Tim B Posted January 18, 2017 Share #1 Posted January 18, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi, Took my brand new TL for its first outing today. Lovely sunny winter's day in central London and very happy with the camera. Using my Elmarit-M Asph and very pleased so far with the results. But I noticed that although I was using my new Visoflex all the time and being mostly outside in a big city no GPS coordinates were recorded. They appear only to be recorded on the JPEG files (not the raw files) and only as zeros. Does anyone have any experience of this? Might I have a faulty Visoflex? Any suggestions welcome. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 18, 2017 Posted January 18, 2017 Hi Tim B, Take a look here Visoflex - no GPS recorded. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Jkulin Posted January 18, 2017 Share #2 Posted January 18, 2017 If you are in a built up area then it may have problems getting a GPS signal, try out in some open space and give it 5 minutes. IIRC the GPS data is stored in the raw file as well 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share #3 Posted January 18, 2017 Hi, John, Thanks for taking the trouble to consider my query. I was walking along the Thames in central London, so an open area away from tall buildings. My phone and sat-nav work just about anywhere outside, so I presumed that the GPS on the Visoflex would as well. I just tried an experiment and took the camera outside my house in North London. After a few moments (and it takes my car sat-nav a few moments to acquire satellites, too) the GPS indicator showed acquisition. I took a couple of shots and those taken in these conditions held GPS data in both raw and JPEG metadata. So now I know it works . It still seems odd that it didn't earlier. I'll have to try more experiments. Anyone else have much success with GPS on the Visoflex? To be honest it isn't something that I attach much importance too, but when travelling and using Maps in Lightroom it is a useful touch. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPP1 Posted January 18, 2017 Share #4 Posted January 18, 2017 The first fix for a GPS unit that has moved a long way coming from the factory to your city takes some time. You will notice the same thing if you travel overseas. Check the satellite icon on your screen or viewfinder. It gives you your GPS status. And by the way, I had no problem with my T last time I was in London. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jkulin Posted January 18, 2017 Share #5 Posted January 18, 2017 Hi Tim, Yep forgot about first time fix, on my Garmins for my bikes when I travel in another country it can take 10 minutes to get a fix, so as JPP1 said it should be fine now, if you travel to another country, switch it on and wait 10 minutes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierovitch Posted January 20, 2017 Share #6 Posted January 20, 2017 Phones have the advantage of phone network information supplementing the GPS data. It would make sense to be able to import data from a phone instead of having a dedicated GPS receiver in a camera. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPP1 Posted January 20, 2017 Share #7 Posted January 20, 2017 Advertisement (gone after registration) It would make sense to be able to import data from a phone instead of having a dedicated GPS receiver in a camera. It does make sense and can be done easily. Lightroom allows you to import GPS logs and match GPS data to your pictures based on the pictures time stamp. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpopescu Posted January 20, 2017 Share #8 Posted January 20, 2017 Could you please let us know how you get the GPS log? What device? Details appreciated! Thank you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted January 20, 2017 Share #9 Posted January 20, 2017 Could you please let us know how you get the GPS log? What device? Details appreciated! Thank you. I used to use my mobile phone and now use the Garmin Etrex 20. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpopescu Posted January 20, 2017 Share #10 Posted January 20, 2017 What phone? Android or iOS? And what software? Thanks Pop! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted January 20, 2017 Share #11 Posted January 20, 2017 What phone? Android or iOS? And what software? Thanks Pop! I used to use Android phones (Samsung, mostly). There are quite a few tracking apps available. My favorite used to be myTrack (now discontinued) and GPS4Phone which is available both for Android and IOS. I stopped using my phone because myTrack wouldn't install on my more modern phone, because the accuracy was not satisfactory for some jobs, and because of the battery drain the tracking imposes on the phone. Also, my most recent phone failed to receive useful signals in more and more places. I'm writing this from off the top of the head. Some product names could be missspelt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpopescu Posted January 20, 2017 Share #12 Posted January 20, 2017 Cool, thanks for the information! