GPS & NEX

[pmyerscough1]

When will we get a GPS in the NEX camera? I understand it is a UK local or EU regional decision not to provide this ...

Thanks for the information

PaulM

[Mick2011]

Hi Paul, welcome to the Sony Forums

It's anybody's guess really. There's a lot of discusson of this online as I'm sure you're aware and to date I've read nothing to suggest the situation is about to change any day soon. That said, camera manufacturers are notorious for suddenly announcing this sort of thing out of the blue, so it could equally happen tomorrow!

I was reading an interesting thread about the various interim solutions people are using and some of them are as simple as using a smartphone app in conjunction with your camera.

Sony did used to make a GPS tracker that works by tagging your images after they've been shot, or publishing 'sidecar' .xml-type files that you marry up in post-processing. You can still find them online, but the fact that they're no longer in production is maybe cause for hope that something better (and possibly integrated into the NEX system) is indeed in the pipeline.

Cheers

Mick

[pmyerscough1]

Thanks for your input Mick! Can I assume you're not on the Sony side then?

December I was in the Sony Centre in Ginza Tokyo where I was told that most Japanese camera models have GPS and it was a local decision to include or not include this in models in Europe and US.

I must say I found it intriguing and then useful in my HX5V. I want to upgrade my camera but I'm reluctant to give up this facility.

I'll have a look at the thread you mention ...

Regards

[Mick2011]

I suppose it's possible that Sony are waiting for the EU to launch their own Gallileo GPS system, which is rumoured to be far superior to the present US-owned one. As Sony 'regionalise' their cameras, it would tally with the reports you've had in Japan about 'local decisions'.

Cheers

Mick

[cmosse]

Regarding the Gallileo system I have read that the full system with 30 satellites will only be ready in 2020 or so. The system service (woth 18 sats) is planned to be available from 2014 on - but it is not official yet.

Many use also the build in GPS of a smartphone to record the location during shooting and tagg the images afterwards with the GPS info.