how do you geolocalize your photos with a D500

<p>Dear all,<br>

I wonder what's the best way to get the GPS coordinates on my photos.<br>

Snapbridge isn't yet available, and there are maybe other solutions. What's your advice ?<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Didier</p>

<p>I have been using Nikon's GP-1 and GP-1A for several years, and so far I am quite happy with their performance. Those two are identical units. The only difference is that by default, the GP-1A comes with a newer CA10A 10-pin cable that has a larger thumb screw that is more convenient to fasten onto the body.</p>

<p>However, Barry Clemmons has warned me a few times that the cable can get in the way sometimes. That was exactly what happened to me during the recent southern Africa trip. Eventually I damaged the cable between the GP-1 and the 10-pin connector.</p>

<p>I am investigating that perhaps something like DawnTech's GPS unit that plugs directly into the 10-pin connector without a cable is the better approach.</p>

<p>I am using Dawn Tech GPS, which is number 4 I have used and by far the best. I admid, I have never used Nikons own due to price. The Dawn Tech is fit to my D810 on a permanent basis, and only occasionally moved to my D700. The only "problem" I have had, is that the first abt. 10 photos I took one day all had the GPS position of the last photo taking the previous time I used it. I simply started to early e.i. before it got the new satellite connections. Now I switch the camera on in the morning before leaving my accomodation, as it does not use a lot of power.</p>

<p>It's not clear where you get the GPS coordinates from, GPS receiver, smartphone or other. Programs that add GPS data to photos are Geosetter (free), Lightroom, Robogo (paid). Personally I use a GPS receiver (Garmin Oregon) plus Lightroom, this works well. Previously, before LR supported GPS, I used Geosetter a few times, it works well too but the interface is/was less inuative than LR's. </p>

<p>As Shun pointed out above, I have had issues with the cable that comes with the GP-1(A) unit to the point that it would damage the connection at the 10-pin connector end. I was able to repair it using heat-shrink tubing, but there was still the issue of the cord getting in the way. Nikon (or a third party supplier) could solve the problem by offering a coiled connector or shorter straight cords. The problem is the current Nikon cord is about 10 inches long when all that is required is 3 inches or so. The DawnTech is a good solution (and cheaper), but be sure you allow ten days to two weeks for it to be delivered.</p>

<p>As we discussed earlier, the DawnTech GPS is an entire unit that plugs right onto the 10-pin connector (and they have another version for the D750/D610/D7200-style plugs, as those don't use the 10-pin; Nikon provides two separate cables for the two style connections). However, on their web site, they have a warning that some lenses such as the Tamron 24-70mm/f2.8 may interfere with that GPS unit.</p>

<p>Since I don't have that lens, I am not particularly concerned, but that is one issue to keep in mind.</p>

<p>I'll give the DawnTech a try. With the new D500, etc., I'll use the 10-pin connection frequently again. Not having the extra cable that can tangle up with things seems to be a big plus.</p>

<p>Incidentally, I prefer to have a GPS on the camera to record the location at the time of capture.</p>

You can also use a cheap bluetooth modem to

connect a GPS receiver to the camera. All the

camera does is look for NMEA data strings on its

serial data input (Rxd) pin. It doesn't matter if the

data comes directly from a GPS dongle, or via a modem.

 

Old bluetooth GPS receivers are fairly easy to come by and aren't much bigger than a hotshoe dongle.

 

I'm not sure about the usefulness of programs that add GPS co-ordinates to the EXIF data. Surely this is an extremely cumbersome and error prone process?

<p>Well, about adding GPS coordinates to the EXIF data, it's not cumbersome at all once you know how it works. It's handy when you already have the GPS running for recording a track during a hike etc. And it does not draw current from the camera battery although a GPS unit is power hungry by itself. Lots of reasons to choose a separate GPS unit or one that connects to the camera directly - get the one that you like. </p>

<p>I use what i already have. I shoot a picture with my phone import it to sam folder as DSLR pictures in lightroom lightroom has a map module i copy and paste the gps tags from the phone picture to the dslr images. very easy to do.</p>