Nikon GP-1 GPS for Geotagging – Review

I finally got a chance to try out my new Nikon GP-1 GPS. You may remember that I got this GPS when I got my Nikon D5000 because my di-GPS Pro isn’t compatible with it. Nikon did a very smart thing by making their GPS compatible with both their higher end DSLRs like the D300, D700, D3 and D3X which all have a 10 pin Remote Terminal as well as their lower end cameras like the D5000 and D90. Both the D5000 and D90 have a special port for a GPS, but it’s not the 10 pin Remote Terminal port and that’s what makes my di-GPS Pro incompatible. The cable on the di-GPS pro is hard wired in and only works with DSLRs with the 10 pin Remote Terminal. The Nikon GP-1  comes with 2 different cables so that you can use it with either connection

 

Connecting the GP-1 to the Camera

All of the models I mentioned above already have GPS support built-in, so there is no software to install. You just pick the appropriate cable for you camera plug one end into the GPS and the other end into your Nikon DSLR. The GP-1 is powered by the camera so there is no battery to install.  This is both a plus and a minus. The plus is that you don’t have to worry about yet another battery, but the minus is that it since it draws its power from the camera, it will shorten your battery life.

 

Acquiring a Signal

Since the GP-1 is powered by the camera and there is no on/off switch, the GP-1 comes on when you turn the camera on. This was a little frustrating the first time I tried to use it because my camera kept going to sleep before the GP-1 would acquire a signal. I finally had to put the camera in Live View mode so that it would stay on long enough to get a strong signal. The satellite acquisition took a little over a minute (solid green light). Once the signal had been acquired, I let the camera sleep to see what would happen? I then woke it up by pressing the shutter down half way and it only took about 3 seconds to reacquire the signal. While this is totally acceptable I do miss the physical on/off switch of the di-GPS Pro. With the di-GPS Pro you can go from Off to Auto to On. When it’s "On" it will stay on even if the camera sleeps. This way you’re always ready to shoot the minute you turn the camera on without having to wait for a signal. Granted in the On mode it is using battery, but I’ve found that it doesn’t use enough juice to really impact my shoots. 

 

Geotagging as you shoot

The advantage of a GPS being attached directly to your camera is that it adds the location (longitude/latitude) information directly to the image (metadata) as you capture the shots. You can even review the GPS info from each shot right on the LCD display:

 

Using the GPS data from your GP-1

Many apps now allow you to see the GPS metadata from your shots right in the app. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 to process almost all of my shots. So love the fact that I can simply click the little arrow right next to the Longitude/Latitude to go right to the spot where the shot was taken in Google Maps. 

You can click the Lightroom panel above to try it out.

 

I had family over from out of town over the weekend and they wanted to take a trip to the Motown Museum/Hitsville. So I decided to take the opportunity to take some shots and geotag them. 

As you might imagine the Museum was quite busy with Michael Jackson fans. 

 

 

 

The Bottom Line

The Nikon GP-1 does exactly what it’s supposed to. Basically you plug it in and shoot. It’s nice and small and also lightweight. Easy to carry in your pocket, let alone a camera bag and since most people only have one DSLR, you’ll only need one cable or the other. There is also a pass through port for the MC-DC2 Remote (cable release). I haven’t found the accuracy to be any better or worse than my other GPS’s.

The Nikon GP-1 goes for $216.05 ($265 list price). If you have a Nikon D5000, D90, D300, D700, D3 or D3X and you want to geotag your shots as you take them, this is probably the best bang for the buck.