What does a Nikon GPS unit do on a D810?
Asked 12/17/2015
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A Nikon D810 kit I bought included a GPS unit. What is it mainly used for? Does it just add location data to photos, or are there other useful functions on the camera as well?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
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Is it just to record metadata on the image so you know where the photo was taken, like if you took a picture of a waterfall or something?
Yup, that's pretty much it. The GPS unit can geotag your photos in the EXIF metadata as you take them, so you don't have to keep notes of where you took a photo, or sync the geo data from a track file into the photo metadata by date/time stamps. It's mostly used by landscape photographers, but can also be used by scientific shooters if they need to map specimens or the like.
The GPS unit can also accurately set/reset the clock in the camera based on the precise atomic clock signals used for GPS, but you have to turn on the Set clock from satellite setting in the camera menus.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
10y ago
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A Nikon GPS unit is mainly used to geotag photos by writing location data into the image’s EXIF metadata at the time you shoot. That makes it easier to remember or map exactly where an image was taken without keeping separate notes or matching photos to a GPS track later.
That’s the primary purpose, but there are a couple of related uses:
- the camera can display your current location once it has a satellite fix
- it can set or update the camera clock from GPS time if the appropriate menu option is enabled
- in some workflows, the GPS data can also be useful with mapping software
This is especially handy for landscape, travel, field/scientific, or documentary photography where location matters. So yes: its main job is recording location metadata, with a few extra convenience features tied to GPS information.
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