M10M and GPS (Visoflex)

[sml_photo]

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Has anyone else had any problems connecting the GPS to the M10 Monochrom?  Most of the time, I see in the rear screen that the GPS icon has an "x" through it...obviously not connected.
I have the Visoflex connected to the camera and the GPS turned on in the menu. 
I realize there are areas that pose a problem for GPS connections, but I have tried various types of environments.
Am I missing something?  I've only had it connect sporadically over the past few weeks. 
Thanks.

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[Likaleica]

That has been my experience with all GPS units in all cameras I've tried.

[Wandering Photographer]

31 minutes ago, sml_photo said:

Has anyone else had any problems connecting the GPS to the M10 Monochrom?  Most of the time, I see in the rear screen that the GPS icon has an "x" through it...obviously not connected.
I have the Visoflex connected to the camera and the GPS turned on in the menu. 
I realize there are areas that pose a problem for GPS connections, but I have tried various types of environments.
Am I missing something?  I've only had it connect sporadically over the past few weeks. 
Thanks.

I have the VisoFlex on a Leica M10-R and the GPS has problems locking on to the GPS satellites. Because the Visoflex itself is so small, the GPS antenna needs to be small. It doesn’t work at all inside buildings and has trouble in the woods and cities with tall buildings. When it doesn’t have enough satellites to calculate a location, it will show an exclamation mark, “!”. It also takes its time calculating your location, so if location is important to you, you need to leave the camera switched on (with the attendant battery drain — i take 2 or 3 extra batteries with me when I go for a hike in the woods. It still weighs less than my Nikon D5, which can take a thousand shots and last several days on one charge) and watch for the little wave lines underneath the GPS icon before taking your photograph. Ones body also seems to interfere with receiving the signal. So it may take a bit for it to calculate your location after you bring the camera to your eye. 
 

Some cameras will let you get GPS coordinates from your mobile phone GPS, which in the iPhone at least is much more sensitive in my experience.

[sml_photo]

Wow...thanks to both of you for your observations and sharing your experience!  I had no idea about the shortcomings.

[MikeMyers]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:33 PM, Wandering Photographer said:

Because the Visoflex itself is so small, the GPS antenna needs to be small. It doesn’t work at all inside buildings and has trouble in the woods and cities with tall buildings. When it doesn’t have enough satellites to calculate a location, it will show an exclamation mark, “!”. It also takes its time calculating your location, so if location is important to you, you need to leave the camera switched on (with the attendant battery drain — i take 2 or 3 extra batteries with me when I go for a hike in the woods. It still weighs less than my Nikon D5, which can take a thousand shots and last several days on one charge) and watch for the little wave lines underneath the GPS icon before taking your photograph. Ones body also seems to interfere with receiving the signal. So it may take a bit for it to calculate your location after you bring the camera to your eye. 

Thanks for posting this. I'm in my apartment, with no results.  I guess I need to go outside and try again.

How do I know if the M10 is, or isn't, recording valid data, before I find out from my computer?  

(edit later - I found this helpful post: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/318378-m10m-and-gps-visoflex/

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Edited July 14, 2024 by MikeMyers
Added another link on this topic.

[ramarren]

I seem to recall posting on this subject recently, but cannot find my post. 

I've had the M10-R and M10-M for some time, as well as the Visoflex 020, and use them together fairly frequently but had never enabled GPS. So I pulled out the M10-R, fitted the Visoflex, and then went into the menus to enable GPS and to set the camera to use GPS supplied date and time. I then enabled Live View (figuring that forcing the Visoflex to be powered on should promote quicker hookup to the satellite signals) and stepped out onto the patio. The "x" on the GPS flag went out in about forty seconds. I made a bunch of exposures then, walking around the patio and parking lot, finally back into the condo. 

GPS coordinates and elevation were all embedded in the files properly, indicated in-camera on review by the GPS flag being visible on the LCD. In Lightroom Classic, the GPS information was available and accurate on the Map when I zoomed in to see the detail. The only GPS value that was "off" was the one for the exposure I made inside the condo, with the patio doors wide open: It indicated the middle of the parking lot—I suspect the GPS signal captured was reflected off the sunshade in the lot through the open patio doors since my condo building is steel reinforced concrete and usually blocks all GPS signals indoors. 

I don't know if the GPS recording continues with the Visoflex fitted but the camera in normal, RF mode or whether the GPS flag is visible in that mode ... didn't occur to me to look at that since I have very little use or need for GPS recording in my photography. 

G