Geotagging Photos - GPS Receivers and Software

What is geotagging?

Geotagging is a process, which is used to embed geographical data, usually longitude/latitude/altitude/geonames (place names) and other geographical data within the metadata into photographs, videos and other types of media formats. It is commonly used by photographers who use the geotagging process to keep track on the exact place (coordinates) where the photo has been taken. It is utilized by GPS (Global Positioning System)  receivers whom their main purpose is to connect to orbiting satellites and receive the accurate latitude and longitude data of where the GPS unit is located.


Geotagging process is widely used on photo sharing websites like Flickr, for example. Other implementations includes popular applications like Google Earth and Google Maps. Those applications can read the metadata from JPG images and present them on the map according to the specific location where the image was taken. Furthermore, many image management software companies have their own implementation of such features, which allow photographers to view the images on the map, organize, search and view them by their corresponding location with ease.

GPS Reciever in DSLR Cameras

Today in my blog, I want to address an issue that troubles me sometime now, and that's GPS antennas in SLR cameras. I want to give you some useful information regarding geotagging devices and software options and help you make a better buying decision when the time comes. As for this day, there's no DSLR from entry-level to professional grade DSLRs that incorporates GPS device in-camera.  I have been searching Google for GPS for DSLRs on the Internet. All I could find are just wire GPS receivers who plugin to the camera itself. GPS devices are being used in photography to Geotag images automatically when every picture is being taken. So by doing that, you can get accurate (well, that depends) position coordinates. After that, you can use that coordination to get the exact position you took the image and do many things with it. You can attach geotag data to Google Maps application using Google Maps API, get the country and even the street address by reverse geocoding.

Geotag and Photo Sharing Websites

Today Geotagging or Photo mapping has become very popular in online photos sharing websites, where people can upload their geo-tagged photographs, and they're automatically embedded on Google Maps or Google Earth. When embedded, photographers can easily find those photographs by their corresponding location that the photo was taken. Travel online communities use it, Flickr uses it and many image sharing websites and communities take advantage of the geotagging capabilities of many of today's devices and adding geographical identification metadata to photographs.


You can find geotagging capabilities on almost every smartphone these days (Android and iPhone devices are good examples of good implementations). Even smartphone without GPS, can get the geo-tagging capability with SD-compatible GPS cards, that make geotagging very easy. Microblogging and other massaging SaaS platforms and apps has also embraced the GPS digital coordination features like Google Buzz, for example.

Let's continue with Geotagging Picasa photos in Google Earth (Manually Geo-tag your photos and upload them to Picasa Web Album):

It seems that GPS devices are being use with gadgets and many mobile apps, photo editing software & geotagging software, programmers APIs and online applications are taking advantage of this lovely feature. However, we are here to talk about GPS devices and SLR cameras, so where what exactly is the problem? -- The problem is that even that we can find GPS geotagging devices on the cheapest mobile smartphone, we can't find it in digital SLR cameras. What bathers me more, is that there are consumer digital cameras with in-camera GPS, without the need for an add-on solution.

GPS-Enabled P&S Cameras

Sony has announced on Jan, 2010 (read on Gizmodo) about new line of cyber-shot point-and-shoot cameras with both GPS and a digital compass.Altek also unveiled a consumer digital camera with built-in GPS and automatic geotagging, and that was back in 2008. New York times magazine (Gadgetwise blog) reported (Jan, 2010) that Samsung will be releasing a new compact camera with built-in GPS capabilities for geo-tag your images (Samsung HZ35W).  Panasonic ZS7 is a GPS-enabled camera that also supports automatic geotagging images when the GPS is turned on. It gets both longitudinal and latitudinal co-ordinates, along with the region and city. Casio has its own GPS-equipped EX-10HG camera. I can continue forever, but you get the point.

So consumer P&S digital cameras and cheap smartphones get to enjoy the geo-tagging features, but why don't we, DSLR photographers, who are buying expensive cameras and spend a lot of money on dedicated photography gear? - Not an easy one, isn't it.

Accessory Shoe GPS for DSLR Cameras

After doing some research, I have found that dSLR photographers can use external GPS receivers. Nikon has their Nikon GP-1 GPS unit for Nikon Digital SLR cameras (record latitude, longitude, altitude and time information). Nikon manufactures the Nikon MC-25 GPS adapter cord that connects to external GPS units and records the latitude, longitude, altitude, and UTC (coordinated universal time). So Nikon seems to have only one external GPS solution, that attaches to the camera's accessory shoe (via GP1-CL1 adapter). The Nikon GP-1 GPS unit is compatible with Nikon D5000, D90, D300s, D3, D3x, D700, D3s and will probably be compatible with new Nikon DSLRs too. Wolverine has its Geotag GPS receiver for Nikon and Fuji DSLR's called Wolverine GEO 35-/GEO35, But again, no internal GPS receiver, just external ones. Canon also has their own optional wireless transmitters, which can be attached to an external GPS receiver.

