you can get (expensive) cameras with GPS built in, but I'd like to propose a hardware USB geotagger. It comes with a USB cable which you use to connect it directly to your digital camera. Upon doing so, the tagger writes latitude and longitude EXIF records to any photos sitting in the camera (you specify whether you want to just tag ones taken in the last X minutes, or more). Cheap, effective and compatible with virtually any digital camera.
-- neilp, Jan 22 2006

what is EXIF http://www.w3.org/2003/12/exif/
more on exif [neilp, Jan 22 2006]

robogeo http://www.robogeo.com/home/process.asp
some software which does something similar, if you have a GPS unit. [neilp, Jan 22 2006]

A less convenient method http://www.makezine...how_to_gps_tag.html
Take a picture of your GPS after each picture. Takes extra time and effort, so I'd much prefer [neil]'s method. [Worldgineer, Jan 23 2006]

FlickrMap http://www.flickrmap.com
another way of geotagging (with Google Earth) - v. nice [neilp, Jan 23 2006]

The Jelbert GeoTagger device http://www.geotagger.co.uk
I built one of these as described... [richardj, Sep 16 2006, last modified Sep 24 2006]

another geotagger http://photofinder.atpinc.com/index.html
this was actually what I meant, not sure their patent application is entirely valid.. [neilp, Jan 24 2008]

This would be analogous to the time and date stamp?
-- bungston, Jan 22 2006


hi [bungston], yeah, that's the sort of thing. At the moment, if I want to geotag photos I have to use either a GPS unit and attach it to my PC find the location and match it with the photos or use google earth or something to manually match them up.

This would make the whole process seamless, and you should be able to knock the units out for $30 US.
-- neilp, Jan 22 2006


What would be smarter is that if dSLRs had bluetooth built in, that could be used to interrogate a possible nearby unit that is paired with the camera. So, your hypothetical bluetooth-equipped GPS unit, which might be about your person, could supply this ancillary info, looked for at the point of each shot (if this doesn't slow the buffering down too much - maybe it could rely on caching and periodic polling). Similarly, a load of other off-board info could be retrieved also, additionally. Such as, temperature, weather conditions and the price of fish.
-- Ian Tindale, Jan 23 2006


I love this idea. I've assembled maps of mountain climbing trips with pictures so someone following it could use views as landmarks, and I don't use gps when I climb, nor do the people using the maps, usually. This would allow me to create a very accurate map after the trip using the pictures. +!
-- Shz, Jan 23 2006


/create a very accurate map/ With Google Earth, you can fly around Manhattan island. The buildings are rendered as gray squares, though they seem to know the elevation of each building. A camera like this would be a step towards assembling virtual tours. I can envision a standardized way of taking photos with such a camera and a central repository to receive them. Hobbyists could help map their favorite locales.
-- bungston, Jan 23 2006


I like what [Shz]'s suggested. +
-- moomintroll, Jan 23 2006


[bungston], one of my friends has developed a tool for using googleearth to tag in exactly that way. Take a look (link).
-- neilp, Jan 23 2006


Dont forget to include a digital compass that will stamp the direction you are facing when the photo is taken.
-- sprogga, Jan 24 2008



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