[lotech]

Hi there,

This is an old school problem but I still struggling to make it work. I want to GPS tag my photos but the K3 doesn't have build in GPS, and it seems silly to buy one specially made for it and it is not cheap. I used to have an external tagger with SD slot, the way it works is to align time with camera and then write back the GPS data correct to the nearest minute to the SD after shoot, it worked but the unit has short battery life and not reliable and failed shortly. I also tried the phone tagger apps but it is quite trouble to use, I still want an external tagger wonder if there is any in the market, and I don't know if there is a common standard on GPS tagging, so that the location can be retrieved via photo gallery apps like those shoot with phone camera.

[RGlasel]

if there is a common standard on GPS tagging

There is, the GPS Exchange Format or .gpx files. You will need either a phone app or a separate GPS device that can save your track and waypoints, along with the time when you were at the coordinates saved, to a .gpx file. But you still need another app (or a lot of patience to manually enter coordinates in the EXIF data for each photo) to match the time you took the picture to the coordinates in the gpx file. Lightroom has that built-in, but as far as I know, online services like Flickr require GPS coordinates to be in the file before you upload it.

[lotech]

There is, the GPS Exchange Format or .gpx files. You will need either a phone app or a separate GPS device that can save your track and waypoints, along with the time when you were at the coordinates saved, to a .gpx file. But you still need another app (or a lot of patience to manually enter coordinates in the EXIF data for each photo) to match the time you took the picture to the coordinates in the gpx file. Lightroom has that built-in, but as far as I know, online services like Flickr require GPS coordinates to be in the file before you upload it.

So how did you guys do with modern GPS camera, does the GPS data automatically added to the Exif without extra work ? what about the K1 and the GPS add on for older model..etc. ?

[joergens.mi]

The K1 adds the coordinates and direction automatically. The K3 adds it automatically if the GPS Unit is mounted and switched on. External gps coordiantes can be added with the exif tools.

[RGlasel]

with modern GPS camera, does the GPS data automatically added to the Exif without extra work ?

In a word, yes. The camera transfers the information from the built-in GPS to the EXIF portion of the image file.

what about the K1 and the GPS add on for older model..etc. ?

The built-in GPS in the K-3II and K-1 models provide more information than the add-on Astrotracer model (I don't have one of them, but I believe they add the direction and tilt of the camera as well as latitude and longitude), but in all cases the GPS coordinates are added to the image file without the user having to do anything (other than make the right settings in the camera's setup menu).

[Kevin B123]

The K-3ii & K-1 also add altitude above sea level.

I would say, if you want this data save yourself a lot of time and buy the GPS unit.

[Lowell Goudge]

I deal with this completely outside the camera. I use a garmin gps when travelling, the batteries last all day if you are not using it to autoroute, that causes the display to light up and alarms to go off etc, every time you approach a waypoint, the gos is programmed to record the track log every 5 seconds. The GPX exchange files are easily downloaded to a pc when I get home.

I use a freeware program called geosetter to match the camera time to the gaps tracks and after I confirm the location of one or two shots, I let the program work away on the rest. I simply walk away and do something else as it writes the gps data to the files and creates backups of the unmodified files.

This works fine on jpeg, not sure about raw. I never tried.

I find it much better to do this than to wait for the gps to acquire signals. The program also allows for interpolation between data points this works well if, for example you go inside a building and the satellite signal is lost

I have been using the same basic program since at least 2007

Depending on location you might be able to use your phone, to generate the track log, but I think in many remote cases gps is better. This is especially true if you are ever out on open water, where there is no cell phone coverage.

[rogerstg]

Depending on location you might be able to use your phone, to generate the track log, but I think in many remote cases gps is better. This is especially true if you are ever out on open water, where there is no cell phone coverage.

FWIW, most, maybe all, cell phones with a GPS receiver do not rely on cell signal coverage to work. Some apps might require a signal to download a map, but many allow map storage. I've retired my handheld GPSr devices in favor of my phone.

Thanks for the info on Geosetter, I had no idea such a program existed.

[bdery]

I deal with this completely outside the camera. I use a garmin gps when travelling, the batteries last all day if you are not using it to autoroute, that causes the display to light up and alarms to go off etc, every time you approach a waypoint, the gos is programmed to record the track log every 5 seconds. The GPX exchange files are easily downloaded to a pc when I get home.

I use a freeware program called geosetter to match the camera time to the gaps tracks and after I confirm the location of one or two shots, I let the program work away on the rest. I simply walk away and do something else as it writes the gps data to the files and creates backups of the unmodified files.

This works fine on jpeg, not sure about raw. I never tried.

I find it much better to do this than to wait for the gps to acquire signals. The program also allows for interpolation between data points this works well if, for example you go inside a building and the satellite signal is lost

I have been using the same basic program since at least 2007

Depending on location you might be able to use your phone, to generate the track log, but I think in many remote cases gps is better. This is especially true if you are ever out on open water, where there is no cell phone coverage.

That input is interesting enough that it could warrant an article in itself. It would also be relevant to just about any camera model on the planet.Thanks!

[LensBeginner]

FWIW, most, maybe all, cell phones with a GPS receiver do not rely on cell signal coverage to work. Some apps might require a signal to download a map, but many allow map storage. I've retired my handheld GPSr devices in favor of my phone.

Thanks for the info on Geosetter, I had no idea such a program existed.

