Pentax O-GPS1 GPS Unit

Conclusion

I had a like/hate affair with this device. The O-GPS1 is a nice addition to my K-5, being able to tag each image with an accurate latitude & longitude and then being able to place them on a map is an interesting function. This function seems to work transparently and without thinking about it.

It also provides a simple way of keeping the K-5 clock up-to-date, again, without having to think about it.

I don't like having to tie up my flash hotshoe, I would like Pentax to come up with an inexpensive dual hotshoe assembly to have the GPS unit mounted somewhere and connected to the hotshoe, but still able to mount a hotshoe flash unit. It seems like Pentax has never heard of 'fill-flash' during daylight hours.

I found the electronic compass to be of no real use, it looks pretty and impressive but I suspect that anyone who hikes frequently would have his/her own methods of navigation involving maps, compasses and rugged, dedicated GPS navigation units.

The Simple Navigation function is another 'gimmick'. Like the electronic compass it works, but again, like the electronic compass, it is of dubious real-world value. Using a 'real' GPS navigator is simpler and faster than using the camera and O-GPS1 unit.

The Astrotracer is a very interesting function. Turning the sensor into a simple equatorial mount is a very clever idea and based on my simplistic research, works quite well although various websites and users who are far more conversant with astrophotography than myself have indicated that there are various focal lengths and directions where this unit does not work properly. Overall, the Astrotracer unit works much better than I expected it would.

Having said that, it should also be said that this unit will not provide you with fantastic astro photographs unless you already have knowledge and experience in this area. It will allow you to capture stars and other space objects over a matter of seconds and minutes without worrying about the 'star trails' but any serious Astrophotographer will already use their camera hooked up to a good quality telescope with a proper equatorial mount.

And oh Pentax, why did you have to place the very bright blue LED light right where it gets in your vision when using this device at night. It takes up to 30 minutes to really have your eyes get night adapted, you then look through the viewfinder and are blinded by a bright blue LED. Pentax, did any of your engineers who created this device actually USE IT at night? I ended up sticking some gaffer tape over the blue led when I was using it at night.

The weather resistance feature is nice, I found the hotshoe locking device to be an interesting design to enable heavy moisture to be kept out of the flash hotshoe area. Lets see Pentax and others start to incorporate something like that in a line of weather resistant flash units. Battery life seemed to be good for me, using an Eneloop battery, I could keep the device on all day (active & standby) with one battery.

To sum up, this is an interesting device, it seems like a load of Pentax engineers were sitting around a table and came up with this device by saying to each other, "Wouldn't it be neat if.......".

For what it does however, I believe it to be overpriced. A $99 price point would be more realistic than what it sells for at present.

The only real 'must have' feature is the geotagging although the Astrotracer is a nice addon function and technology experiment for those who wish to 'mess about' with Astrophotography but the other features seem to be of little or no real use.

Pros

• Easy to use for geotagging photos
• Good battery life
• Weather-resistant construction
• Interesting Astrotracer function

Cons

• Pricey at $199 ($249 MSRP)
• Dubiously useful compass and navigation functions
• Loss of hotshoe for flash
• Makes camera harder to stow
• Blue LED blocks vision

Rating

This review was written for PentaxForums.com by Michael Tansley.  Would you like to contribute your own user review of this O-GPS1?  Visit our accessory review database!