My original post on August 29 unintentionally and unexpectedly started a wide-ranging (15page), sometimes interesting, discussion. It was really meant only as an observation, nothing more.

That discussion confirms what we already knew, that most of us use BOTH mobile phones and dedicated, sophisticated cameras, generically described as “dslrs.” The choice often depends on a variety of factors, some of which are: “which is most readily available when the photo opportunity arises?”, “what is my target today?”, “is this a dedicated photo shoot?”, etc.

While obviously I am not arguing for or against the use of mobile phone cameras, I will say to those of you who dismiss a high quality mobile or cell phone camera as one only for “snapshots,” you should look at the results of the annual Mobile Photography Awards. Talk about “art” and “quality”! Also see Ken Rockwell’s extraordinarily positive review of the IPhone 12 Pro Max.

So, coming full circle and without trying to discover the EXIF data, which, IF ANY, of the four photos in my original post, do you believe were taken with an IPhone 12 Pro Max or with a Canon 80D with an EF 100-400mm f/4-5-6L IS II USM lens? For your convenience, I have attached the four photos again here.

After time for replies, I will post the answer if you are interested.

Pick a single main folder structure, like the Windows10 default "My Pictures". Inside the single main folder, use very simple structures after that, such as by-year 2021, 2020, 2019 and so forth. Under that, again a very simple structure:

20210830-Lincoln-Park Zoo
20210721-Chicago-Air-Show
20210715-Cubs-Game

Each new calendar date for images, just create the appropriate new folder and copy the original image files from the camera into that folder. Use an organizing software to manage all the 'descriptive' aspects of the images via 'keywords'. Use your organizing software to search your images, by the camera, or lens, or exposure, or shooting date, or all your keyword descriptions like Chicago, or Wrigley Field, or Cardinals, or Baseball, or Jane Doe, and so forth.

The structure above also allows you to clean-up and organize your existing inventory of images into the same overall and logical and simple structure.

Can we step back and understand the issue from the start?

1. Your posting history shows you were using LR in the past. What prompted the need to import 67,000+ images into LR?
2. You talk about JPG vs JPEG vs other file types. What are all the file types in this 67k?
3. The 'JPEG' extension tends to be on an Apple machine. Are you on Windows or Apple?
4. Can you screen print the 'invalid image' message?

Doing more changes, like renaming all your files, is probably going to exasperate your current problems. If the community is going to be able to help, we'd need to understand your actual current situation. We don't have the option of remoting into your machine to 'see' the situation.