[Lowell Goudge]

Thanks Lowell Goudge for sharing. I also find the link How to Use GPX Logs to Geotag Your Photos with Lightroom 4 | Creative Suite Podcast: Photographers | Adobe TV useful. As I already have O-GPS1 I could use this as alternative in case the gps unit could not acquire the gps signal.

sure you can, but from my perspective, since the camera mounted gPS unit uses batteries too, is there any point. realistically you only need one GPS , and if you have one for navigating, hiking etc, why bother with the other. just my $0.02

[godavari]

The reason that I prefer O-GPS1 is that I do not have to perform additional task during post processing as the GPS data embedded into RAW and JPG from camera. Also, Astrotracer function. It is good to know other options as well when O-GPS1 can't get the signal. Actually it happened over the weekend when I was in a indoor auditorium for a concert.

[Lowell Goudge]

The reason that I prefer O-GPS1 is that I do not have to perform additional task during post processing as the GPS data embedded into RAW and JPG from camera. Also, Astrotracer function. It is good to know other options as well when O-GPS1 can't get the signal. Actually it happened over the weekend when I was in a indoor auditorium for a concert.

the astro tracker is a good feature if you are doing star shots without a motorized telescope mount, and I won't argue that. the additional PP is no issue, really as it only takes a few minutes to set up and it runs automatically overnight so not a big killer.

Also, the program can interpolate, within time bands that you select, so lets say for example you enter a building, and then the GPS signal is lost, you exit a while later and it recovers, the program knows where you were relative to those two data points, and so it fills in the data automatically. OK, fine, you might get placed on the street in front of the building rather than inside, but good enough to know where you were.

as for being in an auditorium, any good mapping facility on the internet should be able to give you GPS coordinates that you can manually batch enter into all the photos, again using an application like Geotracker.

to me, as i said, it was a no brainer. why bother with the second GPS.

[DDPhotos]

I have an O-GPS1 and have noted a few things about it:

1) It can get weird when the batteries are low. I have had it just go insane and just not work properly on a low battery even though the low battery light wasn't coming on. Was still getting a power light. Putting a fresh battery in made it come to its senses.

2) it's not great when it comes to sensitivity. It needs to have a fairly unobstructed view of the sky to lock on.

3) like all GPS devices, it can take a really long time to get a lock when it hasn't been used in a while as it has to download the almanac from the satellites.

[AussieTrev]

1) It can get weird when the batteries are low. I have had it just go insane and just not work properly on a low battery even though the low battery light wasn't coming on. Was still getting a power light. Putting a fresh battery in made it come to its senses.

Haven't had this issue. I have found mine continues to perform as expected right to it turning off as the batteries fail. As I said earlier use only good quality batteries.

2) it's not great when it comes to sensitivity. It needs to have a fairly unobstructed view of the sky to lock on.

This is true with most GPS only devices, although they have improved. I have been using GPS for one reason or another, starting with the early Garmin eTrax units. They took for ever to acquirer a signal and then the slightest bit of foliage bam and you were lost. Well the signal was lost, not me. With the GPS in a modern mobile phone they use cell towers, WiFi signals and GPS to augment the positioning. Pure GPS units don't. It must be remembered that the signal from the GPS satellites is very weak. I use a GPS enabled device at work that is fairly new model wise and if I turn it on at the start of the shift it is nothing for it to take up to 5 minutes to acquire a fix. After that it is quick even after being turned off. Even my iPhone does crazy things when I am tracking my walking/running and I go through a tunnel, or there are tall buildings around.

With GPS we are at the mercy of the owners of the system, the US military.

[Bob from Aus]

to me, as i said, it was a no brainer. why bother with the second GPS.

Lowell I admire your ability getting everything correct and using the geotagging software and all the additional steps. I managed to do it successfully a few times using a handheld GPS, but just as often had problems. My trip to Africa 18 months ago I started and gave up after a couple of days. The trip I came back from 2 weeks ago I used O-GPS1 and i may missed a few dozen shots.

Of interest on two occasions, the O-GPS1 was a couple of hundred kms out. The other issue, I swapped the GPS between my 2 K5s. I had gone to a bit of trouble making sure the 2 cameras had the identical times. Somehow I think the GPS changed the time on one of the cameras. (had taken Australia time zone out and put in South Africa) and they were no longer synchronized.

[Lowell Goudge]

Bob. The biggest issue is really sorting out dime differences between camera and gps when using the two separately. The only time I had an issue was when daylight saving time happened mid trip. Otherwise geosetter is really easy to adjust. I have used it to geotag easily 20k shots. No issue at all

[Bob from Aus]

Bob. The biggest issue is really sorting out dime differences between camera and gps when using the two separately. The only time I had an issue was when daylight saving time happened mid trip. Otherwise geosetter is really easy to adjust. I have used it to geotag easily 20k shots. No issue at all

As I said I admire your ability to get it all together. I couldn't get it together perfectly for my 25k African photos from last month with the fool proof o-GPS1, but it is good enough.

