The Canon GP-E2 Now Shipping

[Sam]

There is a very simple explanation for this. Mark III, 1DX etc are constructed in/around magnesium alloy. A GPS tracker that could fit into an DSLR body would NOT be powerful enough to penetrate the body accurately and consistently.

The point-and-shoot cameras often feature GPS because they usually contain a higher percentage of plastic than metal.

I don't buy that. You can put a GPS antenna anywhere, even on the surface of a magnesium body, underneath the plastic skin. You can even use the alloy body as an one antenna. What about the other DSLR's that include GPS but have alloy bodies - like the Sony A77
Or they could stick in the hand grip which is hollow plastic. The receiver chips with built-in logging and serial output are very small.

If everything was as logical as you pointed out they wouldn't be able to charge you $269

 

[UrbanVoyeur]

If everything was as logical as you pointed out they wouldn't be able to charge you $269

LOL. I think Canon failed to recognize the popularity and ubiquity of GPS in today's digital cameras. The GP-E2 is them playing catch-up, marking time until they build it into the next generation.

 

[BillyBean]

Well any time I feel I am forced to bend over and just - take it I will bitch loudly.
Of course if you're being violated even worse then by all means you go ahead & squeal louder.
Grab your ankles - take it like a man...... :-[

Fair point. Assume I am now squealing... and ordering from B&H ! I worked out even with shipping and tax, I still save around $100 (£60).

 

[Adderal]

I purchased the GP-E2 from B&H at the beginning of April and it's still on backorder.

I don't mind having the extra accessory or even paying $280 but I do have one big gripe.

It's so huge! If the GPS must be an external accessory, they really should have slimmed it down to easily fit in a camera bag.

 

[kdsand]

Built in GPS is certainly doable why its m.I.a. whatever the reason its not an engineering problem. It could be as simple as Canon & Nikon waiting for the other to show their hand. Now Nikon should release something, possibly built in & then there will be a good chance GPS will become the standard fair.

Its big & expensive but I'm glad Canon has released it because the alternatives are not great.

If I remember correctly you can leave it in your pocket (just remember to turn it on) and sync with your p.c. later.

Duh... I just realized they must have developed the new radio flash tech, Wi-Fi & GPS in conjunction with each other. Hardware wise its much the same so.....

Its all good.

 

[UrbanVoyeur]

Duh... I just realized they must have developed the new radio flash tech, Wi-Fi & GPS in conjunction with each other

I wonder why they don't use the same chip or similar chipset as the EyeFi. If it can fit in a SD card, it can fit in the camera somewhere. You can even get wifi, GPS and bluetooth on the same chip these day for a few pennies more.

 

[ronm88]

I wonder why they don't use the same chip or similar chipset as the EyeFi. If it can fit in a SD card, it can fit in the camera somewhere. You can even get wifi, GPS and bluetooth on the same chip these day for a few pennies more.

This is a bit off topic, but I don't think that the EyeFi cards have GPS on them. I believe they just log the IDs of nearby WiFi networks, and use a Google service to convert the WiFi network to a location. This works very well in cities, but not so well in rural areas, and it is also a lot less accurate than GPS.

 

[Loswr]

I agree that it should be built in, at least the basic geotagging feature. My S100 can do it. Will get one? Possibly, but it's low on my list of priorities right now.

 

[UrbanVoyeur]

This is a bit off topic, but I don't think that the EyeFi cards have GPS on them. I believe they just log the IDs of nearby WiFi networks, and use a Google service to convert the WiFi network to a location. This works very well in cities, but not so well in rural areas, and it is also a lot less accurate than GPS.

Thanks for pointing that out. Oh well. I guess they will have to use a standard GPS chipset. I've seen the chips available for hobbyists at $29-$50 with a serial interface and logging, so I would imagine it must be dirt cheap for a manufacturer like Canon.

 

[cellcrusher]

Whoo hoo mine has shipped. But now I have another problem. The expected 7D firmware update that would allow me to use the GPS is nowhere to be found. Drat.

 

[donsullivan]

Whoo hoo mine has shipped. But now I have another problem. The expected 7D firmware update that would allow me to use the GPS is nowhere to be found. Drat.

While certainly not ideal you could still just put it in data logger mode and use the included software to assign the GPS tags after your shoot. It's a little brute force but would allow you to get some benefit out of it until the 7D firmware upgrade is delivered.

 

[Gcon]

Time to settle this once and for all.

The reason why they build GPS into the camera bodies is primarily because of countries like China and North Korea. They don't like GPS built in, and don't allow the sale, so they don't.

With point and shoot cameras - they make "for China" and "for the rest of the (free) world" models. For top end DSLRs, they can't justify the expense of having two models - a GPS-enabled one, and a GPS-crippled one. So they don't - they just put it as an accessory and not sell the accessory in China.

I for one like the accessory in that it doesn't drain the main battery. I can just switch it on when I need it. Granted - it would be nice to have it like an iPhone and I could turn it on/off via software.

 

[kdsand]

Time to settle this once and for all.

The reason why they build GPS into the camera bodies is primarily because of countries like China and North Korea. They don't like GPS built in, and don't allow the sale, so they don't.

With point and shoot cameras - they make "for China" and "for the rest of the (free) world" models. For top end DSLRs, they can't justify the expense of having two models - a GPS-enabled one, and a GPS-crippled one. So they don't - they just put it as an accessory and not sell the accessory in China.

I for one like the accessory in that it doesn't drain the main battery. I can just switch it on when I need it. Granted - it would be nice to have it like an iPhone and I could turn it on/off via software.

Lol
At 1st I thought you were serious.
good one.

 

[71sbeetle]

I ended up cancelling my 2 pre-orders for the GP-E2 (Amazon and B&H) I'll stick to using my dedicated datalogger and keep my hotshoe free for Cyber Commander or 600EX-RT and also keep the $260 in my pocket for now

 

[cellcrusher]

Whoo hoo mine has shipped. But now I have another problem. The expected 7D firmware update that would allow me to use the GPS is nowhere to be found. Drat.

While certainly not ideal you could still just put it in data logger mode and use the included software to assign the GPS tags after your shoot. It's a little brute force but would allow you to get some benefit out of it until the 7D firmware upgrade is delivered.

That would be great but I am not sure how to get the information off the GPS unit. I am probably missing something. I have the proprietary Canon GPS cord that has a male end of the Micro USB that needs to into the computer to read the data off the GPS but I am not able to find a micro USB reader that would also attach to my computer. If anyone has any ideas on how to do this I would appreciate a tip or two.

 

[RyanCrierie]

I've been using the GP-E2 for a couple days now, and it's been pretty great!

It's handled some tough shots, like:


Random Industrial Building by RyanCrierie, on Flickr

Taken from inside a speeding school bus -- the GP-E2 successfully logged the location right away, despite it not having a full view of the sky inside a metallic vehicle.

Another shot was this one:


Cross Street Market Seafood Bar #1 by RyanCrierie, on Flickr

Taken inside the City Street Market in Baltimore, MD. The GP-E2 successfully logged the correctish location inside the market, despite having very little sky view at all.

You can see the uncorrected GPS Lat/long coordinates if you click on the "map" area in flickr.

It's literally turn on and shoot right away and compared to my other GPS gadgets:

A.) Garmin Nuvi Car GPS from 2008 -- the Garmin requires 40~ seconds or more to lock onto a satellite after a cold start; whereas the GP-E2 locks on virtually instantly.

B.) GPS in my Acer A200 Tablet -- it doesn't work inside a vehicle or inside buildings. Meanwhile, the GP-E2 can lock on even in such degraded conditions, such as the City Street Market's interior.