I have been wanting to make geotagging my photos part of my regular workflow for some time now. I have experimented with some applications that integrate with Google maps and allow you to tag photos one at a time, but they are too time consuming. To make it practical to geotag each and every one of my photos, I decided that I would have to come up with a solution that is automated as much as possible, and that could work on the raw photo data prior to importing it into Aperture.
After some research, I decided to try the Sony GPS-CS1. The GPS-CS1 is a battery powered GPS data recorder. It does not have a screen, it simply records the current position in a log every 15 seconds. It connects to your computer via USB, allowing you to retrieve the data and work with it. Initial research revealed that Mac’s running later versions of Tiger were able to read the data from the GPS-CS1, so I figured that Leopard would be able to as well. I found one on e-bay, clicked Buy It Now, and had it a few days later.
While I was waiting for the device to arrive, I did some research about the log format, and discovered that a program called HoudahGPS could translate the log format used by the GPS-CS1 to GPX format, which is used by GPSPhotoLinker, a program that can compare the timestamps on photos to the timestamps in the GPS log and automatically tag the photos with the GPS data. I downloaded and installed HoudahGPS and GPSPhotoLinker while waiting for the GPS-CS1 to arrive.
I used it for the first time this morning while walking to work, and excitedly hooked it up to my MacBook Pro this morning, waiting for the drive icon to pop up so I could get the GPS logs… and discovered that the keyboard and trackpad were locked up. I unplugged the GPS-CS1, and the keyboard and trackpad started working again. Hmmm. That is not supposed to happen.
Some further research revealed that Leopard, in fact, does not work with the GPS-CS1, but that Windows XP running under Parallels could see it. This required configuring Parallels to attach USB devices to the guest OS, rather than letting both the host and the guest see the device. I booted up XP in Parallels, and was able to retrieve the log files.
After copying the logs to the Mac, I fired up HoudahGPS, converted the Sony log format to GPX format, and then used GPSPhotoLinker to geotag the photos I had taken. The actual tagging process worked quite well, and Flickr was able to pick up the geotags just fine. Zooomr doesn’t seem to have picked up the geotags, but at least the data is in the files.
This is a good first effort, but I am going to try again. The work required to get the data from the GPS-CS1 is just too much of a hassle. I found another GPS data logger that is supposed to work correctly with a Mac, the Amod AGL3080. It seems that early versions had some problems, but the manufacturer has fixed those issues with firmware updates. One of these is on the way, and hopefully will work better than the Sony. I’ll use the GPS-CS1 until the Amod device arrives, and then sell the Sony. Anybody need a slightly used GPS data logger?
I use my handheld GPS, a Garmin 60CS. I convert the track with GPSBabel (probably Windows only) to GPX. I then use ImageIngester to automatically convert my RAW-files to DNG, rename them, move them the desired location, and geotag them. Zooomr picks up the geotag. Works as good as any photo specific solution and I can use the GPS for navigation as well (it’s of course quite a bit larger though).
I’ve also noticed that there doesn’t seem to be any programs (at least for Windows) that allows you to interactively geotag (i.e. Google Maps) RAWs, not even DNG that’s an open format.
Henrikj,
Thanks for the comment! I considered using a Garmin GPS unit, but they were somewhat larger than I wanted to carry. If I can’t find anything else, that will be my last resort.
GPSBabel is a great program. It will run on just about any platform. The program I am using to convert to GPX format is HoudahGPS, which uses GPSBabel to do the actual conversions.
I suspect that Aperture (or maybe GPSPhotoLinker) is putting the GPS data into fields that Zooomr does not yet read. Hopefully that will be fixed soon.
Another alternative is to use a bluetooth GPS connected to your cell phone. I haven’t looked into that option though.
Garmin recently launched the Edge 605 and Edge 705. They have mapping functionality at a size of 2″ x 4.3″ x 1″ and 3.7 oz. However, they are quite expensive.
As far as I know, there are only one set of EXIF data fields for the GPS data. Maybe Aperture or GPSPhotoLinker puts in a blank or writes the data in a way that makes Zooomr confused. Let’s hope it’s fixed in the new release.
Hey Jeremy,
sometimes I use a cheap Java and Bluetooth-enabled cellphone in combination with my BT mouse (TomTom, but I guess it doesn’t matter).
The software I use is TrekBuddy, an opensource (IIRC) tool which also works in combination with Google Maps maps. It directly writes its data in the GPX format. I wrote about this tool a while ago on my blog…
From there on I go the same route you do: GPSPhotoLinker then importing it into Aperture.
[...] this year, I blogged about my experiences with the Sony GPS-CS1 GPS datalogger. It was not the device I had hoped for, so I decided to try the Amod [...]