Why does GPS location recording turn itself off on a Nikon D5300?
Asked 6/3/2018
4 views
2 answers
0
I use the built-in GPS on my Nikon D5300 to geotag photos. Sometimes after a few days of shooting I find that new images have no location data, and the camera’s “Record location data” setting has changed to Off even though I did not switch it off intentionally.
Removing and reinstalling the battery does not seem to be the cause, because the setting stayed on after charging the battery overnight.
What events can cause the D5300 to turn GPS recording off automatically, and is there any way to reduce the chance of it happening?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
4
According to a blog post and associated comments at Built-in GPS in Nikon D5300, the Nikon D5300 internal GPS is turned off when it is connected to an external GPS, which may include your phone.
If you connect your camera to your phone, the camera GPS may be turned off, even if your intention was not to use your phone's GPS. For instance, you could have been transferring pictures or using the phone as a remote shutter release.
Another possibility is if the camera cannot get a GPS lock after a number of tries, it may turn off GPS to save battery.
You may be able to increase the likelihood of your phone locking onto GPS by updating the A-GPS data.
To avoid having to reacquire GPS locks, you can try keeping GPS active by turning on location logging. However, it would likely cause your battery to run down faster. (Consider buying and carrying around multiple batteries.)
As a work-around for when you don't catch the problem in time, you can use Google Location History to geotag your photos. Accuracy isn't great, but it's better than nothing.
Consider keeping a paper journal of date/time, charging/use schedules, indoor/outdoor use, gps status, etc? A pattern might stand out in a written record that otherwise wouldn't.
Originally by user75526. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75526
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
On the D5300, the built-in GPS can be turned off automatically in some situations.
Based on user reports, one common trigger is connecting the camera to an external GPS source, which may include a phone connection. So if you use your phone for image transfer or remote control, the camera may disable its own GPS even if that wasn’t your goal.
Another possibility is that if the camera repeatedly fails to get a GPS lock, it may switch GPS off to save battery power.
What you can do:
- Check whether phone/camera connections are disabling the internal GPS.
- If your workflow uses a phone, confirm whether it is acting as the location source.
- Improve lock reliability by updating A-GPS data if available.
- If supported, keep GPS active with location logging, though this will use more battery.
If reliability matters most, many photographers avoid the D5300’s built-in GPS and instead log location with a phone app or external GPS tracker, then sync the track to photos later by timestamp.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI8y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why does my Nikon D5300 freeze when shooting photos or 60 fps video?
Why doesn’t Lightroom 3 show GPS geotags in Nikon NEF files?
How can I transfer Picasa geotags so Lightroom recognizes them?
Can I use Google Location History to geotag photos from a non-GPS camera?
How can I tell whether my Nikon D5100 won’t power on because of the battery, charger, or camera body?