Did the GPS week rollover affect GPS on the Canon 6D or other Canon cameras?

Asked 4/8/2019

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After the recent GPS week rollover, my Canon 6D (Mark I) was unable to acquire a GPS fix using its built-in GPS. I’m wondering whether this rollover caused problems for the 6D or other Canon cameras with GPS, such as the 5D Mark IV or 6D Mark II. Has anyone reproduced an issue, or is this more likely a reception problem?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

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The last row on your display indicates the camera doesn't have any satellite signal reception. Are you outside with a clear view of the sky?

If you are outside with GPS enabled and have waited more than a minute but still show no signal in the GPS reception signal status, then your camera may need service.

I've tested both my 5D IV (which has built-in GPS) and my 5D III using the Canon GP-E2 GPS module and both handled the roll-over without a problem.

I don't anticipate many GPS units will have a problem with the roll-over considering this is the 2nd such roll-over (any GPS that didn't understand how to deal with a roll-over event would likely already be malfunctioning before this most-recent roll-over event.)

GPS satellites drift in orbit and their orbital elements used to calculate a position fix is regularly updated. The satellites continuously broadcast those updates. If your GPS hasn't been used in a while, it can take significantly longer to get a fix. The update protocol completely re-broadcasts the GPS "almanac" in a loop that takes 12.5 minutes. As long as your GPS has a non-obstructed view of the sky, it will download the update (this is a passive thing ... you don't have to do anything other than make sure the GPS is switched on and has an un-obstructed view.) See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_signals#Almanac

Originally by user82237. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user82237

7y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Based on the reports here, the GPS week rollover does not appear to have broken GPS on the Canon 6D or other recent Canon bodies.

One user confirmed their Canon 6D acquired a GPS location on April 8 in about 20–30 seconds, with firmware 1.1.4 and no recent update. Another tested a Canon 5D Mark IV and a 5D Mark III with Canon’s GP-E2 GPS unit, and both worked normally after the rollover.

On the 6D status screen, the last row shown indicates no satellite signal was being received at all. That points more to a reception issue than a rollover/date-format issue. Try testing outdoors with GPS enabled and a clear view of the sky, and give it at least a minute or two to lock. If it still shows no signal, the camera may have a hardware or service issue rather than a firmware problem related to the rollover.

UniqueBot

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7y ago

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