Pentax GPS Unit Review

Have a look at our Pentax GPS Unit review:
https://www.pentaxuser.com/review/pentax-o-gps1-gps-unit-review-645

Thanks for the review. I may have missed it but how did you find the battery life?

I like the idea of GPS tagging but not sure it's worth the cost

Interesting review. I have toyed with buying one so my photos are tagged directly, and I don't need a computer with me when travelling.

My current logger has to be downloaded to a Windows computer regularly so the buffer doesn't get full. I then have to tag the photos when I get home using a tagging program.

I'm still not convinced by the Pentax logger though. I can get it for €199 here but it's still a lot of money.

Battery life is a good question too.

Nice review there, the astro-trace is the first reason I have been toying with getting one of these, the tagging is a nice addition for me.

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Pint o' rough & a game o' darts anyone

GPS comes as standard on the K3ii but it doesn't appear to include the compass feature. When it is on you can almost watch the battery draining. To be perfectly honest I haven't found the slightest use for it yet.

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Both the *istDS and the K5 are incurably addicted to old glass

My page on Photocrowd - link

I have the GPS unit on my K5ii. I use it all the time. I find it very useful to have my photos tagged, partly because we are often travelling for a few weeks at a time and the tag is very helpful for showing where a photo was taken when I get round to processing them. I also use the astrotracer function occasionally, when we are somewhere with dark skies.

It shows on the display; if you select the info button and you are presented with several options like the shutter/ aperture/ iso screeen; compass is one of them IIRC

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Andy

Yes the compass feature is one of the screen options on the k3ii

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K3ii, K-5, K-x, DA150-450mm, DA16-85WR, DA16-45, DA18-55WR, DA18-135WR, DA35 F2.4, M100mm F4 Macro, DA55-300mm, FA50mm 1.4, AF360 Flash, AF540 Flash

I have used the GPS unit on the K70 for some daylight shots but haven't used the astrotracer yet.
On the K70 one of the 3 User Dial setting came pre-programmed for Astrotracing with the GPS unit directly from the factory which is nice. I did however change the program to save the files in Raw over the default Jpg. The internal navigation option has been dropped but the compass remains.
The night vision option on the adjustable LCD screen is helpful when it comes to not affecting you night vision when setting and aiming the camera.
I also checked the GPS Exif Data on a couple of the shots that I used the GPS on and the GPS Heading Angle References and I assume the Compass is relative to True North not Magnetic North. This may be unique to the K70 but it could be, from what I've been told, something to do with the fact the Magnetic North is constantly moving and over the last couple of years the movement is quite erratic

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Practitioner of the art of capturing and preserving for all to see "brief moments in time"
Gear: Cameras - K1ii, K100D, MZ60, K1000. Lenses - Pentax HD DFA 3.5-5.6 28-105 ED DC WR, DA 16-45 f:4, DA 18-55 f:3.5-5.6, DFA f:3.5-5.6 28-105 ED WR, FA 28-90 f:3.5-5.6, FAJ 75-300 f:4.5-5.8, DA 50 f:1.8, DA 35 f:2.4, A-50 1:2, M-50 1:2. Lenses - Sigma, Super Wide II 24mm f:2.8, 10-20mm f:4-5.6 EXDC, 50-500 Bigma f:4-6.3 EX. Tamon SP Di AF 90mm F2.8 Macro, LensBaby Composer Pro Sweet 35 f:2.5, Vivitar 80-200 Macro Zoom f:4, Accessories AF-360FGZ, AF-360FGZII Flash, Ketnor Digital Super Wide 0.42X AF Lens

I bought a cheap GPS unit that had a faulty astrotracer function simply to geotag photos with my K-3 as Gwyn says. I use rechargeable AAA batteries in it. Biggest problem... I keep shooting film. I'd rather have a built-in GPS though, the unit is a bit cumbersome and I never use the built-in flash anyway.

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Kris Lockyear
It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head. Henri Cartier-Bresson
Lots of film bodies, a couple of digital ones, too many lenses (mainly older glass) and a Horseman LE 5x4.
My website

Nice topic

Hi David, As Tigershoot pointed out, the K-3ii does have a compass, and it has many obvious uses. Press the info button twice and there are four rear screen display options, the fourth of which is the compass display. Geotagging a photo, as well as location (latitude, longitude and altitude, country etc) includes data for the direction in which the camera was pointing for the photo. I can see all this in the map menu of Lightroom as well as a Google earth terrain map illustrating the photograph's location (as well as other photos I have in that vicinity). For me GPS tagging is an excellent feature because I do frequently need to see exactly where I took a particular photo. This is really helpful not least because I find it difficult to remember the location of my very many photographs, but for example if I am running a slideshow in LR and someone asks where a photo was taken, I simply go to Map in LR and say "there"! I am confident that if you do not have LR you will be able to find other programs which support this feature.

The battery consumption is negligible unless you switch on 'Logging' on the in camera GPS menu. For me this feature is unnecessary unless you want to see an illustration of the trail of your journey to be displayed on the map. The location of photos is all that I need. GPS photo location is always on by default and you can see the lat. long. and alt. in a Jpeg's Properties - Details.

Hope you find this info useful.

And I have just realised that you can view all this location and direction information in the K-3ii. Use the photo preview blue arrow (Slideshow), then press the Info button and select Detailed Information Display, scroll down to the next screen and there it is. This information is embedded in every photo you have taken on your K-3ii. Useful in the field if you want to know where you are and where you are heading for!

I feel lost now when I have photos without GPS tagging. For a trip like I did recently driving hundreds of miles around Kruger National Park, it's great to have a record of the exact location of the animal sightings. The compass direction information is handy too.

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K3ii, K-5, K-x, DA150-450mm, DA16-85WR, DA16-45, DA18-55WR, DA18-135WR, DA35 F2.4, M100mm F4 Macro, DA55-300mm, FA50mm 1.4, AF360 Flash, AF540 Flash

As devils advocate, I firmly have my GPS turned off on my K1ii at all times and if i cannot find it well i might find something better, as enough tracking of ones movements is already active, in ones smartarse phone, loyalty cards for shopping, debit or credit card transactions and the list goes on an on an on.
I leave all behind when on a trip, for no interruptions, even if I might break my leg in the process
"Wheres me tinfoil"
I have a little analogue phone in case of emergency
We are all in the Matrix whether we like it or not with a pinch of salt