The truth lies in the middle... GPS works even without cellphone coverage, but A-GPS requires data coverage to download a small packet with current ephemeris.
It was an issue some 10 years ago (and even more recently if you had a Samsung... ), since a smartphone needed at least a couple minutes to do a cold fix without assistance, but nowadays we're talking 10-20 seconds without assistance and few seconds with A-GPS, with the worst Chinese cheapo smartphone (of course it varies depending on how much unobstructed sky you have available).

For the record, I log a gpx track and sync with Geosetter as well... If you do that, it's a good idea to sync the clocks of your phone and your camera (also useful if you take pictures with both and want a coherent timeline).

[rogerstg]

GPS works even without cellphone coverage, but A-GPS requires data coverage to download a small packet with current ephemeris.

That explains why my phone seems slower to get an initial fix when I'm 40 miles from shore or in the mountains of Idaho.

[house]

Before getting my K-3II i used to log gpx files with my phone. Tried a couple of apps but ~osmand was good (free software and safe). Then I used darktable to match the timestamps of the image with the gpx track. see 2.3.9.*Geotagging | usermanual | darktable One trick I used was to photograph my phone clock before starting the shoot. This meant I had the exif time and a visual of the clock in the same file. I did find it a bit fiddly sometimes to get the timezones etc to match when travelling.

[Lowell Goudge]

That input is interesting enough that it could warrant an article in itself. It would also be relevant to just about any camera model on the planet.Thanks!

It is wholly dependant upon The camera knowing a reference time and date. Any camera that records time and date taken can be used. The program allows for adjustments to sync the gps time to camera time. I forget now how many days error it can compensate for.

I don’t know how many programs in total there are, I found geosetter a long time ago and it is now part of my routine. I don’t bother for local photos tagging them, but any time I am away from home on a vacation etc, I have my gps with me so I always have a log of where I am

[PDL]

So how did you guys do with modern GPS camera, does the GPS data automatically added to the Exif without extra work ? what about the K1 and the GPS add on for older model..etc. ?

Here is a list of GPS fields from my K-3II
[EXIF] GPS Version ID : 2.3.0.0
[EXIF] GPS Time Stamp : 00:13:47
[EXIF] GPS Img Direction Ref : True North
[EXIF] GPS Img Direction : 326.29
[EXIF] GPS Date Stamp : 2019:09:21
[XMP] GPS Map Datum : WGS-84
[Composite] GPS Altitude : 1855.1 m Above Sea Level
[Composite] GPS Date/Time : 2019:09:21 00:13:47Z
[Composite] GPS Dest Latitude : 43 deg 35' 21.40" N
[Composite] GPS Dest Longitude : 110 deg 49' 58.23" W
[Composite] GPS Latitude : 43 deg 35' 8.37" N
[Composite] GPS Longitude : 110 deg 49' 46.22" W
[Composite] GPS Dest Latitude Ref : North
[Composite] GPS Dest Longitude Ref : West
[Composite] GPS Latitude Ref : North
[Composite] GPS Longitude Ref : West
[Composite] Field Of View : 73.7 deg
[Composite] GPS Position : 43 deg 35' 8.37" N, 110 deg 49' 46.22" W

Note the Img Direction, Field of View and Altitude fields - used by GeoSetter to show where you are pointing your camera.

---------- Post added 12-04-19 at 07:07 PM ----------

I deal with this completely outside the camera. I use a garmin gps when travelling, the batteries last all day if you are not using it to autoroute, that causes the display to light up and alarms to go off etc, every time you approach a waypoint, the gos is programmed to record the track log every 5 seconds. The GPX exchange files are easily downloaded to a pc when I get home.

I use a freeware program called geosetter to match the camera time to the gaps tracks and after I confirm the location of one or two shots, I let the program work away on the rest. I simply walk away and do something else as it writes the gps data to the files and creates backups of the unmodified files.

This works fine on jpeg, not sure about raw. I never tried.

GeoSetter works just fine with RAW files. Any file with the appropriate codex in the OS.

I find it much better to do this than to wait for the gps to acquire signals. The program also allows for interpolation between data points this works well if, for example you go inside a building and the satellite signal is lost

I have been using the same basic program since at least 2007

Depending on location you might be able to use your phone, to generate the track log, but I think in many remote cases gps is better. This is especially true if you are ever out on open water, where there is no cell phone coverage.

I use ExifToolGUI (Windows only and you will have to do the research to get it to work - sort of) Google Maps is broken.
As mentioned above, I also use GeoSetter and Google Maps is broken there too. I do wish that these programs would allow you to work with other map providers - GeoSetter does but it is primarily Google ---- er broken Google - such as Bing Maps. I know there is a lot of resistance to anything Microsoft, but I don't think they are charging user fees to use their mapping functions.

[Kiwizinho]

What I do is take low quality photos with my phone with GPS tagging turned on, dump both the DSLR and phone photos in the same folder sorted by date/time and then in a photo manager like Lightroom or Paintshop Pro, go to the map view, for the phone photo, which takes me to the right location, then go to the DSLR photo and add a marker at the same location.Once I've tagged the high quality photo, I delete the phone photos.
I haven't tried any other software, but I know both Paintshop Pro and Lightroom can do this. Lightroom is better in some respects, as it will show other photos marked on the map, and you just drag and drop untagged photos onto the map. I know not everyone wants to pay for an ongoing subscription though.
I think Faststone Image Viewer might be able to do this too. It's free, but I haven't tried it.