GPS for your Camera – di-GPS Pro L Review
January 11th, 2010
If you've been following this blog you know that I'm a big fan of the Dawn Tech GPS units for your DSLR camera. Well Dawn Tech has improved on a good thing and I'm here to talk about two of their new models.
First up the NEW di-GPS Pro L
If you want a little background on the di-GPS Pro see my original review here. The NEW "L" model offers a "data Logger". The 8MB flash memory based data logger can track over 260,000 data points. While this is great for someone that may want to download this data later, I'm more interested in having my GPS location data input right into the meta data of the shots when I take them! That's what the di-GPS units have always done. However, what this feature does give me now is the ability to geotag photos where there is NO SATELLITE RECEPTION based on my last known location. This is very cool! So if you're out shooting a landscape or walking about a city scene and then you duck in to take some shots of a historic landmark your shots taken inside will still be geotagged with the last known position. VERY COOL!
All of the other goodness of the original di-GPS Pro are still intact and this GPS is hands down my favorite!
The NEW di-GPS Mini 3L D5000
I bought a D5000 last year to basically be my travel camera. So unless I'm specifically traveling to do an important shoot, I'll most likely have my D5000 in tow. When I bought the D5000 I also bought the only GPS that worked with it at the time which was the Nikon GP-1 reviewed here. While the GP-1 does work there is one thing that drove me absolutely nuts about it and that is there is no on/off switch. Basically it comes on with the camera and goes off with it. Now while that doesn't sound like a big deal, it means that when the D5000 goes to sleep so does the GP-1. While the D5000 wakes at the tap of a button, the GP-1 then takes a few moments to re-acquire the satellite and therefore may not be capturing location information if you don't wait first before firing your first few shots. Like its big brother, the di-GPS Mini series has an On/Off/Auto switch. In the ON mode the GPS stays on even if the camera goes off/sleep. Granted this will drain your camera's battery quicker, but I've found the drain to be insignificant vs. the instant ready to shoot factor.
Putting the NEW di-GPS Pro L to the test
I was already sold on all the other features since I already owned the di-GPS Pro. So really the only other thing I needed to test was the data logging/remembering the last location feature. So I put it to the test walking around downtown San Francisco. My initial tests were dead on as far as the GPS accuracy.
I took this shot of the carrousel directly across the street from it and the GPS info was very accurate.
Here's the GPS info for the Carrousel shot above. Simply click the Lightroom screen capture to be taken to the location in Google Maps.
Then I walked towards the W- Hotel and took this shot.
This time the location was off a little as I was standing on the curb, but in the street.
Now it was time to go inside the W and up to the second floor where there definitely was no satellite reception. What I found was that it works fine. It kept logging my last position on every single shot that I took inside.
However, what I also learned is that you should "pause" before going inside to let the GPS track your location right up to the door. In other words if my last location was off a bit and I had the camera under my arm heading in the door the GPS would never get a chance to update to my new position just outside the building.
Two Questions I Always Get!
1) OMG! I can't believe it goes in the hotshoe! What if I want to use something else in the hotshoe like a flash? ANSWER: It only sits in the hotshoe for position convenience! You don't have to put it there. The di-GPS units also come with a strap mount so that you can mount it right on your camera strap and free up your hotshoe. Calm down. It will be OK.
2) What if I want to use another 10 pin accessory like a Cable Release? Good Question and that's why I upgraded to the di-GPS Pro last time. It features a 10 pin PASS-THROUGH port right on top of the unit. I know it looks like a dial in the picture, but that's actually a cap that screws off the expose the pass through port.
A couple more things that usually come up
These units (as best I can tell) do not track your "heading". So in other words it doesn't know which direction you're facing. Also although it can track the elevation that doesn't mean that the software you're using uses this data.
The Bottom Line
Hands down these are the best on camera GPS units that I've used. I have lots of trips coming up to places that I've never been before and I will definitely have a di-GPS with me. The di-GPS Pro L goes for $300 (including shipping) and is available here. The di-GPS Mini goes for $192 (including shipping) and is available here. Also keep in mind that the regular Mini can be used with higher end cameras if you don't need the Pass Through support. So you can save a few bucks by going with the mini if you don't have other gear that you want to share the Terminal Connector with.
Lastly I didn't test the USB transfer of the logging info. Why? because I have no interest in doing it that way. I went with the di-GPS series first and foremost because it writes the data right to my files in the camera (JPG or RAW).
Get complete specs and compatibility information on all of the di-GPS products here at the Dawn Tech website.
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