images in it (this is also another good reason why you wouldn't want every image directly in DCIM).
Originally by user11371. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11371
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
These folders are normal and are part of the standard camera file-system layout used by digital cameras. Images are not all stored directly in DCIM because cameras organize them into numbered subfolders.
On the EOS 20D, the camera creates a new folder automatically every 100 images. So when one folder reaches 100 files, the next shot goes into a new folder such as 328CANON, then 329CANON, and so on.
The image numbering continues across folders. For example, if the last file in one folder is IMG_0051, the first file in the next folder will be IMG_0052.
This folder structure also helps work within camera file-naming and file-system limits. Since image filenames use a limited numeric sequence, dividing files into folders avoids putting everything into one directory and keeps the card organized in a way computers and cameras expect.
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