Advantage of External GPS Receivers

I have read on the Internet that many photographers prefer to use external devices. They prefer this because they are more accurate and get better reception compared to cheaper GPS units. Outdoor photographers want a reliable GPS device that will serve them well in various weather conditions and different environments, and they are willing to pay extra. Paying more will get you better performing GPS device for geo-tag their images (for some photographers it is crucial for important projects). I have read on CNET news that  that professional photographers tend to shoot RAW images (not JPG) and because of that reason, they use external receiver devices and geotagging software/programs to stamp GPS track logs to their images, after they are processed to JPEG format. Nevertheless, it was as well noted that the reason for not implementing such a receiver as a built-in feature because of higher cost and power consumption. However, the article has been written on 2007, so I doubt that the cost is somehow relevant. 

Camera Geotagging Options

So lets see what options we've got to geo-tag our images:

• External GPS Receiver (hotshoe)
  Buy a GPS an external GPS receiver who connects to the DSLR's hotshoe and uses the camera batteries as its power source. (like the Nikon GP-1 or di-GPS N2 Mini GPS receiver). BTW the di-GPS N2 mini supports Support Nikon D3, D300, D2XS, D2X, D2HS & D200, Fujifilm S5 Pro DSLRs and utilizes the Chipset Low Power Single Chip SiRF Star III (low power consumption, less than 45ma) and has extremely fast TTFF (Time-To-First-Fix). Also check the upper link to updated information. Also check out Geomet'r GNC-35 GPS receiver for Nikon DSLRs, which provides real-time geotagging features, waterproof design and utilizes SiRF III high sensitive chipset with built-in patch antenna. Remember, some are compact, some are bulkier (and have better features and reception), but they all do the same, record GPS coordinations.
  
  

  

  Nikon GP-1 GPS Unit

  
  
• Handheld GPS units (GPS dataloggers, GPS imager tracker)
  Probably recommended for professional use, because they have better reception, use their own power source using batteries. Photographers will later need to synchronize their track log files (.kml, .gpx, .kmz, .nmea, etc) with their photographs using GeoTagging software, which we will talk about it later on in this review. Some products mentioned: Sony GPS-CS3KA GPS image tracker (good reviews on testfreaks.com), Wintec WBT-2010 GPS Receiver/logger, Gisteq PhotoTrackr (PhotoTrackr CD111, Lite DPL700, Mini DPL900), Amod GPS data logger, Holux M-100C Wireless GPS logger or go with the Garmin Rino® 530HCx, which has high-sensitivity GPS, waterproof and provides with 14 hours of outdoor use (also popular among photographers). There are a lot more.
  
  

  

  Sony GPS-CS3KA, Handhels GPS Reciever

  Watch this Sony GPS-CS3KA Image Tracker Walkthrough:
  
  
  
  
  
• Geo-tag Using a Mobile Phone (or hanheld device)
  This is probably a cheap alternative for geotagging your photos. Today we can find many mobile phones with GPS capabilities and Onboard GPS receiver is very common on the iPhone, Nokia and Android mobile handsets these days. You can start recording your coordinations using your mobile phone and at the same time taking pictures, afterwards, you will need to sync those coordinates using software, which embed the GPS data into the image metadata. You can check out this video down below:
  
  
  
  
  
• Get you own GPS satellite - Naah, probably not.

These are the most common options that DSLR photographers can take advantage of. Having an external GPS device is probably a better option to get the best reception and battery life, so you can shoot all week without having to worry about the battery drains. Of course you will need to sync the GPS track log with the photographs that you have taken, bus as you will see, it is not as complicated as people think it is. So at the next section, we will talk about GPS.

Geotagging Software (How to Geotag?)

Three is no way that you are gonna write the latitude, longitude, local time, UTC offset and altitude (when applicable) data yourself for every photo you've taken. For that purpose, there are plenty of software and online utilities that will do that job for you automatically. Those types of geotagging software has many other features like creating Google Earth KML files so you can visualize your geocoded photos on Google Earth, 

offer the ability to manually write the latitude/longitude data in the picture EXIF, GPX inspector, time correction tool, add geonames to the picture and many other useful features.

So lets see what useful software and online services exist for photographers who want to auto-geotag their images, using their log files. I will try to keep it short so you can browse the websites and check all the features yourself.

• gpicsync (Software)- A special software for auto-geo tag your pictures from your camera and a GPS track log that you've previously recorded. Available for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple OS X operating systems. Reads GPX and NMEA GPS tracklog files. Allows creation of Google Earth KML file or KMZ file, add geonames, supports Jpeg and RAW file formats. It is free to download and also open source.
  
  
• Geotagalog (Software) - Calf Trail software solution for synchronization of tracklog files (.gpx, .tcx, nmea, .gps, .log, .txt and even FAI gliding comiision flight recordings in .igc) with your photos. It allows geotagging you images while importing them to iPhoto application or directly through a card reader. Embed geolocation metadata to both JPEG and RAW file formats without image quality loss.
  
