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New Sony GPS Camera Accessory



 
 
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  #21  
Old September 13th 06, 06:06 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Padu
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Posts: 80
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory


Paul Allen and Brian Sullivan wrote at different times:
It seems though that the software that comes with it will interpolate
so that even indoor pictures can be tagged (at least approximately).


Hmmm... I'd rather have no data than a guess.


Why turn on and off? Just turn it on and forget about it.


Really just the outdoor pics,


Even outdoors, the GPS system doesn't work well under trees. Foliage
is not transparent to the signals, resulting in multipath, phase
changes, and positions that can be off by miles.


That is changing, the vendor that I use (uBlox) has a chipset that allows
GPS fixes even indoors (with precision penalty)


and of those, just the ones that you
took long enough after powering up the GPS for it to have acquired
signals and figured out the coordinates. This can take up to 12
minutes, depending on how long it's been since you last used the
thing.


12 minutes? I didn't notice that info in the specs.The Pharos GPS I
have for my laptop usually takes max 15-30 seconds to start up and
orient itself.


It all depends. When you turn on a GPS for its first time, before it can
calculate a fix, it must download the almanac (the orbit of satelittes),
otherwise it receives the signal from the satelitte but it doesn't know
where it is. That's what takes 12 minutes or so. Now, if the information is
saved before power off, then when you power on again and the almanac is not
expired and you haven't moved more than a hundred or so miles, then it is
much faster.


Probably depends on the unit. My old Eagle Explorer gets a fix in a
couple minutes when powered on after months of sitting in a drawer,
but it's quicker if I use it more often.


Exactly, it depends on the system architecture (save or not to save the
almanac for example) and the speed of the internal CPU, and a few other
things too.

Cheers

Padu



  #22  
Old September 13th 06, 06:12 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Bushy Pete
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Posts: 3
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory

Nikon's D200 camera has an optional GPS serial cable to connect to any GPS,
and will add the info to the EXIF data.

Only problem is bloody Maxwell and their ridiculous mark-up makes the cable
cost over $200 for a standard 9 pin serial connector at one end and the
proprietary Nikon connector at the other end. The Garmin GPS to serial cable
is more reasonably priced at about $20.00. Both cables are needed, and
probably a gender changer.

This has been available since November 2005.

Hope this helps,
Peter

"Wayne J. Cosshall" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Sony has announced a new GPS unit for its digital cameras and camcorders
to record the position of every shot. Details are at:
http://www.dimagemaker.com/article.php?articleID=673

Cheers,

Wayne
--
Wayne J. Cosshall
Publisher, The Digital ImageMaker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/
Blog http://www.digitalimagemakerworld.com/



  #23  
Old September 13th 06, 06:12 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Brian Sullivan
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Posts: 24
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory


Paul Allen wrote:

It seems though that the software that comes with it will interpolate
so that even indoor pictures can be tagged (at least approximately).


Hmmm... I'd rather have no data than a guess.


Well the way the thing works -- it is all guesswork and approximation
anyway-- the GPS points are minimum 15 seconds apart. And all depends
on reasonably accurate synching of the two time sources ( the camera
and the locating device). Certainly not as accurate as recording the
location at the time of the picture capture (which I think a number of
Nikon cameras do).

If the software that did the approximation/interpolation were clever it
could look at speed and acceleration in estimates I guess (but I am not
sure that really provides any better estimates anyway).

  #24  
Old September 13th 06, 07:49 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Cynicor
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Posts: 121
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory

Build your own. (I am halfway there, still have the Nikon cable as a
go-between.)
http://cynicor.blogspot.com/2006/07/...n-d200_28.html

Bushy Pete wrote:
Nikon's D200 camera has an optional GPS serial cable to connect to any GPS,
and will add the info to the EXIF data.

Only problem is bloody Maxwell and their ridiculous mark-up makes the cable
cost over $200 for a standard 9 pin serial connector at one end and the
proprietary Nikon connector at the other end. The Garmin GPS to serial cable
is more reasonably priced at about $20.00. Both cables are needed, and
probably a gender changer.