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted January 20, 2017 Hi again, Just for a moment back to my original query - sorry to interrupt the flow. Many thanks for all the input. I think that waiting for satellite acquisition was the key; I assumed that since I was outside for hours it would pick it up. However, the point made about first use may be relevant. Although given the amount of time with the camera switched on there still seems to be some sort of anomaly. So, now I have a functioning GPS in my Visoflex; at least it works in my garden - I haven't been any further with the camera since Wednesday! I will keep an eye on the GPS indicator on screen in future. I am just about to leave for Cambodia and Vietnam with my Q and TL so at least the TL will know where I am! Thanks again. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
julian m Posted January 21, 2017 Share #14 Posted January 21, 2017 One other snag I hit once: GPS is not enabled by default. If you've upgraded firmware on the T, then it will be reset (turned off), like all other settings. Took me a while to figure out why I wasn't seeing the GPS icon at all. Thought my Visoflex had a poor connection or was broken until I remembered GPS was a setting and I had upgraded firmware! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share #15 Posted January 21, 2017 Thanks for the suggestion, Julian. Believe it or not I actually read the manual and familiarised myself with the menu, so I found the GPS switch early on. I took the camera out again today and found that of course the GPS lost contact when the camera was switched off, or sleeping. It then took the usual minutes to reconnect every time I switched the camera on or woke it up. A real nuisance. So I reckon I'll have to regard it as an occasionally useful function and not really reliable. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aminderoui Posted January 25, 2017 Share #16 Posted January 25, 2017 I'm having the same issues with my visoflex. I live in NYC and today I had not a single picture with GPS data. The camera was on for a long time and the GPS indicator was showing and ( i ) next to it. I turned on and off a couple of times and took the visoflex out to see if that would help but with no vail. Any suggestions? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share #17 Posted January 26, 2017 That's what was happening to me. The "!" means that the satellites are not yet acquired and I couldn't really figure out why not considering the time I was out with the camera on. If I now keep an eye on the GPS icon I see that sometimes it turns on and sometimes off. My experience with this is still new and experimental, but I get the feeling that just about anything gets in the way - even me when the camera is over my shoulder. When the camera is on, in my hands in line of sight to the sky it is more likely to acquire the satellites. As I said above, this makes it an occasionally useful function, but unreliable, so I've decided not to worry about it too much. It is what it is. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickP Posted January 26, 2017 Share #18 Posted January 26, 2017 I turned my Visoflex GPS on today for the first time ever, it worked fine. Google maps got it down to my house and could even tell when I moved to a dfferent room. I do not really need this function except when travelling I suppose. I may turn it on again next month when on vacation in the Caribbean. . Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share #19 Posted January 26, 2017 Google maps got it down to my house and could even tell when I moved to a dfferent room. Hi, Rick, I'd be very interested to know what Google Maps has to do with the Visoflex? How is there a connection between Google Maps and the camera? The Visoflex stamps the GPS co-ordinates in the Metadata, but I don't see how it is transmitted to your phone. Thanks, Tim 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickP Posted January 27, 2017 Share #20 Posted January 27, 2017 Hi, Rick, I'd be very interested to know what Google Maps has to do with the Visoflex? How is there a connection between Google Maps and the camera? The Visoflex stamps the GPS co-ordinates in the Metadata, but I don't see how it is transmitted to your phone. Thanks, Tim Tim, No phone involved. Since this was my first trial of the GPS system, I really had no idea what would result. When I ran the photos through Lightroom V, I took a guess and merely hit the 'Map' button on the top of my LR screen and it asked if I wanted to allow LR to connect with Google maps in order to show where the photos were taken. I clicked OK, and low and behold, a World map showed on the screen with the ability to zero in on the marked area of my photos. I could zoom right down to an actual photo of my street and house with orange markers placed where each photo was taken. I was really amazed and delighted that the system worked at all. Rick Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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