DCIM
May 31

DCIM

Design rule for Camera File system: Did you ever wonder why the images directory on digital cameras is always named “DCIM.”  I sure did, so I finally looked it up today.

Design rule for Camera File system (DCF) is a JEITA specification (number CP-3461) which defines a file format and file system for digital cameras, including the directory structure, file naming method, character set, file format, and metadata format. It is currently the de facto industry standard for digital still cameras. The file format of DCF is based on the Exif 2.2 specification.

[…] The root directory in a digital camera contains a DCIM (Digital Camera Images) directory which contains possibly multiple subdirectories with names such as “123ABCDE”, which consist of a unique directory number (in the range 100…999) and five alphanumeric characters, which may be freely chosen and often refer to a camera maker.

by Deane   May 31, 2010 8:42 AM    |   Follow Gadgetopia on Twitter

Comments

by Joseph Scott,   May 31, 2010 11:34 AM  

Interesting, should have known there was a spec that hard coded "DCIM" in it :-)

by Bill Cava,   June 11, 2010 8:21 AM  

And there you go, the more you know.

by GPK,   July 12, 2010 1:43 PM  

Thanks, longtime question now resolved.

GPK

by GPK,   July 12, 2010 1:44 PM  

Thanks, longtime question now resolved.

GPK

by Roger Cozine II,   August 12, 2010 2:24 PM  

Great job. I had always wondered what DCIM stood for and why it was on everything from my smart phone, to my laptop and digital cameras! Keep up the good work!

by Rob Rutjes,   December 22, 2010 5:42 AM  

Today I learned this specification is also crucial to know if you want to copy photo's from your computer to a SD card which you would like to put on an iPad by means of a camera connection kit. First make a DCIM folder on your SD card Secondly use the file name specifications mentioned above: which contains possibly multiple subdirectories with names such as “123ABCDE”, which consist of a unique directory number (in the range 100…999) and five alphanumeric characters, which may be freely chosen and often refer to a camera maker.

by arif,   March 28, 2011 3:18 AM  

nothing show dcim

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