Ichiban365

I am wondering what everyone uses for tracking their GPS location in order to tag photographs. Assume that the camera does not have GPS, or if it does, then it either eats batteries or it takes forever to find a location after being turned on. So an independent GPS tracker might be useful.

I used to use a Holux M-241 and then sync the day's track with the time stamp on the photographs. However, Holux decided to abandon its users, so I am looking for an alternative. I do have some GPS tracking apps for my cell phone, but they also tend to decrease battery life on the phone. Has anyone had any success with a stand-alone GPS tracker?

stogieboy Loc: Marlboro, NY

Rather than use a GPS-specific app on your smartphone, just grab a snapshot with your phone when you're on location. Then you will have the location info on that phone pic, and can use that data for your "real" photographs. :-)

Save the money, no need for a standalone GPS tracker for this use case, IMO.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

My DSLR and Bridge do not have geolocation, but I have it turned on for my phone.
I have the times on all the cameras set to the phone time.
I'll take a quick shot with the phone of a series at a given location. I can get the location from the phone for the rest of those shots in the series by matching the shot times with the phone shot.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

So many places in Acadia National Park (and other places) look almost identical..... Unless they are uniquely discernible/identifiable. Paths, ponds, mountains, streams, docks, vistas, ...
I definitely use geolocation on my phone as an aid to figuring where the shots were taken.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

When shooting with my Nikon, the GP-1. With my other cameras, I use a Garmin eTrex and a notebook.
--Bob

Ichiban365

The question is " Has anyone had any success with a stand-alone GPS tracker?".
I am not interested in messing around with taking extra pictures will my cell phone, I am interested in being able to focus on my DSLR and then tag the pictures.
For example, a few years ago I used the Holux on a whale-watching trip. I was able to tag each of 300+ shots precisely. We covered a lot of distance that day. It would have been impractical on a small boat to be switching between my camera and my phone for each shot, and even if I did, I would have missed half the whale shots.
All I am seeking is recommendations for a device which I can turn on and then put in my pocket and ignore for the rest of the day, like I could with the Holux.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I use Followmee on my Android phone, works well. "Kinda like" a stand-alone.....
And compare times with image times.

Ichiban365

Thanks, that is a helpful answer.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

An eTrex sort of does that but how do you link a specific photograph to a specific geographical position? I have to tell the eTrex to mark a location.
--Bob

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I got a GPS add-on for my Nikon bodies. It goes onto the 10-pin socket. It does pretty well at locations but sometimes it's many feet off. However, it's always in the ball park as long as it can see enough satellites. Sometimes has trouble locating satellites if I turn it on indoors, but if I turn it on outdoors it takes about 30 seconds to acquire lock. It then works fairly well indoors but if it can't get a signal in a building it uses the last location it got, usually within the building. Wood frame buildings seem to allow the signal to get in.

On the 10-pin socket it is connected to the battery all the time, but there is an on-off switch that means I can turn it off at the end of the shoot if I remember. During the shoot I have never had it impact the battery life noticeably, but afterwards it will run the battery down in about 2-3 days.

Can't recall the brand name but it came from China. Got it about 8 years ago I think. When I get near my camera I can look and supply the name.

With the on-off switch it's easy to just not turn it on if location is not important to the shoot. Don't have to go into the menu. Having the GPS available in the metadata is a lot easier than trying to synchronize separate devices.

george19

I use a Globalsat logger that I bought from Amazon. I’ve taken to setting camera time to GMT, and same with the logger. Eight hours or so battery life, put it in my pocket, and push the button when I remember.

There’s mapping software to download to the PC, and a short learning curve each time I use it. I save the logging file with the saved photos of the day.

bschafer

I have used the Geotag Photos Pro app for years (https://www.geotagphotos.net/) and combined with
the Geosetter desktop app (https://geosetter.de/en/main-en/) it makes for a great way to do exactly what you are looking for. The Geosetter App has a feature that will do a location lookup and will write Country, State, City and another sublocation right into the metadata if you would like.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I use what I have always used, dating back to my beginnings in film in the 1960’s - a notebook. I don’t need measurements accurate to the nearest foot, simply knowing roughly where I was has always been enough.

starlifter Loc: Towson, MD

I use a Micnova unit, Very accurate, minimal battery drain and has an on-off switch. Was relatively inexpensive.

starlifter Loc: Towson, MD

PS to my previous post. I tried the cell phone tact once and found the phone to be in my case any way very inaccurate. The free Nikon photo editing program has a GPS map function. You click on the map icon and a Google map comes up with all your photos marked. Click on a mark and there's your photo. No need for entering Lat.. ang Long. etc.