Railfan Technology > Nikon 810 geo-tagger unit.

Investigating the add-on geo-tagger devices. 
Nikon has one (GP-1) at about $250 whilst others are a fraction of that.

Would be grateful for a source to compare units or advice from someone who
actually uses these Nikon-compatible (810)  accessories.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert  K3HX

 

There are a few product choices at different price points, based on my experience with a D800 (and D90).

One choice to make is between Bluetooth and wired GPS. It's a personal preference. The choice is a GPS receiver (which range in size from small to large) on the camera or in your pocket or maybe on the camera strap. 

For wired (plug-in) GPS units, you can find inexpensive solutions from your favorite low-cost on-line sources. Feel free to experiment. Hint: If it doesn't work, toss it.

For wired or Bluetooth, consider Aokatec products. A Bluetooth adapter on the camera will work with a variety of Bluetooth GPS receivers. I have a Visiontac Bluetooth GPS receiver, but Holux appears often in compatible Bluetooth GPS receiver lists. Solmeta advertises some interesting wired products. I have not tested Holux or Solmeta. 

My current best performing implementation is the foolography solution of a foolography Bluetooth adapter paired with the Bad Elf GPS Pro+, which works off both the US and Russian satellite systems. You can order both from Germany, or order the Bluetooth adapter from Germany and order the Bad Elf (either Pro or Pro+ model) directly. This implementation also allows some camera controls via the Bad Elf GPS receiver buttons, like a wireless remote control.  The Bad Elf product allows trip tracking...I just reconstructed the flight route of a flight I took from San Francisco to Santa Barbara...fun to see exactly where we went. With a window seat, the GPS had enough of a satellite view to keep accurate data. 

GPS can be frustrating (or it was for me) since troubleshooting can be difficult. I've tried a few products, since one I had exhibited intermittent failures combined with a camera connector failure (on a Nikon D90). Price and reliability seem correlated. PM me for details and troubleshooting hints, if needed.

i recommend geo-tagging photos, so you never wonder where and when the photo was taken. I often forget to change time zones in the camera, and I have photos taken somewhere...at a location I can't reconstruct. Why not put this right in the photo so no one ever has to wonder?

After purchasing a Nikon D800 three years ago I looked at a GPS receiver for the camera.  Being a big fan of Nikon's quality and products I was disappointed at the numerous bad reviews the Nikon GPS model received despite the outlay of cash for the unit.  Normally I don't pay too much attention to user reviews but there were just too many bad reviews to ignore.  There are several quality aftermarket systems out there but I was looking for a simple, low profile camera-mounted receiver similar to Canon's offerings.  I found the Aokatec AK-G1S to be to my liking.

It's a simple cube that mounts on the body's front multi-pin screw-in connector.  Although a China export with a couple of drawbacks for my use (inconsistent altitude readings, takes up the whole front connector-though there is a mini jack for cable release, and the physical location blocks the flash compensation button.) with a price of $80 it was worth a try.  Best $80 I have spent!  It has been on the camera ever since and has delivered consistent performance for these three years.  Aside from the occasional wonky altitude readings (not a big deal for me) it has been a solid performer.  I do a lot of punishing field work and the unit has survived all of it tucked away close to the body.  Following the translated instructions was an interesting adventure but easy enough to figure out although I had trouble getting the Direction Heading calibration to take.  I bypassed that portion of the calibration and still the unit figured out which way North was.  Removing the unit from the body requires a re-calibration every time you re-attach it so I just leave it on the camera all the time.  

Any GPS has limitations such as losing signal when in tunnels, buildings or other obstructions and this unit will hold the last known point until a new connection is re-established.  This is fine while walking around inside a building but inside a coach on a fan trip it can be an issue if you don't keep the camera near a window for satellite updates.  It works just fine in automobiles and takes not more than 30 seconds to establish satellite data.  It is powered by the camera and uses very little battery.  I have accidentally left the unit on overnight and had plenty of camera battery left the next day.  I'm not using it as a navigational aid so being less that 100% perfect is not an issue, plus for $80 (or less on Amazon, it's imported by Semsons & Co., Inc.) you can't go wrong.  Being new to geo-tagging it's a lot of fun to get back from an outing, dump the photos into a geo-tagging program and watch the map light up with pins marking where you've been.     
  

Thanks to "MirandaDepot" and "cuontv" for their advice.

Just what I needed to make an informed purchase.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert  K3HX

Why HASN'T a geo-tag unit been built into any prosumer digital SLR?  They seem to be easily added to point and shoots and arn't especialy expensive to produce. 

Ed