A decent mapping GPS

Sinizterguy · 4 Jun 2007 at 13:34

Are there any reasonably affordable mapping GPS units that I can carry around on my walks - so that when I take photos, I can correlate the time of the photo to the GPS location and then embed this data into the photo ....

Would need about 12-16 hrs life on a single charge that it should work even if I forget to charge it once.

Preferably with rechargeable battery unit rather than feeding it AAs all the time.

I had seen one of the Garmin units - waterproof, colour screen, etc - but that costs £360 and is a bit chunky to begin with. But it had all the bells and whistled including this position correction thingy which uses signal from certain fixed terrestrial locations to improve its fix, altitude, electronic compass etc.

I guess I dont need something that high specced - so are there any other alternatives ?

There was a little sony unit that could be used - lost the link for that one - but had signal problems I think. Also they are only compatible with sony cameras - and I use a Nikon D100 ... Are there any software packages which can translate the data to a usable format ?

So any suggestions will be welcomed and I am sorry for the rambling post.

I would like to get this sorted in the next week or so if possible as I am going on holiday on the 14th and would like to take it with me.

Sinizterguy · 4 Jun 2007 at 13:42

Mint_Sauce said:
I have the all singing and dancing one, the Garmin 60csx but honestly you just need one with a usb connector and that's it. They will all record your route afaik, then you just attach the usb cable to the pc and use a simple piece of software to plonk the gps data in to your exif. I can go in to more detail and provide links if you like?
Basically, get the cheapest Garmin unit with USB or a removable memory card and you should be fine.

But the cheap ones are not mapping GPSs are they ?

Sinizterguy · 4 Jun 2007 at 14:16

Mint_Sauce said:
One other thing to remember is to set the date/time for both your camera and the gps unit the same!!! Decide if you are going to use local or holiday time before you set off, changing it when on holiday will just cause headaches as I found out.

Will keep that in mind. I will be taking my laptop with me anyway ...

Hopefully I can get internet access at the hotel.

Could you please link me to the programs that you use for taggiing the photos with the GPS coordinates?

Sinizterguy · 4 Jun 2007 at 14:35

I was going to get a Nokia N95 as my phone - and Ive just found some utilities which may allow me to do the tracking using the integrated GPS - and to upload it onto googlemaps etc ...

Just need to check if this will also allow me to tag my photos from the data generated by the phone+utility.

Edit - Sounds like the reception is not the best and that data can be spiky if you have left the keypad closed, which would be normal ....

The cheapest garmin units suitable (Garmin GPSMAP 60) are around £200 - uses 2xAA batteries for about 28hrs of mapping ...

So there are two practical options - the Sony unit for £90 or so and the Garmin for double that. Garmin is likely to give better and more reliable information. One of the common complaints about the Sony units seem to be that it is very hard to differentiate whether it is tracking or not, denoted only by different blinking of a single LED.

Sinizterguy · 4 Jun 2007 at 23:50

Tomsk said:
Have you considered using a PDA with GPS?
There are applications that will stamp the GPS co-ords on pictures taken with the PDA.

That option is too bulky I think. I will already have a laptop available for regular use ... So why add a PDA to the list.

Sinizterguy · 5 Jun 2007 at 14:20

I think I am going to with one of the garmin ones for holidays ... Any other random use I can probably do with the N95.

Found a Garmin model for £203 or thereabouts.

Sinizterguy · 5 Jun 2007 at 15:50

Mint_Sauce said:
I can vouch for Garmin, the unit I have is very accurate. Here's a quick test I did for Google Earth after my travelling.

www.henleyb.com/webstuff/NZ_2006_TEST.kmz

No ideas about the Sony, the N95 takes a long time to lock, uses a lot of battery (few hours max per charge) and accuracy is good enough I guess but won't be spot on. Also, you'll have to run third party software to record the route and I can imagine it being hassle and possibly unstable (know from experience with other phones).

Just had a chance to download it and have a look through it - fully zoomed in ... It seems really accurate - seems to follow the roads exactly.

Im definitely getting one of the Garmin ones now. I would have liked to have had the one you have, but its too much to spend on a toy ... So I will go for one of the cheaper models.

Thanks.

Sinizterguy · 11 Jun 2007 at 10:51

Just to confirm before I order it, is the Garmin GPSMAP 60 unit one that will do what I need ?