Why SO many random DCIM Folders? I want ONE!

Just a quick note that I am able to successfully copy multiple files from an explorer search. Still doesn't resolve the issue of apple's file storage.

Also, if you empty a folder from within explorer, then reboot your phone, the empty folder gets deleted, at least on my iPhone 5, ios 8 I think (the latest firmware as of today).

TO those folks that seem to need to respond to this question with an answer other than "this is how you get back to 1 folder per month", I think it just frustrates people, maybe you could consider that before submitting multiple and seemingly antagonistic posts?

If someone asks how to make butter, telling them to go to the store because the store has 15 different kinds of butter isn't helpful. The person wants to know how to make butter.

I'm no PC or Mac lover, just a fellow individual that has to search for answers to things I consider a problem (whether it is a problem to you or not).

FOr those of you with this problem, don't feel alone. I suffer with it too and hope for a good answer.

A quick addition for those like me that are working around this problem using an Explorer search. When I pull pics off the phone (using either ctrl+x then ctrl+v, select drag shift drop, or any other copy paste method) (and I pull them off because there are only select pics I actually WANT on the phone), I find that I need to manually refresh the iPhone folder (F5) so I am not staring at the same pics I just removed.

Thanks!! the * suggestion was super helpful. I have an iPhone6 and my folders are additionally complicated because I imported photos/files from my old iPhone4S when I upgraded.

Still would love to know why Apple cannot simply generate folders that have some apparent logic to their naming.

tboake wrote:

Still would love to know why Apple cannot simply generate folders that have some apparent logic to their naming.

That has been answered many times in this thread. The folders are components of a database, and are not intended to be viewed using primitive tools such as Windows Explorer. The folder names are foreign keys to a database that you can't see with Windows explorer, and modifying anything in those folders corrupts the database index and can lead to loss of available storage.

@Lawrence

1-permissions are not such that would allow altering anything in those folders (other than deleting), so that's not a concern

2-apple implies at the very least that there is an intention to offer this interface for the PC, the poster was stating that they didn't understand why apple refuses to make it less cumbersome (and yes it is absolutely possible whether a name corresponds to database keys ar anything else).

3-windows explorer is probably the most used means of interacting with files of any sort on the market today, whether you feel it primitive or not.

@the iTunes sync pictures option

cleaning up in this manner works to a degree but pics added to the iPhone this way cannot be edited or deleted on the phone itself unless you first duplicate it.

That is not really very helpful. I happen to have a PC and an iPhone. Not uncommon. Everything else that I open with images has file folders that allow copying and pasting in a pretty sane and expected fashion. I shoot a lot of images. Last 9 day trip to Japan was 6,000 on my Nikon DSLR and 2,000 on my iPhone. This is also well beyond the storage in iCloud until I might return home and offload the originals.

I also have had Macs since I owned an Apple //e in 1984. Still also have Mac laptops and desktops. I have tried to use iPhoto and really detest how it works and stores images in ways that require a lot of effort to manipulate and sort.

There are many Apple products that have been intentionally designed to work with the iLife suite (to make cyber life easier on non tech people) that result in headaches for people who want to work without the requirement of a specifically designed App.

tboake wrote:

Last 9 day trip to Japan was 6,000 on my Nikon DSLR and 2,000 on my iPhone. This is also well beyond the storage in iCloud until I might return home and offload the originals.

8000 photos for a 9-day trip? If you view each one for one second, it will take you over two hours just to look at them. If you're going to enhance them in any way, it will take a week with no sleep! And that does not include sorting.

Amazing.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

tboake wrote:

Still would love to know why Apple cannot simply generate folders that have some apparent logic to their naming.

That has been answered many times in this thread. The folders are components of a database, and are not intended to be viewed using primitive tools such as Windows Explorer. The folder names are foreign keys to a database that you can't see with Windows explorer, and modifying anything in those folders corrupts the database index and can lead to loss of available storage.

File Explorer in Windows is not a "primitive tool" by any reasonable definition. It's still a very current, relevant part of the Windows OS, including Windows 10. It is also the most widely used method of file desktop file management in Windows, which is the single most widely used desktop OS on this planet.

Yes, there are many ways to get around this. But it shows a lack of faith in your own iCentric opinions that you label this method "primitive." It's far more accurate to call Windows and its File Explorer "the de facto standard" and Apple's iOS desktop "an aberration." Personally, I don't feel the need to label either one that way, because it dishonestly oversimplifies things and takes sides. What we should be doing is actually helping with the legitimate concerns voiced here.

Lawrence has provided some reasonable solutions. I have also provided solutions with instructions. Unfortunately, the "why" is elusive. Apple has their reasons for supporting Windows badly, but until they choose to reveal more, we are left with pure conjecture.

drume wrote:

File Explorer in Windows is not a "primitive tool" by any reasonable definition. It's still a very current, relevant part of the Windows OS, including Windows 10.

It is a "primitive tool" if it does not recognize the worldwide standard for DCIM folders and does not recognize the worldwide standard for XMP files (AKA .AAE files). The fact that there are dozens of tools that DO recognize these features of modern camera content storage proves that File Explorer is primitive. I haven't tried Windows 10 yet, but if it still doesn't recognize the most recent updates to image management used by many digital cameras (not just the iPhone), then Microsoft has dropped the ball yet again.

drume wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

You made the choice to use Explorer, this is the result, live with it or use something else. Not so difficult.

Fine. We bow to your superiority. Now shut up or be helpful.

Please be so kind as to read the mechanism for forum point awards and then compare Csound's point total with yours. Then, go away.

You guys are all acting like idiots. Pardon me. These forums are supposed to be helpful, not fighting forums.

