Canon GP-E2 GPS Logging Accessory

The GP-E2 offers GPS tagging and logging abilities to help you to locate exactly where your images are taken. The unit has a universal fitting so it can be used with the EOS 5D Mark III and with other future EOS models.

It can be attached to a camera in one of two ways - either directly on to the hotshoe, where the GPS data will be transferred through the hotshoe (with compatible cameras*), or it can be mounted to a bracket and connected to the camera with a cable. When attached to a camera it will provide latitude, longitude, altitude, direction and Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) to the camera (all of which will be stored in the EXIF data fields).

The unit can also be used in a third way: not attached to the camera, but simply stored in your camera bag or in a pocket. When not attached, it cannot provide the GPS data directly to each file created on the camera; instead it stores your location and creates a log file of where you have been. The location is stored at user-defined intervals from every second up to every five minutes. This data is then used with the included Map Utility software. Map Utility shows a map with your GPS track overlaid on it and allows you to attach images to the track log, which will then take the GPS data and apply it to the EXIF fields of the images. Used in this way, the Map Utility software and GP-E2 unit can be used with images from any EOS digital camera.

When used in logging mode, the GPS tracks are stored in the unit's internal memory. The more often you set the GP-E2 to log a data point, the faster the internal memory will fill. However, at the default logging interval of 15 seconds, assuming eight hours logging each day there is sufficient space for about two months of logs before the memory fills.

(* As of 2 March 2012 compatible cameras are the EOS-1D X and the EOS 5D Mark III.)