Is it useful? If so, how so? I'm ignorant here (well, and many other areas ). I have no clue why this is important. I can't see the importance of knowing precisely (well, within a meter or so) of where you took a picture. Isn't knowing *generally* where you were (and adding this to your metadata) enough?

it's just 'fun' for most people. If you shoot a lot of landscape stuff, it can be very cool because you can go back to the EXACT same spot you were at before. Although i suppose it's just fun in general if you want to revisit the same places some day again.

For me its just for fun. I'm looking forward to going on a trip visiting a new country and having the GPS data be able to tell me exactly where I took the shot. Some people probably would find no fun or value in it, I do. Furthermore or landscape or wildlife stuff, it can be cool to go back and visit the same spot like Gregory mentioned.

Yes. Like most of this, it's a hobby and fun. If something floats your boat, you should try it. I leave cost benefit analysis at work.

if you are a site shooter for film crews. or shooting for surveying it has a relative value too.

GPS Tagging is also useful if you like to visit geotagging sites like Panoramio, Flickr where you can geotag your photos and display them on Google maps and on Google Earth.

It's a bit of fun for most, But can also be useful for commercial applications.

We will probably see GPS built into most cameras in the next few years. Seems like video is the must have feature in this generation of cameras, GPS will be the next big thing.

As part of my job, I sometimes need to capture landscape features from a helicopter. I have my GPS track the flight path (nodes set to every 10 seconds). I sync the clocks in my cameras to the GPS.

Back at the office, I can plot the GPS track log onto a base map. As I sort through the photo images I want to compare to my computer generated, virtual terrain model images, I find the location on the track log based on the time stamp.

This is specialized application for sure, but it's an example.

~Ted

Im going to buy myself a GPS tracker in the coming weeks for fun/travel.
They're pretty cheap nowadays (less than $ 100,00) and with software you can add the GPS information to the Exif.

It will take a while before this will be a build-in device because Nikon is selling them for a pretty steep price at the moment.

the disadvantage of a built in GPS device is fairly simple.
1- the chipsets vary greatly in quality
2- antenna type
2- updating can be an issue
3- there are other systems in various stages of developement like Compass (China), Galileo (EU) even Glonass (Russia) that you may or may not be able to access with said built in system. there are various signals that these sats are putting out and in the near future going to also. L1 is the standard. L2 your just not going to get. L5 coming soon.

there is a distint advantage to the modular build concept.

I haven't checked recently but aren't GPS units that are compatible with Nikon still relatively expensive considering the proliferation of GPS in general?

I have a D300 - checked nearly a year ago when I bought it.

expense is relative

yes expensive is relative. My "relative" is that Nikon compatible GPS units cost 2-3x's common GPS units when all you need is coordinates. No mapping features are required.

The compatible handheld units that were inferior to other brands in their price class. That's what I mean for relative. I have a USB GPS unit that cost $25 and has worked great for several years. If I remember correctly, Nikon is compatible with some Magellan but no Garmin, the standard.

I'll spend my money on glass for now although I am interested in this feature for landscape photography in national parks.

Its nice to show others where the pic was taken at. Hard to find somethings in Japan. Pic with geo tag can pull up a map so someone else can find it easier. Someone asks how to get around here, chances are real good the instructions break down to turning left or right at convenience stores and gas stations cause we don't have an abundance of street signs where I live and you navigate by landmarks for the most part.

hidden_Markov,

You can say that again. It amazed me that street numbers were irrelevant in Tokyo. I was always searching for certain shots of Fujisan and finally found a book at Yodobashi that had probably 100 photos with maps to the location they were shot. I don't remember if it had GPS coordinates.

Yes it is very usefull. Even more usefull than you can imagine!
Why?

Have a look at
http://www.digikam.org/drupal/node/318 Digikam Map Search Tool for KDE/Linux

or CDfinder/CD Winder Geofinder for Mac/Win


This is just the beginning. Forget about tagging your pics and folders with placenames. Open spatial search, define the area or place and find all the pics on your harddrive that are falling into this area ... intuitive, simply ... and more accurate as tagging from hand.

