[godavari]

All,

I have recently got O-GPS1 module for K-5. It worked initially after calibrating and took some shots with gps info embedded in Exif. However, it suddenly stopped working in the sense that it can't acquire the signal (it shows red) and hence can't record the gps information. I have tried with successful calibration. Tried at the location where previously worked and new locations as well. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

[Bob from Aus]

Mine has worked smoothly through a lot of rough stuff. I am delighted with how quickly it responds and works compared to another system I had. I notice nobody has had any suggestions. The fact the it is showing up red means the camera and GPS are talking to each other. I have no idea what is causing the issue but here are some left field ideas.
- clean the contacts on the flash
- remove and replace battery in Gps ie make sure it is really turned off so it can be cranked up again
- reinstall the latest firmware

[AussieTrev]

My O-GPS1 has never faltered, but it sometimes takes a bit of time to acquire the satellites. This is most often with heavy cloud cover etc. Another unit that has GPS my black box video in the car has been having trouble of late acquiring the GPS. this may be a problem with how the US military is running the GPS satellites. they own and operate them and can turn of the signal or change it when ever they like.

My suggestion is as per Bob above. Check the contacts. Check the battery. Only use alkaline batteries or good rechargeable. I use the Eneloop in mine and they work fine. Update your camera firmware if there is any. If you know someone with a K-r, K30 or K-01 pop the O-GPS1 on their camera and see if it works. Let us know how you go.

[Timd]

Ï'll state the obvious: it has to be outdoors....?

[AussieTrev]

Ï'll state the obvious: it has to be outdoors....?

I forgot to mention that.

[Stone G.]

All,

I have recently got O-GPS1 module for K-5. It worked initially after calibrating and took some shots with gps info embedded in Exif. However, it suddenly stopped working in the sense that it can't acquire the signal (it shows red) and hence can't record the gps information. I have tried with successful calibration. Tried at the location where previously worked and new locations as well. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

What do you mean by saying "it shows red"? With my unit it works like this:

If the red lamp blinks, you should change batteries soon. If the red lamp shines steady, the battery is completely exhausted.

The blue light is what gives you the receiving status. This lamps blinks rapidly when camera power is off, it blinks slowly when the unit is searching for satellites and shines steady when communication has been established.

So, couldn't it just be a battery issue?

[godavari]

I was trying both outdoors and indoors. By "red" I meant the satellite signal on the lcd panel when pressed info button. Anyway, it seems to be getting signal now. I have changed auto power off from 1 sec to 3 seconds. It takes a little bit long to acquire the signal but it does. BTW, are you suggesting that the GPS unit may not work in indoors? Thanks.

[Gimbal]

BTW, are you suggesting that the GPS unit may not work in indoors? Thanks.

Is that a serious question?
In case it is, yes, a GPS is supposed to be used outdoors. GPS signals can get in through windows and bounce around, but one shouldn't count on it.

[godavari]

Yes. That was a serious question. I was wondering about indoors because occasionally I shoot concerts and dance performances indoors. Besides, other devices with GPS capability do not seem to have problems indoors (such as phones). If I have spent around $200 just for a GPS unit I would expect it to just work like other devices if not exceed them.

[Gimbal]

No GPS's works indoors, reliably.
They have to receive signals from the satellites and it doesn't take much to block those signals. They can bounce and get in through windows and other openings, but bounced signals aren't that accurate anyway.

[Lowell Goudge]

No GPS's works indoors, reliably.
They have to receive signals from the satellites and it doesn't take much to block those signals. They can bounce and get in through windows and other openings, but bounced signals aren't that accurate anyway.

They also struggle with heavy overhead foliage in a forest as well as "canyoning" in cities due to tall buildings, and or any time they cannot see one half of the horizon.

I can't figure out the lure of a gps in camera if you can't leave it on all the time, because when I shoot I want the shot right now, I don't want to wait for AOS. That's why I use an external gps, and post process the exif data. My gps runs full time, saving every second to the flash card.

[godavari]

Lowell Goudge, would you like to share your gps setup?

[Lowell Goudge]

I actually have several Garmin GPS units, but the one I use most for photography is the GPS 76CSx.

It is waterproof and has a deliberately bloated case over other units, so that it floats. As a kayaker, anything that can fall out of my boat should (within reason) float, waterproof is useless to me if it sinks

OK for photos, the GPS has options for saving track points to the SD card, in terms of time increments or "auto" which only stores track points if you deviate from a straight line. the auto setting is good if you are concerned about space on the memory card, but as I have an 8G card, i prefer to sample in time frequently usually 2-5 seconds.

when I get home, i simply pull the chip from the GPS and select the track files I want (it stores one file per calendar day) and save them to my computer. Saving all the files is possible but it slows things down so if you are only shooting one day or two days, it is simpler to just use those files and leave the remainder.

I put all my photos in a single directory, and using a program called GeoSetter, I select one image, make any time adjustments (Daylight Saving Time vs Standard Time , time zones and for any minor error in camera internal clock.) geo setter then displays the photo location on a map using mapquest. check if the photo is correct (for location) and if so, then select all the photos and have geosetter identify the location of each shot based on time. once this is done, and it can take several hours for 1500 photos, (as I did this summer) you then have the option of saving the data permenantly

works pretty well. i tag all my vacations this way to identify where I was and logically group shots by location.


With my other GPS units, (mainly a forerunner for work outs etc) i have to download the track to garmin's mapsource and then export the GPX file to disk separately just an extra step, but the forerunner wrist watch is much more compact, and I take it with me on business trips because I also monitor my workouts.

[godavari]

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.

[CRPhoto]

Besides, other devices with GPS capability do not seem to have problems indoors (such as phones). If I have spent around $200 just for a GPS unit I would expect it to just work like other devices if not exceed them.

Phones don't actually use only a GPS signal to locate you. There's A-GPS (Assisted GPS), WiFi and the actual telephone signal triangulation from the cell towers.

I do also have the O-GPS1 and it's a great tool for me. I do aerial photography and the GPS is a great help for geotagging while shooting or even looking for a location to shoot with the Navigation function. And of course, there's the Astrotracer!!