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I have a canon 40D and am having an issue with the file name.
I plug the camera into the computer and downlond via the canon soft ware.
What is happening is that the file names should be IMG_1234, which about one third of them are, and then the rest come in as _MG1235.
The first letter is not an I but an underscore (_). It happens in batches of photos, 20 or 50 and does not appear to match anything such as camera on and off, changes of shotts etc. Really annoying when trying to piece together a chronological shoot.

Has anyone else had this problem?
Any idea what I or the camera is doing.

Is there a batch renaming program that can just change the front letter?

Thanks
waz

This is normal behaviour (including on Nikon cameras) and it indicates that you've selected the AdobeRGB colour space.

I strongly recommend that everyone uses a "batch renaming program" to rename files as their brought in from the camera(s). When you get to use multiple cameras it's possible (and in some cases likely) that they will produce files with the same name, when the camera wraps around from IMG_9999 to IMG_0001 that will screw up any "order", etc.
You can set your own standards, but the scheme I use is where the software extracts the date/time from the file and uses that such as:
YYYYMMDDhhmm_uniqueID.ext
You need something unique to separate photos taken in the same minute. I allocate a unique ID to each image (and insert that into the IPTC metadata) but the original filename will usually do. Some people use YYYYMMDDhhmm_origname.ext, which would give you something like 200711210954__MG_1235.CR2

The names are long, but they'll be sorted chronologically by default in browsers such as Finder, Windows Explorer, etc. Software such as Media Expression, Bridge, Lightroom, etc can sort things by "capture time" (from the EXIF) but it doesn't hurt to put this into the filename also.

Renaming functions are available in Lightroom, Bridge, Media Expression (nee iView MediaPro), etc. Breeze Systems' DownloaderPro (for Windows) does an excellent job at renaming files as they're being copied from memory cards.

This was also a problem identified in ROM versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 on the 40D - Sometimes the camera would skip a number.

Try updrading to 1.0.5 - there was a post yesterday about it.

Ok sounds easy, install update 105
step 1 get file
Step 2 copy to CF card -------DOH
Never been able to copy to the camera and can not copy to the CF card (Sandisk extreme III 8Gid). Message pops up and says "Disk is write protected"

How do I remove the write protection.
I have googled with no luck. Tried properties and "share folder", tried "share on net work" and "allow all network users to modify" etc.

Nope, still "write protected"

oohhh I love getting stuck on step 2 on page 1 of 5 pages of instructions.

Any help welcome!

waz

Do you have a card reader?

If not, get one.

I use the Canon printer PIXMA MP800 with CF card slot as my card reader
And that comes up locked as well.

Waz

That doesn't surprise me at all. It's probably a read-only device. Your camera may well be too, within this context.

A proper card reader will cost all of ... a few dollars.

Get a card reader. It's a very simple and inexpensive solution.

Hey Waz,

One of the first steps is to format the CF card in camera, not sure if you have done that or if the lack of a format will cause this protection?

Cheers

That Canon firmware update won't affect the symptoms you describe in your initial question.

As to why the card comes up as write protected in the CF reader in your printer, I'm not sure. But you should be copying the firmware to a freshly-formatted card: can you format it from the computer? (just as an experiment: generally you should let the camera format its own cards)

A cheap USB CF reader will cost you about $10. A good fast one (e.g. one of the SanDisk "ESP" models) may cost you up to about $30.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/eos40d/eos40d-firmware-e.html has instructions for people who don't have a card reader.

Just in case you were looking at a different site.