Nikon’s GP-1 GPS Unit – Review
December 5, 2008 by Admin
Filed under Digital Equipment
Using the Nikon GP-1 GPS unit, Geotags (Geodetic System WGS84) can be added to your images so you can record latitude, longitude, altitude and time information. This data should help you remember where you took that great shot!
Correlation between pictures and maps is supported by GPS function in conjunction with ViewNX version 1.2 software which is a free download and my Picturetown.
On a cold start, the Nikon GPS device takes 45 seconds to start communicating with the satellites. Otherwise, it takes about 5 seconds. Just know that the power for the Nikon GPS devices is sucked out from the camera so you can expect your battery to die out on you much earlier as I suspect that the GPS unit requires a lot of power to function (If you have had a different experience, please let us know and we will edit that sentence 
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Once connected to the camera, the GP-1 GPS Unit has three modes of indication to give you an idea of how accurate the GPS information is going to be:
* Red blinking (GPS data not recorded)
* Green blinking (GPS data recorded utilizing three satellites)
* Green solid(Four or more satellites detected, GPS data are more accurate)
The Nikon camera models compatible with the device are: D90 (via accessory terminal cable GP1-CA90), D3, D300, D700, D2Xs and D200 (via 10-pin remote terminal cable GP1-CA10). Some models may require an update to the latest version of firmware.
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I haven’t had any experience with the GP-1, but I have had experience in designing devices with GPS capabilities and modern GPS units do not use a lot of power (It will use a substantial amount less then the LCD). Sure the camera won’t last as long, but it shouldn’t be as bad as is implied in your article.
I recently purchased the Nikon GP-1 for use with the Nikon D-90. It works ok (doesn’t seem to draw a lot of power), but is overpriced when compared to generic GPS systems that used the exact same chipset.
It is not the ‘ok’ performance of this product that prompted me to post a review, since when it was working, it worked ‘ok’, but the fact that the design of this accessory for use with the D-90.
Unlike the D-100/200/300 cameras that have the 10-pin jack on the front of the camera, and use a 90 degree cable to connect, the D-90 plug sticks straight out of the side of the camera a few inches. Inside the jack, the plug is connected to a very small piece of what is essentially a circuit board. It doesn’t take a scientist to look at this design and note that a tremendous amount of force will be exerted on the jack if any lateral movement occurs at the end of the plug, like by something brushing the cable.
I don’t know what caused the problem with my GPS since I was careful not to bump the cord and such, but after just two weekend trips, the GPS only works intermitently now. If I jiggle the cord around a little bit (careful not to put too much pressure on it) it will work for a few shots and when something (like the wind) moves the cable, even a little bit, it stops working again.
Whats is worse than having to have waited for the GPS to be delivered and paying at least twice the price of any other GPS using this chipset is trying to engage Nikon customer service with this problem.
Don’t buy this product to use with a D-90. You risk damaging your camera and then having to deal with Nikon customer support, who will want you to pay to get the thing fixed.
As a side note, this was the first time I have had to deal with Nikon in 15 years of using their cameras and it was not a good experience.