recommendations for adding GPS to Nikon D8xx models

Had an Aokatec AK-G1s receiver for my D800e. It worked well, but as the reviews noted when it came out in 2012?, it was prone to detach itself from the 10-pin connector. I found it the first three times it fell off; I didn't the fourth time. Are there any better units now available? I found the Solmetma GeoTagger 3 and the Dawn Eco ProFessional2 on the web, but it isn't clear they are any better, and they are noticeably more $. The Nikon unit, from what I've read, is way overpriced and eats batteries. Thanks.

There's this and similar devices.

 

Having a hotshoe mounted device works well for me.

 

My solution was to DIY build a bluetooth modem with connection to the 10 pin socket. I already had a few bluetooth connected GPS modules lying around, so for me it was a cheap solution.

 

I later found that Garmin and other sat-nav devices use a common small GPS module providing serial data that can be easily interfaced to the Nikon 10 pin connector. The tricky part is finding a cable with serial connections to a Nikon 10 pin plug.

 

Anyhow. That's pretty much by-the-by. Point is that a hotshoe mounted and cable-connected GPS 'dongle' is a lot easier to fit and harder to lose.

You might want to check out gps4cam for your iphone/android. It's a GPS tracker for your smart phone. There is an app that sits on your mac/pc that then geoencodes your photos when you are done.There is no attachment to the camera so it pretty much works with everything.

 

I discovered it after my camera got stolen with my gps hardware attached.

 

I've used it on both the iPhone and Android. The iPhone suffers from 'jobs bs rules' and the app stops running when it is not in the foreground. Not the apps fault, that's an apple design flaw. It works perfectly in every way on the android.

Edited November 24, 2017 by peterbcarter

I have today the gps from info@dawntech.hk, and it is functioning very well. There is a strong string attached to the unit, which you attach to the spring ring on the camera house, but I have not experience, that it detach itself from the 10-pin socket. I have had 3 different brands in the past, but this one is far better, based on 2 years/30k photos experience.

I see that most of the dongles that attach directly to the 10 pin socket have the locking threaded collar that would prevent accidental loss. However, most of the designs make it awkward, if not impossible, to get access to the collar to turn it with your fingers.

 

Perhaps a design that has a pass-through socket could be 'permanently' screwed to the camera with the aid of long-nosed pliers?

I have today the gps from info@dawntech.hk, and it is functioning very well. There is a strong string attached to the unit, which you attach to the spring ring on the camera house, but I have not experience, that it detach itself from the 10-pin socket. I have had 3 different brands in the past, but this one is far better, based on 2 years/30k photos experience.

For years I have been using Nikon's own GP-1 and GP-1a, which are identical units but the connection cable is a bit different. They work well for me, but the 10-pin connection to the high-end Nikon SLRs is a pain to use, as there is little room to screw that on.

 

Last year I bought two Dawn Tech GPS from Hong Kong. I bought one first; after determining that it worked well, I bought a second one. But again, screwing something onto the 10-pin connection is a pain. If you don't screw it on tight, the GPS can fall off. Eventually I lost one of them last week in some park. I have an idea when that happened because at some point my images suddenly don't have the CPS tag any more.

 

Dawn Tech has a new model now, and I may buy another one, but it is important to screw it on tight and tighten it again once in a while.

I see that most of the dongles that attach directly to the 10 pin socket have the locking threaded collar that would prevent accidental loss. However, most of the designs make it awkward, if not impossible, to get access to the collar to turn it with your fingers.

 

Perhaps a design that has a pass-through socket could be 'permanently' screwed to the camera with the aid of long-nosed pliers?