This has been available since November 2005.

Hope this helps,
Peter

"Wayne J. Cosshall" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Sony has announced a new GPS unit for its digital cameras and camcorders
to record the position of every shot. Details are at:
http://www.dimagemaker.com/article.php?articleID=673

Cheers,

Wayne
--
Wayne J. Cosshall
Publisher, The Digital ImageMaker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/
Blog http://www.digitalimagemakerworld.com/

  #25  
Old September 13th 06, 10:34 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Ron Hunter
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Posts: 4,064
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory

Brian Sullivan wrote:
Ron Hunter wrote:
Wayne J. Cosshall wrote:
Hi All,

Sony has announced a new GPS unit for its digital cameras and camcorders
to record the position of every shot. Details are at:
http://www.dimagemaker.com/article.php?articleID=673

Cheers,

Wayne

Sounds like software could easily be written to match the time and date
stamps with any tracklog from any GPS unit. Not need to buy Sony's
doubtless pricey solution.


As far as I can tell the Sony product has a MSRP of $129
CDN(http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/ser...ductId=1003212)
and has built in flash memory, gps, software for recording time and gps
location, a battery that runs it for 31 hours and a usb connection for
downloading to computer.

I don't think there are other GPS units at that price (I have one that
connects to a laptop that cost less but carrying around a laptop and
having to recharge every few hours seems like a less than optimum
solution).

The GPS described doesn't have a display, which accounts for the lower
price, and the long battery life. It isn't a full-fledged GPS at all,
just a way of recording time and position stamps, which many 'GPS
enabled' cell phones do for even less. In short, I am not impressed by
either the price, or the capabilities.
  #26  
Old September 13th 06, 10:35 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Ron Hunter
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Posts: 4,064
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory

kosh wrote:
Padu wrote:
"Brian Sullivan"

It sounds like other software could use the output of this device so
other cameras could be supported. Perhaps something like Picasa will
support it?

Anyone heard of any leanings in that direction?



Actually, I believe you don't need their hardware. I develop GPS based
applications, and thinking about it, if you have a tracklog recorded
in a given format (NMEA is common to most, if not all, GPS devices),
it shouldn't be difficult to write an application that goes through a
folder where your pictures are stored and match the date picture was
taken from the EXIF, and get the coordinate from the tracklog file at
that time, and write back to the EXIF.

I would create such a software easily, but I doubt that nobody thought
about it yet.

Cheers

Padu


well someone thought it was good enough to make a product!!!! Perhaps
there is something to it, though I can't imagine a LARGE numbr of people
having a requirement like this..

real estate
military
surveyors
reporters who have a large number of images and travel lots
????

hmmmm heres an idea.... if you could photograph say... a city from
multiple anges with full GPS data including elevation..... I would think
some clever software could give you amazing 3d photogrpahic renderings.

come to think of it, one of my customers used their camera to record
every inch of Melb. GP to make photo realistic game textures..... GPS
data would probably be pretty usefull there too!

just think aloud.... well in text!

kosh

IF it included a way to determine the direction the camera was pointing,
I would be more inclined to appreciate it.
  #27  
Old September 13th 06, 10:39 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Ron Hunter
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Posts: 4,064
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory

Padu wrote:
"Graham Fountain"
Apparently it links with Google-Earth, so you can go to a spot, and then
look at the photos you took there. Not a very practical purpose, but I'm
sure if you look at who a lot of Sony's customers are (cashed up
20-somethings who like gadgets, and will buy anything so long as it says S
O N Y), that there will be quite a few who would go for such gizmos.


Google earth is a revolution, they opened their API for anyone to use. One
of the consequences, for example, is smugmug. They are able to use google
earth in their webpage to show pictures of a given location.

I found it very useful. For example, before going on a recent trip to santa
barbara, calif., I took a look at the pictures/locations using
smugmug/google and I found some nice shooting locations.

