You could just carry an extra camera battery and a portable phone battery charger/booster that extends the life of your phone battery. But I would check that you did not accidently leave wifi on as that will drain a lot more power. I don't know much about Nikons but bluetooth gps tagging on its own shouldn't really use a noticeable amount of power. Someone did a back to back test with bluetooth GPS on/off (with a different camera) and found negligible difference both with camera and phone battery (start at 10.23): watch?v=4DC0U7fMSs0
Hi Adrian - GPS data is actually important to me as well. As the coordinates coming from my iPhone via Snapbridge are partially off quite substantially, I am using an old separate GPS logger, which I just throw in my camera bag. Yet, I need to remember switching it on. 😂 In post processing I am then using specific software (MyTracks on Mac and GeoSetter on PC) to not only add the geo-coordinates to the EXIF data but also automatically add geo data such as country, region, city as clear text. It is an extra step in the workflow, and I would love all Z cameras to record GPS data by themselves…
I totally agree Martin, it's functionality that you often only realise you miss when it's not there! Anything that simplifies the workflow is really useful and is where sometimes I'll revert to using my iPhone if the end usage allows as it makes it often much simpler and therefore quicker to achieve the required image impact. Let's hope that as Smartphone and cameras become closer it becomes the norm as you say👍
I still have my Nikon GP-1 unit that I currently use on my Z6II. Can't wait to try it on my incoming Z8. I think GPS data is very important as sometimes I have problems remembering which church I've entered, etc. It came in very handy while on a trip to Antarctica. It showed where were stood on the various South Georgia Islands.
Hi Mark, I had seen posts that there had been issues connecting the GP-1 to the Z6/7. Glad you managed to get it working. The re-emergence of the 10-pin connector is quite useful and provides a bit of backward compatibility for accessories which is great. Antarctica is on my bucket list👍
Product differentiation. Every manufacturer consciously omits features to avoid competition within their lines. And quite possibly not feasible with the smaller capacity battery.
I have been using a Solmeta N3 to my D850 and luckily it was working with my Z8. But after the Z8 firmware update to 2.0 the GPS stopped working. Anyone with a similar experience?
Thanks for the information. I have a Solmeta that I used on my D850 and now on my Z7II but for years I have a problem with this device (amongst other I can not update the firmware) and I get no, absolutely no response from the support. The customer support appears to be completely dead - I therefore do not recommend this product at all
Thanks for letting us know. If my Aokatec hadn't worked then I was looking at a Solmeta as an alternative. Most of the devices seem to be older technology and support is important to ensure that they continue to work with newer cameras👍
How many of you are missing GPS tagging in your cameras? How have you managed to overcome it?
Absurd that GPS has been in cheap phones for a decade but still not integrated in most high end cameras.
You could just carry an extra camera battery and a portable phone battery charger/booster that extends the life of your phone battery. But I would check that you did not accidently leave wifi on as that will drain a lot more power. I don't know much about Nikons but bluetooth gps tagging on its own shouldn't really use a noticeable amount of power.
Someone did a back to back test with bluetooth GPS on/off (with a different camera) and found negligible difference both with camera and phone battery (start at 10.23):
watch?v=4DC0U7fMSs0
The lack of GPS is what has stopped me buying a Z8. Such a shame.
Agree
Hi Adrian - GPS data is actually important to me as well. As the coordinates coming from my iPhone via Snapbridge are partially off quite substantially, I am using an old separate GPS logger, which I just throw in my camera bag. Yet, I need to remember switching it on. 😂 In post processing I am then using specific software (MyTracks on Mac and GeoSetter on PC) to not only add the geo-coordinates to the EXIF data but also automatically add geo data such as country, region, city as clear text. It is an extra step in the workflow, and I would love all Z cameras to record GPS data by themselves…
I totally agree Martin, it's functionality that you often only realise you miss when it's not there! Anything that simplifies the workflow is really useful and is where sometimes I'll revert to using my iPhone if the end usage allows as it makes it often much simpler and therefore quicker to achieve the required image impact. Let's hope that as Smartphone and cameras become closer it becomes the norm as you say👍
I still have my Nikon GP-1 unit that I currently use on my Z6II. Can't wait to try it on my incoming Z8. I think GPS data is very important as sometimes I have problems remembering which church I've entered, etc. It came in very handy while on a trip to Antarctica. It showed where were stood on the various South Georgia Islands.
Hi Mark, I had seen posts that there had been issues connecting the GP-1 to the Z6/7. Glad you managed to get it working. The re-emergence of the 10-pin connector is quite useful and provides a bit of backward compatibility for accessories which is great. Antarctica is on my bucket list👍
Product differentiation. Every manufacturer consciously omits features to avoid competition within their lines. And quite possibly not feasible with the smaller capacity battery.
How accurate was the gps before - would it for example show the exact location of shots across a building
💯
I have been using a Solmeta N3 to my D850 and luckily it was working with my Z8. But after the Z8 firmware update to 2.0 the GPS stopped working. Anyone with a similar experience?
Thanks for the information. I have a Solmeta that I used on my D850 and now on my Z7II but for years I have a problem with this device (amongst other I can not update the firmware) and I get no, absolutely no response from the support. The customer support appears to be completely dead - I therefore do not recommend this product at all
Thanks for letting us know. If my Aokatec hadn't worked then I was looking at a Solmeta as an alternative. Most of the devices seem to be older technology and support is important to ensure that they continue to work with newer cameras👍
Can it be use in Zf as well?