No standby as long as connected to Leica photos?

[Robert Blanko]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Today I tried the first time to use the GPS tagging of the photos via the Photos App on my iPhone during my vacation with my M11-D.

It works, but the downside is that the camera does not go to standby, even if I set 2 minutes instead of 30. As long as connected to Leica Photos which is necessary to use the GPS tagging, the camera does not switch to standby mode. This was dramatically draining the battery to 10% on my afternoon walk.

Turning on and off the camera does not seem to be an option either, as I have to reconnect the camera to Leica photos each time

Thus, either I‘m making severe mistakes in my setup or the GPS tagging function is just not practical.

Any thoughts or advice?

Moreover, I don’t understand why Wifi is necessary for GPS data. This should work more energy efficient via Bluetooth, as the data rate should be rather low. But there does not seem to be the option to use only Bluetooth for GPS?

 

[elmars]

Wifi is not (!) necessary to transfer geodata and time to the camera. You only need this if you want to use the app as a remote control or to transfer images. Once the camera has been paired with the iPhone and the Leica app, Low Energy Bluetooth is activated automatically (!) after about 6-7 seconds each time the camera is switched on and then time and geodata are transferred if the camera and iPhone are close enough to each other. This consumes little energy and the camera also goes into stand-by mode.

[Robert Blanko]

Thanks, elmars! This is how it should be.

However, automatic Bluetooth reconnection does not seem to work. Just tested. The M11-D is listed as not connected in the iPhone Bluetooth settings. Clicking on the list item connects the M11-D, indeed without starting/connecting Leica Photos. But no automatic reconnecting so far.

[elmars]

Does the M beside the listed M11-D in the app get red after a few seconds? If so, low energiy bluetooth is active. If not the M11-D is not paired correctly. Cancel it in the app and in the bluetooth settings of the phone and pair again. Then it should work. 

[Robert Blanko]

Yes, the M turns red. But nevertheless Bluetooth settings report „not connected“, even though geotagging seems to work. This is highly confusing, but if it’s working, I don’t care… 😀

Edited October 6, 2024 by Robert Blanko

[Robert Blanko]

Now after my today’s photo walk I am glad to report that it indeed worked well as it should and as reported by „elmars“. Even though my iPhone reports „Nicht verbunden“ / not connected for my M11-D in the Bluetooth settings, the GPS coordinates were properly stored in the metadata of the photos. Standby was set to 5 mins - and this actually worked. Thus, 85% battery power of my M11-D left as compared to less than 10% yesterday. No battery drain of my iPhone either.

Is there any written manual available for the Leica fotos app? The M11-D manual does not shed much light on it. Via Google I only found some videos.