Is the Nikon GP-1 Worth it? (Connivence? / Inconvenience?)

[Brian Hirschfeld]

How well does the Nikon GP-1 Work, do you have to use special software, or is it just saved in the EXIF data? to anyone who has it, have you found that it is annoying to have it on the top of the camera + the wire going down the side? Any thoughts or other types of GPS units which are more compact?

[Chris Kern]

How well does the Nikon GP-1 Work, do you have to use special software, or is it just saved in the EXIF data? to anyone who has it, have you found that it is annoying to have it on the top of the camera + the wire going down the side? Any thoughts or other types of GPS units which are more compact?

No special software: the geotags are simply added to the metadata.  Satellite acquisition is remarkably quick, even after you have moved the camera hundreds or thousands of miles.  (I've used many automotive GPS units, built-in and aftermarket, and I think the GP-1 gets a satellite lock as fast or faster than the best of them.)  It is indeed a bit of a nuisance to have the cable running down the side of the camera—I route it clockwise around the GP-1 unit to reduce the slack and therefore the risk I'll snag something—but I'm accustomed to it now and use it whenever I'm shooting outdoors.  The unit does suck juice from the battery, but the camera firmware can optionally be configured to minimize that by putting it to sleep during idle intervals; the downside is that it takes a few extra seconds for the unit to power up and reacquire a lock when you're ready to snap the shutter again.  I've found it very convenient to have my images accurately geotagged, especially now with LR4's "Map" module.

Chris

[Brian Hirschfeld]

So does it stop the camera from taking a picture until the GP-1 has a signal? or will the camera always function and the GP-1 just misses a few when its being awakened from sleeping? thanks

[Chris Kern]

So does it stop the camera from taking a picture until the GP-1 has a signal? or will the camera always function and the GP-1 just misses a few when its being awakened from sleeping? thanks

You can still make a picture; you just don't get the embedded geotags until the GP-1 powers back up.  You can also disable the power-saving feature entirely.  I've gotten into the habit of half-pressing the shutter whenever I think I might be getting ready to take a photograph.  It's quite rare that I wind up with an image that isn't geotagged—and, of course, if that happens at the beginning of a sequence of shots at the same location, you can simply copy the tag from the second (or nth) one.

Chris

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Sounds like I am going to pick one up, It seems to be the best solution to me since it is the most integrated into the Nikon System. I think the included GP1-CL1 which lets you put it on the camera strap is going to be the way to go for me personally. I always feel like I move my hands all over the camera when I am taking pictures for some reason.