Managing Location/GPS Metadata

[John Perry]

This is really a question for the larger community of Nitro users. In summary, I shoot RAW photos on my Sony camera, import them to Nitro (often initially ‘in the field’ on my iPad). I need to add location to the photos, and at the moment tend to do that to the processed .HEIC files (often in Apple Photos). My question is, does anyone have a workflow that adds location to the RAW files and preferably on an iPad. This would allow me to include the location in the processed .HEIC file, and importantly, if I reprocess the RAW (maybe when back at home-base), I don’t have to re-enter location data for ‘version 2’.

A subsidiary question… I like to keep the RAW file untouched (which I think is also the philosophy of Nitro). By adding location to the RAW file does it get saved in the sidecar file or am I likely to ‘update’ the RAW file.

Thank you for any thoughts and guidance, and apologies if this is already addressed elsewhere and I have missed it…
John Perry

[Nik Bhatt]

I do know of people who use various apps to write GPS into RAW files, so it’s not uncommon. Right now Nitro doesn’t have a feature to add location to an image. If / when I do add that, then where to store it will be an issue – some will want it in XMP (there is a spot for it) or written back to the file.

[John Perry]

Thank you, Nik. I’ll keep thinking it through!! …and see if others have workflows that might help.

[BenB]

Hello John.
Though I don’t use it that often the possibilities I use.
1. My camera (Panasonic) has an app for my iPhone and iPad that supports control for the camera. One of it’s functions is to register (on the iPhone, my iPad doesn’t support GPS) to register gps-location that I can batch transfer afterwards to the RAW-files in the camera.
As that consumes lot’s of battery consumption from my iPhone in practice I mostly use the following procedure:

2. If I like to have the gps data for my picture files (RAW HEIC or whatever) I tend to shoot a picture at that location with my iPhone (which automatically stores GPS-data) I then, either back home or during a trip on my iPad, I import the Raw-files into Apple Photos app as original RAW. And I import the relevant files from my iPhone. In Apple Photo’s I then “batch-copy” the location data to the relevant Raw file in Apple Photo’s Afterwards I use Nitro to do the edits.
i use the ability of Nitro to share the edits between iPad and iMac in either the (separately created Photo’s library) or Files).
Hope I pointed out clearly enough my workflow.
Of course you may find this cumbersome. But that’s the way I cope with it.

3. If I have forgotten to register the gos-data, I afterwards look up the location through maps of browser and then copy the gos data into Apple photo’s and do the batch editing to the files.

HtH
Ben

[Joachim Jundt]

Inserting GPS data is always cumbersome in my experience.
Separate GPS-trackers like Solmeta drain their battery empty and the switch to the camera’s battery draining. Also, the tracker can write directly into the RAW (at least the Nikon version), but that means dedicated cables – and the Solmeta spiral cables were of questionable quality. Falling apart after 3 or 4 years.
Maintaining a WLAN connection between phone app and camera is also draining both device’s batteries.
Inside a building GPS often doesn’t work. Then it’s the phone’s capability to use known WLAN addresses as location tags.
Transferring iPhone or other cellphone’s GPS entries lateron is extra work and so far I haven’t found an easy way to do so, like copy & paste.

Sometimes it would be just enough if the camera registers one place and transfer this metadata to all following images until it’s moved 20 or more meters away (like a birdwatching stand), but apparently it’s more interesting for the manufacturers to put in 5 dozen different video modes instead of one useful GPS feature.

Personally I’d like the GPS stored in the RAW file, its’ a feature like storing the focuspoint/s, orientation of the frame, type of exposure meter and belongs to that image. When I transferred my Aperture libraries to Crapture One, I benefitted a lot of the way Aperture’s designers implemented “places”.

[John Perry]

Thank you for the replies and thoughts. I agree real-time GPS trackers seem to be too hard on batteries and add ‘faff’ and complexity. Which is why I end up back at ‘home-base in the processing stage trying to insert GPS coordinates into the picture file. Which is where I get to with the question, whether it is possible and/or desirable to add GPS data to the RAW file, or should I just accept it is a post-processing thing and either add location in Apple Photos or with Graphic Converter just before uploading/ publishing it to Photos. (I tend to keep Photos free of RAW files and use it as a means of delivery/publishing rather than processing)

So again thanks, and I suspect it just clunky as a process.
John.

[Nik Bhatt]

GPS is supported in proprietary RAW files and DNGs, so it’s fine to use a tool like ExifTool or maybe HuodahGeo to insert the data.

It’s best to add the GPS data BEFORE you import it into an app / view it / otherwise manage it, because adding GPS can change the capture date / time which can confuse apps that are not expecting that to change.

[John Perry]

Thank you, Nik. A bit of assurance regarding adding GPS to RAW is helpful. I’ll certainly look at the various options for adding GPS data and do it at the front end of any processing sequence.

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