Recommended geotagging gear & software for Aperture?

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Level 2

349 points

Recommended geotagging gear & software for Aperture?

In the final Macworld Keynote, we saw the jump for geotagging your photos in iPhoto. There are plenty of threads around boasting the business benefits of this data, so I won't go into them here, but suffice to say, now that Apple has taken the step of embedding this tool in the consumer software, you know it's around the corner for the next Aperture update.

I've been meaning to get a GPS logger for a while, but when I checked a few months ago the software out there for tacking on Lat/Lon onto your EXIF data was pretty anemic. Now I see there's respectable Mac software for this, and we've got a European tour coming up this summer, so my interest is definitely piqued.

What do you recommend for a GPS logger and geocoding software? The all in one versions I saw in the past (pop in your memory card to the GPS tracker when you're finished shooting) didn't support CF cards or RAW files, so it was out the window. I'd like a logger I can throw in my gear bag for the day and forget about it 'til it's time for upload. I've looked at some of the options listed here:

http://www.trick77.com/2008/07/19/re...-mac/#more-103

and I think I'd prefer HoudahGeo over some of the others because of its versatility and my very positive experience with the user interface in HoudahSpot.

Does anyone else bother with geotagging their images here? Any suggestions? Please in mind, I'd also use this for landscape photography (usually during hiking) along with travel shooting.

Message was edited by: Host <edited subject from all caps>

1.67Ghz - 17 PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 2GB SD-RAMM

Posted on Jan 6, 2009 5:09 PM

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Answer 1

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dg1132

Level 1

20 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:22 PM in response to Dan Bargen

Try the "gpspassion.com" forums for some in-depth discussions on choosing dataloggers and software.

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=128

Personally, I like the AMOD 3080 datalogger and use it almost constantly with my Nikon D-SLR. The 3080 has variable logging rates and can literally store weeks worth of data without needing to be dumped to a computer, plus it uses AAA batteries so you don't have to carry around specialized chargers. It's Mac (and Linux) compatible, plus generates a standard NMEA log files which which can be used for way more than just geotagging. Once you have NMEA files, you can use various pieces of software (I like GPSBabel and GPSPhotoLinker) to merge the tags into the EXIF metadata of your photos.

Of course, the side benefit to carrying around a datalogger when you're on a trip is that you get a great record of all the various places you visited (regardless whether you take any photos), how you got there, etc. I highly recommend it.

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Answer 2

Dan Bargen Author

Level 2

349 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:22 PM in response to dg1132

The price of your preferred logger and functions look nice, but do you know of anything that let's me use external storage for the datafiles? My fiancée convinced me to leave the laptop at home, so I've loaded up on CF cards (thank you Lexar rebates) for my photos, but I'm not sure if 70 continuous hours would be enough. This is a 14 day trip, and although I'll probably want to leave the logger off in the plane and at night, I'm not sure it would cover it.

Obviously, I'm a newbie when it comes to GPS loggers, so this could be an unncessary request. I was just hoping I could get one of these that I could turn on, keep in my pocket all day, and turn off when I go to bed, recording ALL of our positions and covering us both for when either of us takes decides to a picture.

If it's not an option, oh well, but maybe you can gives some pointers on how to make do with the availability that's out there.

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Answer 3

Pete1961

Level 1

25 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:23 PM in response to Dan Bargen

Try Dawn Tech Di-GPS. You can find them on the internet. I have one and it is the best method to Geo-Tag photos with your camera. The information is embedded with the photo file as exif data when the picture is taken.

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Answer 4

LMBvideo

Level 1

5 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:23 PM in response to Pete1961

Im looking for something that will work for the canon XSI. The one mentioned above seems like it would work perfect for Nikons, but you need the $800 dollar adapter to use it with a canon. What do you guys think of something like this.

http://www.jobo.com/web/photoGPS.447.0.html

And would this work with iphoto, and hopefully aperture soon?

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Answer 5

xmatt

Level 1

0 points

Sep 14, 2010 8:17 AM in response to Dan Bargen

Wow, that gpspassion discussion forum illustrates exactly why Apple needs to make this work in Aperture. You have apparently a whole lot of really excited photographers wanting to build geotagging workflows, but right now it seems like all of the solutions are incredible patchworks of hardware and software. At the least, if Aperture could intelligently deal with GPX or NMEA location data -- whatever hardware you use to generate that data -- it seems like it would be an absolute killer feature for many pros.

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Answer 6

Dan Bargen Author

Level 2

349 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:23 PM in response to Dan Bargen

I've done some looking, and sermon's seems to have a good listing of current options, don't you think?

http://www.semsons.com/datalogger.html

In particular, I like the specs on this VisionTac model:

http://www.semsons.com/vivgblgpsrem.html

The built-in MicroSD slot for storage and "Spy Mode" (one month continuous log max!) along with Point of Interest (POI) button look like a good combination for a trip where, given the ability, I'd like to see where we go day-by-day. A little further investigation and review is required, but i hope to soon be back with a glowing review.

