Problems With Auto-tagging photos in the Map Module

[brianrybolt]

I am having no luck whatsoever in being able to auto-tag my shots from a Sony A7R2 – uncompressed raw.  I have looked at all the Michael/Schewe videos on LR plus J. Kost and others.

I have tried using both my iPhone and Garmin etrex 10 to create tracks for use in the module.  I have synchronised my camera’s clock with both of the above units.  I can drop and drag the photos onto the places I remember where I shot BUT the auto-tag function won’t work!!

Any suggestions always appreciated.  (please don’t wander off in other directions – stick to the topic please)

Cheers,  Brian

PS.  I'm runnings latest iteration of LRCC

[garyhill]

Are you able to load the Tracklog (GPX file) successfully?

Gary

[brianrybolt]

Hi,  Yes I have no problems loading the  tracklog.

[john beardsworth]

Have you double and triple checked the synchronisation of the camera and tracker? It's easy to have the wrong year or a wrong date. Maybe open the tracklog in TextEdit or Notepad and compare the EXIF time in Lr's Metadata panel. It'll be something simple.

You might also see if http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/gps works better for you.

[garyhill]

Is the Time Zone Offset set correctly? If the camera is on local time but the GPX tracklog is recording GMT then the times will not match.

Gary

[brianrybolt]

Hello Garyhill,  I am synching my camera's date/time to my geotracker (Garmin etrex 10) so they should be in synch.

[AFairley]

Hello Garyhill,  I am synching my camera's date/time to my geotracker (Garmin etrex 10) so they should be in synch.

It never hurts to doublecheck the time stamps in the track log. On a couple of occasions I had time stamps that were off by a couple hours, no idea how or why.  Also in Adobe double check your capture times, I have had off times show up there once or twice.  This even though I routinely check camera time against gps time before a shooting session.

[mlewis]

Is the Time Zone Offset set correctly? If the camera is on local time but the GPX tracklog is recording GMT then the times will not match.

Gary

GPX timestamps are always in UTC (GMT).  It is not a properly formatted GPX file if they are not.

[garyhill]

As mlewis has confirmed the time stamp in the GPX file is GMT, not necessarily your local time as displayed on the garmin unit. I am guessing that your GPS unit can display the local time based on its current co-ordinates but the actual time stamp it records is GMT. You still need to tell Lightroom that there is X hours difference between the Tracklog time stamp and your time zone when the photos were taken. I am on the east coast of Australia and need to dial in +10 to make the auto-tag functionality work.

Hope this helps.

Gary

[gchappel]

Thanks- I finally was able to get auto tagging to work.  EST with daylight savings is now +4hrs from gmt. 

Now a question.
When I travel to a different time zone, if I do not reset my camera clock- I assume the same +4hrs will work?
My camera clock is unchanged.  Gmt is unchanged, so I assume the auto tagging will work? 
Thanks again
Gary

[garyhill]

Yes, what you suggest should be correct. If you leave the camera as your local time zone and leave the adjustment as +4 hours then it should continue to auto-tag correctly.

The only downside to this is that the time stamp associated with the photo is that of your home time zone not the local time zone where you happen to be when the photo's are taken. If this is not critical or important then all is good.

If you want to have the time stamp of the photo correct to local time then you need to adjust your camera clock to local time (lets use +6 hours for example). When you import the relevant tracklog into lightroom you then adjust the difference in Lightroom to +6 hours and do auto tag. Once back in your home time zone (+4 hours) you reset your camera clock back to normal and then next time you import a tracklog then reset the difference back to 4 hours and auto tag as required.

Cheers,

Gary

[gchappel]

Thanks, that is what I thought would happen.
Gary