The model I have is with a pass-though socket and it is screwed in "permanently" with the help of a long-nosed plier, which I have lost 4 of, as I always have one in my bag, and going through security check in the local airport, the loved to confiscate it -:) I have asked Dawn Tech to make the collar identical to the one on Nikon MC-20 remote control, which is slight longer, and even I can screw it in with my fat fingers. :) I have the ECO PROFESSIONAL 2 (WITH DIGITAL COMPASS) unit

Edited November 24, 2017 by erik_christensen|3

Thanks Erik for the info on Dawntech. My pro 2 DC unit will arrive in a few days. I read the manual but it's not clear to me what the benefit is of the digital compass. Any idea? How does it show up in EXIF data? Thanks, Kevin

Thanks Erik for the info on Dawntech. My pro 2 DC unit will arrive in a few days. I read the manual but it's not clear to me what the benefit is of the digital compass. Any idea? How does it show up in EXIF data? Thanks, Kevin

Some likes the electronic compass, but I admit it is there and not important for me. You are standing on the top of the mountain, and then you can see in the EXIF, that your lens was aimed at 347° and then you know the name of the village 4 km out in the horizon on tour photo! As said not important for my use. The Dawn Tech units I have, has a string connected, which you fit to the strap-ring, but to screw it into the 10-pin socket is a nightmare, if you do not have piano-fingers, and I do not have. I also keep my GPS on, so you have to remember to turn the camera same way, when putting into your photo bag not to damage the connection.

 

A couple of months ago I have a problem, that it was not functioning at all, when I was in Lung Cu, Vietnam, which is a couple of kilometer from the border to China. The GPS started lightening constant red, which meant it was constantly switch on, and I had no idea what to do for the rest of my photo tour. I sent a email from my phone to Dawn Tech HKG and a couple of hours later I had a reply. The reason for the malfunction, however, is still not known, but I am positive, it has something to do with the big army placements on both sides of the border! Only “problem” I have had – service is better than excellent from Cecilia Cheng.

A bit late to the party, but just to say: be a bit careful with the 10-pin connector on the D800. Mine survived, but reports are that the connector isn't very well supported inside the camera, and is prone to breaking; the D810 chassis fixes this (along with the issue with the frame cracking when dropped). Making sure the connector is screwed in tight is fair enough (and if you really want it to stay there, there's always loctite), I'd just be wary of putting too much force through it. I did have the rubber connector cover break on one of my D8x0 cameras (I forget which, but not under much force). I've no idea why Nikon couldn't find a less obstructed place to put it. At least the D850 no longer buries the flash mode button behind the PC socket if you've got something attached there - though they did have to overload the "-" button to do it.

Thanks for the reply Erik and Andrew.

Erik, did your GPS start working again as you intended when you were away from the border region? Or was it constantly on and providing a fix? Did it stop providing a fix? When it is red, as per the manual, it means it's always on. Not a surprise really if you see what is going on up there re China.

 

I do generally take very good care of my camera gear and it seems there will be lots of room in the area of the bag where it sits so as to not touch anything else. I too will likely leave it on the camera once installed. If it's as sensitive as promised then it really will pick up signals most anywhere.

 

I just yesterday returned from a month in Chiang Mai, taking lots of pictures and touring around a bit. I wish I had the GPS unit before this trip ... oh well, it'll do its job next Oct/Nov on my Nepal trip and in the mean time around Vancouver.

 

Thanks Andrew for the mounting concerns; it's going on the D850. I rarely use a remote (and use the Bluetooth option now if needed) so likely not much else will go into that socket.

As a point of curiosity - why do you want a GPS on your camera? I had one for a retirement job I held for half a dozen years. The intent was to be able to exactly duplicate a previous photo after work had been done, and the job site improved. I found it to be nearly useless for that purpose. Printing a thumbnail sheet of the earlier photos was far more effective. I am sure there are other reasons, just curious since it is a piece of gear I'll probably never have. I do have an advanced hand held GPS which I do use on occasion.

Why do I want/need GPS data for my photos? I like to document locations, after the fact if necessary, and connect photos with geography, geology and history.

 

I made whirlwind trips to two places with my brother I'd never been before, Iceland (2017) and Ireland (2018). The purpose was to take photos, lots and lots of photos. We stopped every half mile or so, any time something of interest appeared. Many landmarks have no signs, and the exact location of even named places aren't always obvious. Many times even locals don't know what things are called. To them, it's just there, nothing special. On a cloudy day, it's hard to even know which direction you're heading. I fond it difficult to consult my Baedecker in the car, zooming down narrow roads, between hedges, at 100 km/hr, even as a passenger.

