[Quicksand]

Yeah, this is an annoying problem. I have three 55mm manual lenses, and well after-the-fact it can be hard to distinguish among them.

It would be nice if the camera had an easy (and fast!) way to insert a small text note between image files. Or even a sound clip like my P&S can do.

What I often do -- which is workable, though it takes up a whole frame worth of space on my memory card -- is take a picture of my hand making a gesture that represents something I want to record. I'll use American Sign Language letters, for example to distinguish the 55mm lenses: "C" for my Cosina lens, "T" for my Takumar, and "N" for my Nikkor.

If I notice some dust on the sensor that I don't have the opportunity to clean up in the field, but I want to make sure I remember while post-processing, I'll photograph a "D" for dust. After I have a chance to blow off the sensor, I'll shoot an "O" for OK.

So that's weird, yes, but it works for me. It has the advantage that my hand is (almost?) always with me, whereas a notebook might not be. But it probably WOULDN'T work very well if I had multiple 500mm lenses to distinguish!

[jamarley]

These are all very clever solutions, folks. I might try using a short video with sound telling myself what lens I'm going to use next. That way I can continue my regimen of not leaving a lens unprotected before or after switching. Plus it would give me some practice in using video - in 7 months with the K-7 I think I've used it only 3 times.

I usually travel light so there's normally a huge difference in focal length after I switch lenses. I've been using Aperture since version 1 and it keeps getting better at identifying lens data. In fact, I can now see lens data on some of my older pictures, just by reprocessing the Master files, when it wasn't there previously!

Just out of curiosity, Qucksand, I'd like to know how you handle the fingerspelling when using a lens that has a minimum focus of more than an arm's length? I just used a yardstick and discovered my hand (with my arm fully extended) is only about a foot from the edge of my lens! I have plenty of lenses that need a minimum focus greater than that! Just askin'

[Quicksand]

Well, with manual lenses, the hand I'm photographing is the one that usually focuses -- so let's just say that those pictures are usually "less than sharp."

My three 55mm lenses don't have that minimum-focus-distance problem. I can see that it might not work for others!

[altopiet]

Thanks everybody for your tips, I'll give them a try and see which one works for me

[sajah]

I usually intentionally enter slightly different FL for different lenses, even if they're all 50mm. If I put 55mm I don't think it would do any harm. But sometimes I also forgot which lens I put 50mm and which one I put 55mm

If I'm using MF lenses with my NEX, since it doesn't asked for FL at start up, I usually cover the lens with my hand and take blank/black picture, to let me know I'm changing lens. But I guess photographing the actual lens or hand sign is better.

I also have problem with remembering the aperture used, and have no work around for this

But I read somewhere, someone actually make do by using a software to manually insert FL and aperture values directly into the EXIF of the raw files, one by one, before finally importing the files to Lightroom. Now that's a bit more work than I'd like