Author Topic: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3  (Read 5736 times)

Frank Fremerey

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Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« on: March 29, 2017, 11:21:04 »
I need to buy a reliable GPS-Device for my Nikon D3

I am building a house and need to document the prodceedings in a way that is accepted as proof by the courts (just in case)

Dawn Technology Limited di-GPS mini 3L and di-GPS Pro L (built-in data logger)

were two products I found highly recommended but I did not find any place to purchase these.

Maybe the solution is obsolete?

I have my Android Smartphone with USB-Type-C-connector and several other connection abilities (WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, whatever) always on me, so this could possibly somehow be connected to the camera???

I am absolutely green and never used a GPS on any camera in my life.

Thank you for your help

Frank
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

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Bjørn Rørslett

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2017, 11:30:15 »
Look into the Foolography range. They use BT technology and are extremely small devices that silently just sit on a camera port (either 10-pin or USB depending on camera model).  No cables and nothing to worry about. Anything feeding a GPS signal over BT to them will do.

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2017, 16:27:04 »
Thank you, Bjørn
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Hugh_3170

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2017, 17:39:28 »
Frank, your Android phone will geo-tag its photos for you already.

On the other hand your older Nikon D3 has an Image Authentication feature that can be turned on, which maybe handy if things got nasty and you end up in court and some smart ass (usually a lawyer or a public servant) were to suggest that the photos had been tampered with or falsified.  Pays to also record in RAW as well as JPGs where evidence is being recorded

Newer Nikon bodies such as the Df and the D810 don't seem to have the Image Authentication option.  My D200 & D700 has it as does the D3.
Hugh Gunn

pluton

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2017, 18:15:10 »
I have used the Aokatec GPS units for my D800/E cameras.  I only use them maybe 10-14 days a year, so I can't speak about long term reliability.   It recieves GPS and records direct to camera through 10-pin. They work.... so far.
I do not know what advantage bluetoothing data from a separate unit has over the all-in-one approach.
http://www.aokatec.com
Keith B., Santa Monica, CA, USA

Bjørn Rørslett

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2017, 18:50:45 »
The Foolography unit is extremely small. Thus it in no way interferes with camera operation and on my cameras, they tend to be inside the L-bracket (short side) so even more hidden. Its power drain is minuscule.

The Aokatec and di-GPS are much bigger devices. They either need cables or stick out quite a bit thus my feeling is they would be more susceptible to impact damage in the field (I know this from the di-GPS units I initially used before switching to Foolography).

In the end it's just a matter of convenience I'd guess. GPS information of your files functions best when you have to do the least to get the data.

Anthony

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2017, 18:54:24 »
Frank, if you know the person with whom you might have the dispute in future, you could make regular prints in duplicate and give him one of each pair.  You both then have a contemporaneous record.

Many years ago (pre-digital) a neighbour accused me of damaging his house by some renovation work I was carrying out on my house.  I had previously taken some photos of the site and had given him a duplicate set.  I was able to show that the damage was pre-existing.  Despite this unhappy start to our relationship, he did turn out to be a good neighbour and we managed to get on well, fortunately.
Anthony Macaulay

Akira

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2017, 22:18:59 »
I am building a house and need to document the prodceedings in a way that is accepted as proof by the courts (just in case)

Why do you need that?  In order to prove that your house is not violating the building standards law?
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arthurking83

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2017, 22:50:27 »
I have used the Aokatec GPS units for my D800/E cameras.  I only use them maybe 10-14 days a year, so I can't speak about long term reliability.   It recieves GPS and records direct to camera through 10-pin. They work.... so far.
I do not know what advantage bluetoothing data from a separate unit has over the all-in-one approach.
http://www.aokatec.com

I've had the AOKA for some time now.
Very heavily used.... and abused a little bit.
I have one of the early units, purchased for the D300 when it was fairly new-ish.
The square block design wouldn't fit nicely on the D800, as the D800's front body design was more sculptured compared to the D300(and previous Nikons with the 10 pin port.
AOKA fixed this with the newer models, but mine still worked, but had to be forced onto the body to do so.
The (old model)AOKA had to be filed down a little on one corner to fit properly, which I proceeded to do, but did so with a bit too much vigour!
On the very corner of the body I filed down but made a very small piercing into the body. Up till this point the insides seemed pretty well sealed.
That was in 2012.
While I don't get the time and chance to get out and about as I'd like too, I have done enough to warrant the comment that the little AOKA is pretty tough!
Well it beat my D800 for toughness too .. in a battle between 10 pin port toughness :D(I had to deal with the dreaded D800 10 pin port 'collapsing in' syndrome)

Main reason to go with a Bt/wireless solution is for the sake of battery consumption.
I used to have a wired GPS setup with the D300 and I'd barely get a couple of hundred shots in a single battery charge with the GPS connected by wire. (note that most, if not all, GPS devices will need a power source, which usually comes from the host .. ie. camera)
With the bluetooth GPS setup, the bt receiver(ie. AOKA or foolography) only uses a very low power bt comm link. The drain on the camera battery by the bt device is so small as to be insignificant.
I've gone two days without battery drain on both the D300 and D800.
In terms of exposures, the difference is (as an example), on the D300 I used to get about 200 exposures with a wired GPS, but with the Bt setup, I'd easily see more than 600, and sometimes over 800 exposures with the AOKA and Bt GPS ... and only charged the batteries a couple of days later to be sure I had a full days charge the next day.