The inconvenience right now is that you have to enter coordinates for each
individual picture. If there was a way to automate and include coordinates
into the exif, that service would be expanded immensely.

Cheers

Padu


I have used it when planning trips. It is often possible to get very
good pictures of a motel, showing parking, what the view might be, and
if there are recreational facilities, access to roads, etc. before
making reservations. One can also scope out the lay of the land before
traveling to a new place. I have found GoogleEarth and MS locallive to
be quite valuable for this purpose.
  #28  
Old September 13th 06, 10:41 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
ian
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 146
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory


"kosh" wrote in message
...
: Padu wrote:
: "Brian Sullivan"
:
: It sounds like other software could use the output of this device so
: other cameras could be supported. Perhaps something like Picasa will
: support it?
:
: Anyone heard of any leanings in that direction?
:
:
:
: Actually, I believe you don't need their hardware. I develop GPS based
: applications, and thinking about it, if you have a tracklog recorded in
a
: given format (NMEA is common to most, if not all, GPS devices), it
shouldn't
: be difficult to write an application that goes through a folder where
your
: pictures are stored and match the date picture was taken from the EXIF,
and
: get the coordinate from the tracklog file at that time, and write back
to
: the EXIF.
:
: I would create such a software easily, but I doubt that nobody thought
about
: it yet.
:
: Cheers
:
: Padu
:
:
:
: well someone thought it was good enough to make a product!!!! Perhaps
: there is something to it, though I can't imagine a LARGE numbr of people
: having a requirement like this..
:
: real estate
: military
: surveyors
: reporters who have a large number of images and travel lots
: ????

spies terrorists. Crash plane here.


  #29  
Old September 13th 06, 10:42 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
Ron Hunter
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,064
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory

Paul Allen wrote:
On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:43:55 GMT
kosh wrote:

Padu wrote:
[...]
well someone thought it was good enough to make a product!!!! Perhaps
there is something to it, though I can't imagine a LARGE numbr of
people having a requirement like this..

real estate
military
surveyors
reporters who have a large number of images and travel lots
????


Anybody who travels and has trouble reconstructing the location of
each shot later. I just came home from the Queen Charlotte Islands
with 600 images that were mostly taken at remote Haida village sites
that haven't been occupied since the smallpox epidemics of the 1800's.
I took notes on what villages we stopped at each day, but tagging all
those images with locations later was laborious.

A technological fix for that problem is tempting, although having
more gear to lug around while clambering in and out of the Zodiac,
wading ashore onto a rocky beach, and traipsing through the mossy
woods is not. :-)

hmmmm heres an idea.... if you could photograph say... a city from
multiple anges with full GPS data including elevation..... I would
think some clever software could give you amazing 3d photogrpahic
renderings.


It would need to deal with the inherent uncertainty in the position
data. It's possible to get centimeter accuracy with really expensive
gear, but the normal handheld GPS has an uncertainty in the tens of
meters that changes constantly as the satellite constellation changes.

come to think of it, one of my customers used their camera to record
every inch of Melb. GP to make photo realistic game textures..... GPS
data would probably be pretty usefull there too!

just think aloud.... well in text!


Yeah. Let your fingers do the thinking.

Paul Allen


The accuracy of today's GPS units is amazing. Generally, I get values
under 100 feet. Perhaps not quite enough to locate individual rocks,
but quit enough to indicate where I was when a picture was taken, and to
get back to the same spot.
  #30  
Old September 13th 06, 10:42 PM posted to aus.photo,alt.photography,rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.digital.slr-systems,rec.photo.digital.zlr
ian
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 146
Default New Sony GPS Camera Accessory


"Padu" wrote in message
.. .
:
: "Unspam"
:
: Quite handy if you need to bury something in the middle of a forest,
: desert
: or snows cape and find it again.
:
:
:
: Isn't that the concept behind geocaching?

cyber squirrels.


 




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