Zoom to the Eiffel tower or to Death Valley on your map and simply find teh pics you made there! Finito!

I do not leave house without my Solmeta Geotagger N2 Kompass anymore. I talked to programmers discussion how to make more use out of the compass heading ... there are great ideas out there. And if the info is saved in the pictures now, you will be able to use it then ...
My 3 cents :o)

LA_Sportsman wrote:
I haven't checked recently but aren't GPS units that are compatible with Nikon still relatively expensive considering the proliferation of GPS in general?

It is not cheap, but it is extremly comfortable No post processing, no thinking about track logg overflows, no thinking about seperate batteries (just take one more spare for your camera) ...

Prices depend on the functions. Nikon GP-1 and the cheapies are very basic. Just plain GPS. GP-1 has not even a dedicated on/off switch!

Solmeta Gotagger N2 Kompass has e.g. a built in electronic compass to save the direction of view.
Dawntech Pro Logger has a tracklogger to save the travel route extra.

The most important feature in my eyes is called "auto-indoor-function". If you enter a place with no GPS coverage this will ensure that you still have coordiate. It is just the coordinates of the entrance of the building ... And as soon as there is a new GPS-fix it will run normal again. Without this function you loose a lot of comfort ...

I got a P6000 for geotagging... reason why: I am working on a photographic project on a particular subject involving historic buildings throughout the province of Ontario. (Canada). My hope is that eventually I will be publishing some sort of book, and provide a GPS guide to finding these locations. So I have been shooting an 'establishing' shot of each location with the file geotagged by the GPS built into the camera.

I personally can't see myself getting the add on device for the D700.

I have a lot of fun with mine and I'm very appreciative of people who shoot with them. Makes scouting locations in other cities that much more time efficient for me.

I have one for my D700 called the "Geomet'r." It was like $150 or so. It works really well...I wish my car GPS would acquire signal as fast as it does.

I routinely use GPS tagging to help identify locations in forensic and scientific photographs. My latest project was to photograph different types of toxic waste at a site which was of great value in giving fairly precise locations of the offending waste products.

Read an article sometime back that the GPS satellite network is aging and could start failing in the coming years. I haven't read anything about a plan to replace them. I'm certain the satellites will be replaced, but I wonder if there will be disruptions or spotty service until this problem is resolved.

James R wrote:
Read an article sometime back that the GPS satellite network is aging and could start failing in the coming years. I haven't read anything about a plan to replace them. I'm certain the satellites will be replaced, but I wonder if there will be disruptions or spotty service until this problem is resolved.




Considering how much our military depends on them, the money will be found. You are right though about possible distruptions.

The thing that concerns me is I can find a program in place to replace them. Maybe Obama will appoint a Satellite Czar!

There are also rival GPS-type systems in the works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COMPASS_navigation_system

The european one will likely be shelved since they have no dough, but the Chinese one could be realized.

But who are we kidding, the American GPS is so widespread and profitable, there's no way it goes away anytime soon. Fearing the loss of GPS is like fearing the obsolescence of NEFs. Like not gonna happen anytime soon.

I like it.

I use the Nikon GPS system for about half of my shooting. It makes sense to me for my landscapes and others. Do you always remember each moutain lakes name and location years later? Want to sell it as an art print, but don't know the name of the lake......easy to look up with GPS on the file....

Even if you are just driving around backroads and you stumble into something phtographic.....say a farm scene.....now you know where you were, and if you wish to go back for a reshoot in differant light or season, you know exactely where.

For airshows, it helps keeps track of what airshow I shoot a particular plane, that I may have shot dozens of times. Years later I have the GPS tag on the file so I know exactely what airshow I shot that particular photo at.

With the Nikon (and I assume others) it take NO effort to have the GPS coodinates automatically attached to the photos. There is nothing further to do.

I'm thinking of one for the reason wiphotoguy states - what if you want to go back? I have photos taken with 6 and 8 MP cameras that I wouldn't mind having in 24MP now. Trying to get back to that some spot is sometimes easy, sometimes I wish I had exact coordinates. Or maybe you take a scene and think it would look amazing in fog / snow / different sun angle - a gps would let you get back to the exact spot for a reshoot.

Steve