Should I geotag travel photos with a standalone GPS logger or a smartphone app?
Asked 7/16/2012
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I’m preparing for a trip and want to geotag a few hundred photos reliably. I’m considering either a standalone GPS unit or a smartphone app, but I don’t have experience with either approach. For people who geotag regularly, which method do you find more robust for travel use? Also, are there camera-specific GPS accessories I should check for before choosing an app or separate logger?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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I don't know about you but my smartphone just doesn't have the battery life to make this work. I therefore use a standalone GPS device made by Holux. It's Bluetooth-capable and transmits the GPS coordinates to a Foolography Unleashed device attached to my camera. The Holux device runs the whole day on a single charge, and with this setup all my images are GPS-tagged in-camera.
You can also use the Holux device "offline" because it also records a track which can be applied to the images when downloading them from the camera (the clock on the camera needs to be more or less correct, but that's not so hard).
EDIT: I forgot to mention that the Unleashed also works OK indoors, after a fashion; if the GPS signal is lost (becasue e.g. you went indoors) it continues to serve the saved position (but an up-to-date time) for 30 minutes. I like this feature. I assume though that if you're geotagging your images from a GPS track, you get pretty much the same functionality by doing that.
Originally by user1359. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1359
14y ago
0
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A standalone GPS solution is generally the more robust choice for travel, mainly because of battery life and automation.
From the shared experiences here:
- A dedicated GPS logger can run all day on one charge, while a smartphone may struggle if it’s logging location continuously.
- Some standalone units can tag images in-camera via Bluetooth or a camera accessory.
- Many GPS loggers can also record a track log for later geotagging during import, as long as your camera clock is set accurately.
- Some camera bodies support direct GPS accessories through a dedicated port, and certain models can even sync the camera clock from GPS.
A smartphone app can work, especially if you want a searchable log of places and images, but it may be less dependable for long shooting days unless you’re managing power carefully.
Best advice: first check whether your camera already supports a GPS accessory or third-party GPS add-on. If it does, that’s often the simplest and most seamless option. If not, a standalone GPS logger with track logging is a strong, reliable fallback for large travel shoots.
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