My points status is not as high as yours, but I can say that EVEN Apple has a window that you use for opening a file folder to explore its contents. Not called Windows Explorer but I do think that it exists.... And it is a very normal way to open a DCIM folder from a card (from cameras) and see the contents. So when one encounters a DCIM folder, regardless of their points level in this forum, it might be an assumption that it could be possible to view the contents in some normal, organized fashion.

I also object to the term primitive. It is a BASIC tool. Quite different. Some function in operating systems that allows you to open folders and view files.

Anyone who owned an older version iPod also might have been used to plugging in these devices and using their storage capacity for files. And these opened in a rather normal way on whatever computer you hooked them up to.

And when the discussion gets to 18 pages due to stupid discussions of superiority of one system over another and comparison of points, most of us do not have the patience or time to look at all of the pages to see that "It has already been said". For you big points people, the search mechanism for these forums directs you to some random page in the middle of the discussion where your particular question phrase is mentioned.

Yup, it's called Finder, and it is useless with databases, just like Explorer. Unfortunately there exists a small subset of Windows users who only know how to use Explorer, so they use it for everything. Then they complain.

Philly_Phan
wrote:

8000 photos for a 9-day trip? If you view each one for one second, it will take you

over two hours just to look at them. If you're going to enhance them in any way,

it will take a week with no sleep! And that does not include sorting. Amazing.

I'm not sure why the number of photos a user takes is such a problem for you. If I had to guess, I'd say they included that information to emphasize the need for their tool of choice to work well.

Lawrence Finch
wrote:

It is a "primitive tool" if it does not recognize the worldwide standard for DCIM folders

But Windows Explorer does recognize DCIM. When I insert my SD Card from my Canon DSLR and navigate to it using Windows Explorer, I simply only need to open the DCIM folder, then the Canon folder, and all of the photos I've taken appear. They are sorted in a manner in which I set Windows Explorer to sort them. So it's false to say Windows Explorer does not recognize the DCIM standard. People who know more about it than I do have made a case that Apple can do it in a more organized fashion, you simply choose not to recognize that because you disagree.

Philly_Phan wrote:

Please be so kind as to read the mechanism for forum point awards and then compare Csound's

point total with yours. Then, go away.

"My points are bigger than your points." Apple forums elitism. That's funny. More points and higher levels do not make someone a better forum user. The people of this thread come here because they use Windows Explorer. Alternate tools, methods, and work-arounds have been suggested and will continue to be suggested. If anyone chooses to continue to use Windows Explorer and question why Apple won't make it more streamlines, well, that's their prerogative. If someone doesn't like it, then they don't have to keep coming back to this thread again and again just to harass everyone. It unfortunate when members who happen to have higher points/level stick up for, and even encourage, bad behavior by other users simply because they too have reached a certain status.

tboake wrote:

You guys are all acting like idiots. Pardon me. These forums are supposed to be helpful, not fighting forums.

My points status is not as high as yours,

You'd think that they'd get tired of coming back here and just leave us to our discussion, but unfortunately that's never the case. What's amazing is that they'll disappear for a while together and always return together. Like some sad, coordinated effort to flex their Apple forums muscle. One of them admittedly doesn't even use a Windows PC so doesn't deal with this particular issue, yet continues to come back here just to harass everyone. My question is, if they hate Windows Explorer so much, and can obviously see that the people of this thread are going to continue to use it and try to help one another do so, then why even come back here? More than likely my post will be deleted because that's how they choose to use their status level on here...by reporting anyone who dares talk out of line.

I think for those of us who also have digital SLR cameras, we are used to the DCIM folder contents behaving in a certain way. The file naming for Nikon is quite organized in folders that follow the Digital Camera IMages standard (having multiple letters and numbers), but use folders that are numbered in sequence. I understand Canon is similar. It makes them easy to navigate.

If Apple wants to use a different organization system, then it is just a surprising behaviour when opening a DCIM folder for people who are accustomed to a more rational naming system.

As I said, I take a lot of photos when I travel. I upgraded to the iPhone6 (from the 4S) specifically for the camera. Hence exceed the allowed 1,000 to iCloud on a trip. My worry (and hence my phone is getting very full) is to delete images as I am always concerned that I have not transferred them all. The chaotic storage system (and yes, I can solve this all by sticking with iPhoto, but for various reasons have a PC computer) makes me unsure of locations.

By the way, the use of the * in the Explorer search window as suggested on this thread was a perfect workaround. It dumped everything into a list by date taken so I could look through in a confident way without opening each of the many folders to check for the contents.

I have also had no luck getting iCloud for photos to work on my PC. But that is another thread to find.

Yes it is a lot! I document tall buildings for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. (www.skyscrapercenter.com) When I travel to distant places, I want to be sure to capture the complete building, from all angles. I seldom have the chance to revisit and need to be sure that I have some good shots. I was just in Vancouver, Seattle, Tokyo and Osaka and spent my time documenting over 200 buildings. Modern DSLR cameras make this easy to do as there is no wait time for the image to record on the high speed cards. The new iPhone is also very fast.

And yes it takes me weeks to sort through that many images, catalog them into their building names, and even figure out what I shot 🙂 But the 3D Google Earth view is helpful to figure out that.

The wonderful aspect of digital photography compared to the old days when I was documenting with slides is the negligible cost.

Well, personally I disagree with that solution. I'd prefer taking my time with each shot. However, my preferences are irrelevant.

Some time back I suggested a 2-step workaround that seems to have been lost in the discussion. Transfer all of the pics to iPhoto in one swell foop. Do NOT tinker around in iPhoto but, instead, export the entire group of pics to the folder of your choice. Yes, it is an extra step but the export requires only a mouse click and the pics are exported rather quickly.