Some things to note about GPS compatibility too tho, and that is the communications between the GPS and the camera. GPS uses a system of communications called NMEA.
I can't remember the exact numbers and types, but Nikon cameras use an older version of NMEA, and only understand this version.
Some smartphones( I know Apple does this) uses a newer(or maybe even proprietary??) version of NMEA.
There was a discussion about this on the old NikonGear.
If you try to connect any GPS device that only outputs newer NMEA sentences, it seems as tho the data doesn't get through to the camera or that the connection hasn't been made. It most likely has been made, and is getting through .. it's just that the camera doesn't know what it is and hence can't use it.

Also; it's not always as simple as just using the output of your smartphones GPS, as not all can actually output their GPS data .. in other words, those smartphones can only use their GPS data internally.

For me, my primary concern is battery life, as I use the GPS feature mainly for landscaping. Sometimes it's not always convenient to have access to a charger of some form. The reliance on a smartphone for the GPS data will be subject to how long the battery can sustain using the GPS and running an app to output that data over the wireless link. If battery life(eg. more than 6 or so hrs)  isn't an issue, then the smartphone solution could be convenient as you already have one device .. and so the foolography looks to be a nice solution.

Note on the foolography system(s).
They still have the older(original) D200+ device for sale, but appear to be getting a new Unleashed product out to market soon. I can't see much in the way of details on the new one, but for smartphone GPS usage, you would need this new Unleashed model.
The original D200+ model will only work with a dedicated GPS device. Also, if you ever need it to fit onto a D800, it seems that it also requires the "D800 modification" like the older AOKA does .. which is simply a sculptured profile on one corner of the device.
Arthur

Bjørn Rørslett

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2017, 23:04:09 »
The D200 model works perfectly on the D3-series cameras. I seal the GPS into place with silicone as it is intended to stay permanently on the camera. There is an extra port for a remote release or other devices over a mini jack plug.

No problem doing a quick modification of this module to fit the D8x00 series or similar.

arthurking83

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2017, 23:30:10 »
..... I seal the GPS into place with silicone as it is intended to stay permanently on the camera. ....

I assume that you meant the Bt device(being the foolography) and not permanently attach the Holux GPS to the camera?(from memory I think you also used Holux GPS datalogger)

D800 mod is just to file the body of the Bt device at one corner, same with the AOKA, and I worked as carefully as I could with my AOKA, taking out as little as I could till I felt it slip into the 10pin port with no restriction.
On the last file effort, I obviously got a little over exuberant and just filed back a little too much off the body and made a hole in the tip of the corner(my bad there).

Arthur

Bjørn Rørslett

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2017, 23:38:11 »
Yes, the small Foolography receiver is the one permanently attached to the camera. Anything else would be stupid on my part. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

I do have a GPS datalogger used with whatever camera on a trip that haven't GPS support (Panasonics for example), but this adds an extra step or two in the work flow.

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2017, 00:51:48 »
Frank, your Android phone will geo-tag its photos for you already.

On the other hand your older Nikon D3 has an Image Authentication feature that can be turned on, which maybe handy if things got nasty and you end up in court and some smart ass (usually a lawyer or a public servant) were to suggest that the photos had been tampered with or falsified.  Pays to also record in RAW as well as JPGs where evidence is being recorded

Newer Nikon bodies such as the Df and the D810 don't seem to have the Image Authentication option.  My D200 & D700 has it as does the D3.


The IA is the reason while I still keep the D3. Now I need to secure time and space by having GPS written into the files.
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2017, 00:56:27 »
Frank, if you know the person with whom you might have the dispute in future, you could make regular prints in duplicate and give him one of each pair.  You both then have a contemporaneous record.

Many years ago (pre-digital) a neighbour accused me of damaging his house by some renovation work I was carrying out on my house.  I had previously taken some photos of the site and had given him a duplicate set.  I was able to show that the damage was pre-existing.  Despite this unhappy start to our relationship, he did turn out to be a good neighbour and we managed to get on well, fortunately.

Thank you friend and sophisticated reader of the law!
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Purchasing advice: Which GPS for Nikon D3
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2017, 01:04:12 »
Why do you need that?  In order to prove that your house is not violating the building standards law?

No. In the endevour there are some people on the sidelines that sometimes need to be reminded that there are lines and they shall not trespass.

The first one it someone who might have violated environmental laws for decades. I do not want to pay for the clean up which can be in the 50k Euro region if things go bad. So I need proof by several measures.

Another are builders who try to hide bad work behind plaster. On my construction sites no one is allowed to close any hole or wall before I did not take an authenticated picture of it. Tresspassing means opening the wall again on his account or being thrown out of the site forever. Compliance means I pay the bill on the day I receive it.

And on and on and on..
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/