Geotagging

[gaijin]

I've got a Nikon D90. I'd like to geotag my photos. I know that Nikon's GP-1 at about 240 euros allows you to do that. I know there are iPhone and Android apps that provide GPS logging functionality, and I know there are specialised GPS loggers.
My wife has an iPhone 4, while my phone is even less smart than me. I'm thinking of experimenting with an iPhone app but that doesn't seem optimal for me - I'd have to make sure my wife was beside every time I took a photo (no falling out, then) and I'd have to pinch her phone whenever she wasn't, so giving her an excuse to give me her phone and for her to buy a newer, better one.
I think an independent GPS logger is what would be good for me. Choosing one is difficult, though...
Anyone here who uses one of these? I'd be grateful for any advice, recommendations, warnings! Should I just hit my wife over the head one dark night and steal her iPhone?

[Manfred M]

Alan - have both the Nikon GP-1 and a Sony GPS3 (and a D90 as well).

While I prefer the GP-1; I cannot recommend either device for the D90.

The GP-1 integrates really well and I do use it on my D800. The issue with the D90 is that the data port (same place you connect a cable release) is too fragile. While it works well on my wife's D90 and my D800 (where I would recommend it); the camera's data port is too fragile and it simply stopped working. The D800 port is far more bullet proof and it works a lot better; so I do use it, but exclusively on the D800. Integration of the data into the image (jpeg) works fine and the ViewNX2 software does a really good job on integrating the GPS data and the image.

The external data logger (and that is all that it is) works well, but you have to remember to turn it off and on. Battery life is fairly short (I use a rechargeable battery) and it does what it says, but you have to remember to synch both devices to the same time, or you will get a mismatch between the data and the shot. Sony's software works okay but is not great. I bought the unit because I did not want to spend the money on fixing the camera (and waiting for the 6 week turnaround from Nikon).

I have a friend who uses a Holux product and reports similar issues as with the Sony (except that my Sony seems to be more robust and reliable than his unit).

[Designer]

I think the advantage of the GP-1 is that it will tag each photo in the EXIF automatically. I'm not sure how you would do that with a stand-alone device.

[Dave Humphries]

I think the advantage of the GP-1 is that it will tag each photo in the EXIF automatically. I'm not sure how you would do that with a stand-alone device.

Match the photo time (in EXIF) with GPS logger time, hence the need to have both synchronised (i.e. telling the same time) before you start.

I can see that remembering to turn it on and off could be an isshh...

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What was I saying?

Cheers,

[Manfred M]

I can see that remembering to turn it on and off could be an isshh...

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What was I saying?

Cheers,

Exactly right; forget to turn it on; no data.

Forget to turn it off and the battery runs down; again, no data.

[inkista]

... but you have to remember to synch both devices to the same time, or you will get a mismatch between the data and the shot....

Actually a lot of the software packages that write the EXIF geotags from the GPS log/track files also allow you to adjust the timestamps on the photos if you forgot to synch. On OSX, I use GPSPhotoLinker, and it has time shift capability. But remembering to turn the GPS on is still your own problem.

I have the super-old and annoying Sony GPS-CS1, which I really need to replace with something better that doesn't constantly lose signal in canyons and under tree cover...otoh, it runs for about 12 hours on a single AA.

[gaijin]

Many thanks to those who have replied so far (and any yet to do so). Special thanks to Manfred for his contribution (looks like I have an excuse at last for thinking about replacing my D90 !).

Turning on and off a GPS logger may indeed be a problem... If there's anything that can be forgot I'll forget it. Time synchronisation is, I think, less a problem, as Kathy Li points out.

I've come across an iPhone app called gps4cam which requires you to take a photo of a QRcode the app produces when you do an export, i.e. when you've finished a trip. The desktop application uses the QRcode to figure out which photo was taken where and apparently takes into account timezone changes (you don't change the timezone on the camera). It's an iPhone app however, and so of limited interest to me, but it may interest others. One problem with this approach, once the turning on and off has been mastered, is the time taken to process the photos on your desktop - I watched a video on TouTube for the aforementioned app http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VMqSfDbO-4w where the guy says it took 1 hour (I think) to process 1000 photos on the Mac. 1000 is a lot, or is it?!