[DDPhotos]

This is true with most GPS only devices, although they have improved. I have been using GPS for one reason or another, starting with the early Garmin eTrax units.

What I meant was the O-GPS1 seems to have a much harder time locking on to a GPS signal than any of my other GPS devices except for my PowerShot S100 which is also a little finicky.

[Lowell Goudge]

As I said I admire your ability to get it all together. I couldn't get it together perfectly for my 25k African photos from last month with the fool proof o-GPS1, but it is good enough.

take your african photos, and load them into geosetter (free download) if I recall corrrrectly it can interpolate between photos with no GPX data.

[Stone G.]

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- - - - The other issue, I swapped the GPS between my 2 K5s. I had gone to a bit of trouble making sure the 2 cameras had the identical times. Somehow I think the GPS changed the time on one of the cameras. (had taken Australia time zone out and put in South Africa) and they were no longer synchronized.

Any special reason that you didn't use "Auto Time Sync." on both cameras? That would have given you a very accurate (GPS satellite's atomic clock) time for the time zone you were actually in. Or, have I misunderstood your issue?

I find this synchronization very handy: That way. I never have to care about the time setting in my camera. Well, I have to remember to add an hour during the period of DLST, but I consider that a reasonable price to pay for the accuracy and reliability that I get.

What I meant was the O-GPS1 seems to have a much harder time locking on to a GPS signal than any of my other GPS devices except for my PowerShot S100 which is also a little finicky.

Just curious: Do you get the same accuracy with your other devices? When I check my known positions with Geosetter, I find that the O-GPS1 is usually, though not always, accurate within +10 meters in position and within about +5 meters in altitude.

[DDPhotos]

Just curious: Do you get the same accuracy with your other devices? When I check my known positions with Geosetter, I find that the O-GPS1 is usually, though not always, accurate within +10 meters in position and within about +5 meters in altitude.

I've never tested so I can only answer this subjectively. Given enough time, the O-GPS1 seems reasonably accurate, within 10 meters for sure, but if you shoot right after it gets a lock, it can be off by 100 meters or more. It is probably a little less precise than my Garmin or my iPhone, but more importantly, I think it takes a little longer to hone in on my position. I would want to give it at least a couple minutes after its initial lock to be confident in its accuracy.

Given enough time to get a good fix and a decent view of the sky, I would say the O-GPS is definitely consistently accurate to well within 10 meters.

[Lowell Goudge]

Just curious: Do you get the same accuracy with your other devices? When I check my known positions with Geosetter, I find that the O-GPS1 is usually, though not always, accurate within +10 meters in position and within about +5 meters in altitude.

I won't challenge the position accuracy, but unless you have a calibrated barometer as well +/-5 meters vtical is hard to believe. Without barometric assist, the vertical accuracy is something in the orr of +/-50 meters. Vertical accuracy is the hardest to get, which is why top end gps units, including the GPS76GSx that I use also have a barometer built in

[Bob from Aus]

I've never tested so I can only answer this subjectively. Given enough time, the O-GPS1 seems reasonably accurate, within 10 meters for sure, but if you shoot right after it gets a lock, it can be off by 100 meters or more. It is probably a little less precise than my Garmin or my iPhone, but more importantly, I think it takes a little longer to hone in on my position. I would want to give it at least a couple minutes after its initial lock to be confident in its accuracy.

Given enough time to get a good fix and a decent view of the sky, I would say the O-GPS is definitely consistently accurate to well within 10 meters.

I feel, but have not measured that the 0-GPS1 is much much faster at locking in than my garmen. The battery life in the 0-GPSi s longer than the two AA while the garmen is on tracker. I am really happy with time the 0-GPS1 kicks after the camera has been asleep. in and having the colours change works for me. Doing bird photography is a laugh as the GPS location is for the camera and not the bird. I look at the location and keep reminding myself - that is where I was not the bird. For me the position is bang on and i would guess within 5m

I had so many stuff-ups using the garmen (or the dam thing turning itself off) that the )-GPS1 is money well spent. At least you know it is working.

When it comes to built in GPS, if you want total frustration, anger, and feelings of wanting to destroy a camera, i highly recommend the panasonic DMC TS3

[DDPhotos]

I had so many stuff-ups using the garmen (or the dam thing turning itself off) that the )-GPS1 is money well spent. At least you know it is working.

We probably have different Garmins. I have an eTrex 30, and it uses GPS and GLONASS and works really well.

But don't get me wrong, it's not the right tool for geotagging photos. The O-GPS1 does a great job of this, and I highly recommend it. It is just, IMO, not as sensitive a receiver as my Garmin and my experience has been when I have them both on me the Garmin gets a fix quicker and works better in challenging situations like lots of trees / buildings or inside a car.