Nikon D300 and D3 GPS enabled cameras

[MikeB]

Dear Santa, I have been good this year please can I have a new Nikon D300 for Xmas?

A couple of months ago Nikon announced the latest in their range of Digital SLR cameras, the D3 and D300. These are targeted at the top of the range with a price tag of £3400 for the D3 (yes that is three thousand) and a slightly more affordable £1300 for the D300.

Today and tomorrow Nikon are putting on the Nikon Solutions roadshow where they are proudly displaying not just the D3 and D300 but also the full range of Nikkor lenses and lots of other accessories as well. Apart from the shiny, expensive hardware they are also running a series of seminars helping photographers get more from their imaging workflows. The most interesting feature here was the total lack of wet film... Everything was digital.

Click here to read how Nikon integrate GPS into their cameras...
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Mike Barrett

[pdriver]

It seems quite an oversight not to build a GPS chip into the camera. I wonder what their reasons were? - Cost? power management ? Scope for user preference?

Paul
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Paul Driver
Director, British Computer Fairs
easable.uk

[MidNightMapper]

Add a Bluetooth GPS conection to your Nikon DX200, Nikon 300, or high-end Fuji SLR via Blue2CAN for Nikon SLRs

Need to post your geotagged images on Google Earth? Try Red Hen IsWhere a free Google Earth geotag solution.

[MikeB]

[Darren]

Ricoh already have a GPS equipped tough camera out, the 500SE.

It was tested in a group test on the Gadget Show and didn't do well at all, especially as it leaked when tested in a swimming pool and it is supposed to be waterproof!

It's not an SLR but at £700 it ain't a bargain basement camera either.
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Darren Griffin

[nej]

I don't see why a GPS chipset cannot be included. A GPS chip is not exactly big, or expensive. Certainly not when compared to a £3000 camera. A small built-in antenna would suffice, although they could have a standard antenna socket on the body to connect an external one for improved reception. A small addition to the display showing if it has no fix, 2d or 3d and the number of sats in view should suffice.

[Darren]

I'm not sure it's a technical issue, more that as yet they haven't perceived a demand for it.

Even on the D300 the port isn't specifically for GPS, GPS is just one of the uses that have been conjured up for it.
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Darren Griffin

[Skippy]

[pdriver]

I think that Bluetooth is a short term fix and that in the near future GPS will be completely embedded in the circuitry of many of everyday consumer devices.

My HPC Kaiser phone AKA the T-Mobile MDA3 has a GPS chip, as does the much earlier Orange M700, each of which double up as cameras, not to mention, remarkable SatNav devices.

If nothing else, I would have thought that Google Earth Panoramio and Gigapan technologies are really good excuses for professional not to mention amateur GPS cameras. BTW Gigapan will be massive.

I fully believe that within 3-4 years all new cameras will be gps enabled.

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Can somebody fix my avitar please.
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Paul Driver
Director, British Computer Fairs
easable.uk

[Viking9]

As a keen amateur photographer who likes to take photos I'd rather the money was spent on features that I need in a camera. Whilst knowing the exact coordinates that a photo was taken from may be of use to a limited number of camera users, such as surveyors, archaeologists and such-like, most keen photographers find that the general location is good enough.

[Darren]

[MikeB]

Well I have 10s of thousands of pictures, and sometimes I can only remember the general location, but want to find the exact location a picture was taken. Maybe I am unusual, but this is something I have been striving to achieve for a number of years now, and slowly it is coming to the marketplace.

I do agree with you that the image taken is the most important thing, but in our world of data overload location data certainly doesnt hurt. Anyway unless you have a decent image library application like Apple's Aperture then a lot of the additional information is not of any value.
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Mike Barrett

[Darren]

As long as I know it was taken in Corfu, Paris, Hong Kong etc then that's as much info as I need. I don't need to know 'exactly' where.

TBH if the picture is that vague that I can't recall where then I don't need to keep it ;)
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Darren Griffin

[pdriver]

Yes, features that enhance picture quality or improve usability are probably more important to many people especially 'photographers'.

I was really just making the point that knowing where the picture was taken is a logical next step. After all, most cameras already record the date and time don’t they?

Being able to upload a picture a to public image library and for it then to be automatically geocoded will be an incredibly useful feature. Am I the only person who, when planning a trip or holiday, turns to google earth to have a look at pictures of the area or even the hotel I plan to stay in?

For navigation applications with tracks and waypoints; why not have pictures too. The benefits seem obvious.

It is not so much the owner of the information that benefits, but rather the community that shares it.
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Paul Driver
Director, British Computer Fairs
easable.uk

[Skippy]

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