  
• RoboGEO (Software) - Another popular geotagging software to geocode your digital photos. It also allows to stamp the local time, UTC offset, latitude, longitude, altitude data directly at the bottom of each photo. You can also geocode your photos using Google Earth geocoder tool and also create Goole Earth™ KML or KMZ Files and create Google maps with Geotag icons. Furthermore, RoboGeo allows creating Create ESRI™ Shapefiles, export GPX files and even upload your photos to Flickr photo sharing website from the same program.
  
  
• GeoSetter (Software) - A freeware geotagging tool for windows operating system. Allows to synchronize NMEA, GPX, PLT, Sony Log, IGC and other track files with your photos, export to Google Earth files,  automatic filling of IPTC and altitude fields, and synchronize with locr.com online photo location service. Freeware.
  
  
• EasyGPS (Software) - A Microsoft Windows software for geotagging photos, that seamlessly works with Garmin GPS, Magellan GPS, Lowrance GPS, Eagle GPS, MLR, Brunton and Silva GPS receivers. The more data you record, the more trackpoints you will have and that will serve you better for accurate geotagging process.
  
  
• WWMX Location Stamper (Software) - Stamps the coordinations data into the EXIF tags of any JPEG image. Accepts GPX tracking information files.Software for Windows OS.
  
  
• JetPhoto (Software) - A Mac and Windows free download software, which allows (also) to GeoTag you photos by synchronization GPS tracks and links photos on Google Earth and Google Maps. Has many other useful features too, so check it out.
  
  
• GeoImgr (Web-tool) - A simple web-based utility that allows photographers to upload their photograph and geo-tag their image themselves if they haven't got any geotagging data for embedding into the photo. You can choose the right position using a map and choose the right location, afterward, the GeoImfr utility will embed the coordinations data inside the metadata file inside the image, then you can download it geo-tagged to your computer.
  
  
• MapWith.us (Social Networking) - a geo-social networking website that provide photographers with a mobile and web-based mapping solutions. You can use toe service to share you photos online with your friends, family and other photographers from all around the globe.
  
  
• GPSPhotoLinker (Mac OS X) - specific for Mac OS X, this software adds GPS position and location data to your photos and also inserts the city, state and country names into the photo metadata without you needing to do it manually. Can batch geotagg several images, reads GPX and TCX track files and allows easy upload to popular photo sharing websites.
  
  
• gpsPhoto (Command Line Tool) -  a commandline tool written in Perl language for synchronize GPX tracklog files with imaegs

There are some of the popular geotagging utilities and I am sure that if you dig a little deeper, you will find some other useful tools out there, as they keep getting released because of its gaining popularity among photographers and users in photo sharing websites, bloggers, Widgets and are widely supported plugins from popular CMS platforms like Wordpress, Joomla, Gallery3, Gallery2, Drupal and others.

Final Verdict

As you have read in this article, geotagging is used widely both on sharing websites by people who have a mobile phone camera or consumer digital camera and also by professional who need the geotagging feature to catalog and manage their assets too. The fact is that most social networking photo sharing website has adopted the geotagging and Google Maps features and APIs, means that there is a demand for geotagging photos among many photographers. That means that you can find plenty of geotagging solutions, which will help you out with geo-tag the pictures you have taken with your camera. Most of them will do the best to make it as easy and convenient that it can be.

I think the reason that we don't see any more specific external GPS gear (except some of the products which  I've mentioned above, maybe there are more, please share if you know) and in-camera GPS devices, is the fact that professional photographers prefer buying external GPS devices. Those pro devices allows better reception, better accuracy and better options and functionality compared to other units. I still left with a thought in my mind that if the internal aGPS antenna works perfectly with Apple iPhone and Android mobile devices, there is no reason why this feature won't be applicable in digital SLR cameras as well (I am the owner of HTC Nexus One, and the GPS works great, I mean accurate). Some GPS unit can be easily carried everywhere by attaching them with a strap to your hand or leg. Many others are so small that you can put them in your pocket, even though that I am not sure that this is the right place to put them.

Furthermore,  think that external GPS devices will be far better for outdoor photography in harsh conditions. In-camera GPS antenna will probably won't give the best results. I also want to add that the "Time to first fix" (TTFF, the time required for a GPC receiver to acquire satellite signals and navigation data) is less than current in-camera GPS receivers (my assumption). So whatever you decide to buy, make a decision based on your needs. If you do want an internal GPS device in-DSLR, let's just cross our hands that the big companies (Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony) will listen to the customers needs. If there is a need for it, we will probably see newer models with in-camera GPS devices very soon.

I hope that this article helps in getting the valuable information that you where searching for on the Internet, and please share this article if you thought it was valuable. I will do my best to write many other useful and interesting articles with lots of details very soon.

Thanks for reading.