Keep throwing your ideas out there! Please.

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Answer 7

Dec 8, 2010 1:23 PM in response to Dan Bargen

Hi all,
I wanted teh GPS tagging right inside my RAW files (Nikon D200 back then, Nikon D300 now) so bad a few years back that I build one after some instructions I found on the internet, basically you need to take a USB GPS "mouse", rip out the GPS chip thing and solder a few wires to a Nikon cable. No big deal, and nicer more compact versions are available now. One of the drawbacks in "my solution" is that it does eat a bit of battery, but then again, the D300 is so much better than the D200 in this regard, so it hardly matters most of the time.

I totally agree on the retrospective geo-tagging needed (and coming in Aperture 3 - or 2.5?) - almost certainly in the next two months now... because once you start to have a few pics with that data in there, it just opens up a totally new arena for all sorts of cool things.

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Answer 8

cali

Level 1

5 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:24 PM in response to Dan Bargen

I'd take another look at the Amod 3080. With the new software update you can now set it to log every 10 seconds instead of logging every 1 second. This means that the device can literally go for months without filling up.

In the event that it does fill up, the 3080 can connect without drivers to any PC or Mac making it very convenient to email yourself your tracks from an internet cafe (something that would be next to impossible with an logger that needs drivers).

Another thing I like about it is that it takes AAA batteries. I recently picked up the Amod 3080 and a battery recharger and I should be good to go for trips of 3 weeks or longer.

I'm someone who wanted a logger that would be ideal for international trips of three weeks or longer where I didn't have to connect my logger to a computer until I got home. The huge storage capacity and the ability to use AAA batteries means the Amod 3080 will be able to keep up.

After a bunch of research the Amod is what I ended up going with. If you feel that your circumstances are similar to mine then I hope my reasoning helps you make a decision.

Best,
Will

P.S. the one drawback to the Amod seems to be the fact that to update the software on the device (aka to give it the ability to log every 10 seconds instead of just every 1) you need to run the updater on a PC. Now this is a one time affair which made the purchase still worth it for me but you may feel otherwise.

Message was edited by: cali

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Answer 9

tidysteve

Level 4

2,975 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:24 PM in response to cali

cali ...

i have been looking for a small device to clip to my kit, log gps long/lat data points throughout the day ...

after reading your post, it seems like the amod 3080 might be what i am looking for ...

sell me on it ... 😉 how do you integrate into your aperture workflow ??? can the info be written to RAW files or stored in the aperture db for the images ???

i currently manually do it all ... well not all, because i am a little lazy and only do it for some ... but would like to automate it and do it for all ...

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Answer 10

Dec 8, 2010 1:24 PM in response to tidysteve

I have been playing around with a very cheap option for this, using my iphone's gps and the 'Trails' app (£1.79) to create the gpx data and then maperture pro beta (currently free) to reverse geocode my photos once imported to Aperture. I have only had a chance at limited testing of this, but so far works very well

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Answer 11

Dec 8, 2010 1:24 PM in response to tidysteve

I have an AMOD 3080. I made an AppleScript droplet that uses GPSBabel to make a gpx file. Open the gpx and a folder full of images (usually NEFs) in GPSPhotoLinker. All free software, and it takes only a minute or two. The trick is to tag the images before importing into Aperture. Aperture gets confused if you tag the images afterwards.

If you buy a new AMOD 3080, it will already have the latest firmware.

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Answer 12

Dec 8, 2010 1:23 PM in response to LMBvideo

I've tired the Amod, the ATP photofinder and the jobo gps.
Each has there own way of tagging the photos, which is generally done prior to importing to Aperture or Iphoto.
I favor the Jobo. It logs as the shutter fires, which prolongs rechargeable battery life. The only downside is for tagging purposes you need an internet connection. I haven't found this to be a problem so far.
It seems to be the most reliable of the units I've used.
Good luck

Message was edited by: jeffd55

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Answer 13

tidysteve

Level 4

2,975 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:24 PM in response to Martin Williams-Peck

problem is, i cant leave the logger just running on the iPhone ... yet ... maybe 3.0 will allow those gps logger apps to run in the background ...

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Answer 14

tidysteve

Level 4

2,975 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:25 PM in response to Jeffrey Jones2

that sounds like what i want to do ... thanks ...

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Answer 15

Dan Bargen Author

Level 2

349 points

Dec 8, 2010 1:25 PM in response to Dan Bargen

My solution ended up being the V900 logger from Visiontac. By allowing you to save to microSD cards as large as 2GB, it was plenty for a two week vacation.

I will note that I had to use a GPSBabel beta since the CSV files this device generates are not the standard, but after translating those files, I used HoudahGeo to tag the files after the fact.

Until Apple incorporated tagging from a device or file into Aperture, this solution works well enough.

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