I've been looking for a while how to add GPS data (geotagging) to the pictures I take with my Canon DSLR. Nikon has a GPS add-on for its cameras, whereas Canon doesn't.
There are a number of possibilities out there, experimented by my friends, with external GPS devices, and software.
Some vendors even have dedicated devices for photography.
Here are my criteria :
- In a perfect world, I'd love a GPS add-on for Canon, just like the one Nikon has. The current solution offered by Canon is expensive and clumsy. Maybe the JoboGPS ? My current thinking is getting an external Garmin device, but I don't know yet which one, and which software to use it with on OSX; maybe the ones listed below will suffice.
- I'd like to leave the GPS device in my bag, and forget about it :
- this means long battery life with maybe a motion sensor that shuts itself on/off; maybe rechargeable batteries.
- Definitely this also means that the device should be able to send data wirelessly (bluetooth, wifi), so that I don't have to export the data with a cable, ideally leaving the device in the bag at all times.
- then I'd like to import the data and add the geolocation data to the EXIF fields of the pictures : this can be done in software in a rather clumsy way. Luckily, Aperture 3.0 now allows a very easy way to do so. This will allow my pictures to show with map data on Flickr when I upload them. Ideally, the data format supported would not only be JPG but also my original RAW files.
- finally, for some of my photoshoots, I'd like to produce a Google Maps picture with the data, and/or a .KML file in GoogleEarth.
I'm suprised at how complicated it still is to do these tasks, as software offering is very fragmented, seem produced by tons of small developers, and that there's no real how-to on the internet when you google for example "GPS Canon DSLR OSX". I tried a solution (with iTrail) a while ago, using iPhone's built-in GPS with a piece of software installed, but it drained the battery in just a couple of hours. I need it to last at least the whole day.
So here's a how-to for a Blackberry 9700 that seems to work. I'll test it out on the field this week-end, and get back with results next week.
- Install BeGPS One, on your Blackberry (free).
- press Start when you want to start logging data, and stop, when you want to stop.
- Mount the Blackberry on your Mac and get the data (beGPS.log) in the beGPS folder (the program only uses one file. Delete it if you don't want to append to it).
- Aperture 3.0 recognizes the format automatically (BeGPS One produces "NMEA 183" format) and you can then pursue with the Apple tutorial. Surprisingly, Aperture doesn't give you a very precise close-up of the data.
- I had installed TrailRunner.app as a program a while ago. It doesn't recognize NMEA 183, but the more standard GPX format instead. You can use GPSBabel to transcode from all formats to a new format. TrailRunner gives you a much finer zoom on the data than Aperture.
- Finally, if you're not using any software, you can produce a map on Google Maps easily online, on this site, GPS Visualizer. The image gives you a much finer zoom on the data than Aperture.
