What is the crowd's opinion of
Photo Mechanic?
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5 reviews of this app found across the web:
The expensive way of solving this is probably to use something other than Windows Explorer to browse, like Photo Mechanic. I have no experience using it to browse network shares, but you won't find a faster image browser anywhere (and it doesn't create thumbnail files). Their support is absolute world-class, give them a call or send them an email to see if PM is what you need.
Photo Mechanic is the dogs. But its industrial strength and fairly pricey. But, you know, tools for the job... https://home.camerabits.com/tour-photo-mechanic/
Photo Mechanic can be set to show any metadata including Title in the grid or what they call contact sheet view. I do know you can change the Filename there but never tried to change the Title.
But the Filename and Tile ought to be the same (although the Title will not have a suffix). There are tools in Lightroom to sync the Filename and Title (using a plugin which I'll dig out the name of if interested). DittoPhoto Mechanic.
Get notepads, lots of them. Having a phone is great to put notes into, but batteries die.
Get a neon green work vest - something that you can wear if you're on the scene of a fire or a night event. It's for safety and it'll make it look like you belong.
Find a good workhorse lens - 24-70 are great, 17-50 too 2.8 and lower for night time.
Have a "bug out" bag in the car or by the door - always put an extra film card, battery, dry socks, notebook and pen. If you take something out, replace it back right away.
Have a good pair of boots.
Learn to work with other photographers. We love to answer questions, just not while we're working.
Download PhotoMechanic
I understand Lightroom may be overkill for this specific use, but it has very strong organizational abilities. The catch is that you must keyword diligently.
If you're just cataloguing disks, I used iView Media Pro for years, but it's discontinued.
I'm not sure, but PhotoMechanic might catalog external drives?