 

The A9 and A7Rii can couple with an iPhone by Bluetooth, and record GPS coordinates with each image. However the pairing is easily disrupted, and must be renewed if either the camera or phone goes into an idle state. Another possiblity is to use a log file from a hand-held GPS unit. Sync is based on the time of day (carrier controlled)., which must match the GPS time (which is satellite controlled), knowing the offset from GMT time.

 

Adobe Lightroom can be used to read the GPS log file, and update the metadata of each image to include the GPS coordinates. Once done, the change is saved with the image.

 

Another alternative is to snap an establishment photo at the same time, using a smart phone. My iPhone, for example, will record the GPS coordinates and the name of the nearest town and county. That worked in both Iceland and Ireland.

Edited December 8, 2018 by Ed_Ingold

Another alternative is to snap an establishment photo at the same time, using a smart phone. My iPhone, for example, will record the GPS coordinates and the name of the nearest town and county. That worked in both Iceland and Ireland.

 

As Ed mentions iPhones, and other smart phones as well, record the GPS coordinates when a photo it taken:

1. Take photos with your camera.
   
2. Take one photo with your smart phone from the same location.
   
3. Import camera and smart phone photos into Lightroom.
   
4. Click on the right arrow next to the GPS coordinates in the metadata of the smart phone picture and the map will open showing the location the photo was taken.
   
5. With the map displayed select camera photos from the same location that are displayed along the bottom edge of Lightroom.
   
6. Drag and drop them onto the location marker on the map. The camera photos will now have the location in their metadata.
   

Perhaps not the ideal solution, nor something you would want to do every time but it might have a limited application.

Kevin Beretta - you press directly on the red light, and it switch off, and it is finding the satellite signal immediately, and you are back to normal again. so only very close to the Chinese border, and it is not a place, that I come that often.

Why use a GPS? simple because I cannot alway remember exactly where the photos are taken especially if I have been on a longer trip around Vietnam. Before the GPS time I took a photo of the village/city name signs and the signs of the street name. For whatever reason all city name signs have disappeared, and the same street names can be found in all villages/cities. I apply it both to LR and Flickr.

For something like Hadrian's Wall, with similar structures strung out across the full width of England, trying to remember which mile castle is which is virtually impossible. Downloading the pix and seeing a map-plot of 'spots' on Google maps is pretty handy!

I tried synching with Snapbridge (useless), synching with my Garmin 60csx (works, heavier to carry, many more steps, GPS data only in xmp not in RAW file). Dawntech is dedicated, set and forget. Wish I did it a long time ago.

FedEx brought presents early today.... :-) I'm amazed how well this is designed. I am in a 17th story building (of 21) and it got a fix just sitting on my desk in under a minute. Smaller than I expected. Not hard to mount either.

And of course, the day my GPS unit arrives, Lightroom no longer supports maps. In a fully paid version no less. A holes... Version 6.1 is the last one I will own then I'll look for something else.

 

Map is no longer supported in this version of Lightroom

Boy am I ever glad Adobe discontinued support for maps in Lightroom. I started looking around for a better option and found a German product called GeoSetter (Description - GeoSetter) what a great tool for exactly this process. This will even update XMP files with lat/lon if you drag the photo to the right spot etc. Loads of options; I am just touching the surface but this is way better than what I've seen before. Freeware to boot but they accept donations.

Kevin Beretta - I had a problem with my PC, so I upgraded win8 to win10 and the shop in one way or the other managed to delete my LR not all other software. I had my downloaded copy and then my map module did function. Google googe and found out that they had deleted that function. If you find a workable 3rd party app then please advise us - we are many looking for it.

kevin beretta - sorry I commented before I read your latest comments about Geosetter

kevin beretta - sorry I commented before I read your latest comments about Geosetter

Not a problem. Have been working with Geosetter for the last few hours. It is far superior than any other option I'd ever heard about. I love it.

Geosetter will actually write the lat/lon into the raw files as well if you want!

I went for a bit of a walkabout. Blame the jet-lag :-)

I used ViewNX to look at the location data and it's quite accurate, although someone earlier mentioned the lat/lon was cut off in LR. It's all there, LR just truncates it a bit.

 

Latitude: N 49d 17m 48.80s

Longitude: W 123d 7m 56.41s

Altitude: 2.00m

Altitude Reference: Sea level

Heading: 151.50 (M)

Map Datum: WGS84