K3-III and GPS question

[olipaba]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

 

[Kobie M-C]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

Yes. Image sync must be running for that to happen and on initial setup I suggest to change the background location info in image sync to "never" time out so the phone can be in standby in your pocket while still feeding the camera geolocation.

 

[MarBa]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

Does not work for me. Every time I turn off the camera, the Bluetooth connection between my phone and the camera is lost (BT icon turns grey). The only way I get it restored is if I wake up my phone. When the BT connection is lost, you get geotags for a while but those are just old data that the camera remembered .. after bit more time you get no geotags. You have to wake up the phone .. you just login .. you don't need to open the app.

This problem happens even when the camera turns off because of the automatic battery saving feature.

So .. answer is .. you get your photos tagged but only if you keep the connection between the phone and the camera alive.

Seems like this works for some but it does not work for me and I can't figure out what the problem could be. I wrote to Pentax and the App developer and no response.

I have Samsung S9.

 

[iainf]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

 

[Roland Karlsson]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

I do not believe in a solution where a phone and a camera are supposed to be always connected with an app. I have never seen such a solution really working, ever. The phone has a zillion energy saving tricks that apps can do nothing about. And also, you really need to turn of the camera now and then to save camera battery.

For GPS tagging to work smoothly, the connection has to spin up directly when you turn on the camera ... every time. And also the GPS functionality has to wake up.

Moreover, I have really tried to force my phone to ignore base station positions in the GPS data. But it insists. No matter what I do. So, the position might be of a kilometer or so.

Moreover, a GPS antenna in your pocket? How optimal is that?

 

[MarBa]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

Thanks!

I did contact also Ricoh/Pentax support, no answer so far.

I went through every possible battery saving feature, turned them all off .. nothing helped.

I also tried Samsung A52.. was even worse. Got it to work once and after some time I could not reconnect at all. Had to start over with pairing etc.

It's a mess! It is probably in part problem on Android side as well .. but. .. these problems should really warn Pentax .. they have to keep GPS in their next K-1 and not to rely on this phone based solution. And no .. I not buying the large GPS unit that they sell .. that is not a solution for walking around with the camera.

 

[Kobie M-C]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

Thanks!

I did contact also Ricoh/Pentax support, no answer so far.

I went through every possible battery saving feature, turned them all off .. nothing helped.

I also tried Samsung A52.. was even worse. Got it to work once and after some time I could not reconnect at all. Had to start over with pairing etc.

It's a mess! It is probably in part problem on Android side as well .. but. .. these problems should really warn Pentax .. they have to keep GPS in their next K-1 and not to rely on this phone based solution. And no .. I not buying the large GPS unit that they sell .. that is not a solution for walking around with the camera.

I haven't had any of these issues on my Huawei P30 Pro Android phone. If I could find my older LG phone, I'd try with that one as well since it uses a different Bluetooth chip and a different Bluetooth revision than my newer phone. I'll see if I can find it over the weekend.

 

[MNBob]

Have you seen the actual OGPS-1 ? It's not big, I've tried both options with my K3-III and find the GPS attachment to be a far superior option, no fiddling with Image Sync, etc. Dince I own it, that's what I'll be using when I want to add GPS data if I'm not using the K-1

Bob

 

[Roland Karlsson]

Have you seen the actual OGPS-1 ? It's not big, I've tried both options with my K3-III and find the GPS attachment to be a far superior option, no fiddling with Image Sync, etc. Dince I own it, that's what I'll be using when I want to add GPS data if I'm not using the K-1

Bob

If the OGPS-1 is big or not is an opinion. It sure makes the camera less stream lined, more unwieldy. And, you need to turn it off and on. Its batteries will drain quite fast if on. But sure, it will probably work infinitely better than a wirelessly tether phone.

 

[Priscilla Turner]

Have you seen the actual OGPS-1 ? It's not big, I've tried both options with my K3-III and find the GPS attachment to be a far superior option, no fiddling with Image Sync, etc. Since I own it, that's what I'll be using when I want to add GPS data if I'm not using the K-1

Bob

I had one of those clumsy and awkward things and handed it on with my K-30. The K-3 II represented a quantum leap, the omission in the K-3 III is regressive.

--
'To see, not with, but through the eye.' [William Blake]
'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' [Edmund Burke]
'Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.' [Lord Acton]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22905474@N06/
http://priscillaturner.imagekind.com/store/

 

[MarBa]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

Thanks!

I did contact also Ricoh/Pentax support, no answer so far.

I went through every possible battery saving feature, turned them all off .. nothing helped.

I also tried Samsung A52.. was even worse. Got it to work once and after some time I could not reconnect at all. Had to start over with pairing etc.

It's a mess! It is probably in part problem on Android side as well .. but. .. these problems should really warn Pentax .. they have to keep GPS in their next K-1 and not to rely on this phone based solution. And no .. I not buying the large GPS unit that they sell .. that is not a solution for walking around with the camera.

I haven't had any of these issues on my Huawei P30 Pro Android phone. If I could find my older LG phone, I'd try with that one as well since it uses a different Bluetooth chip and a different Bluetooth revision than my newer phone. I'll see if I can find it over the weekend.

But you mentioned that the BT icon turns grey once you turn off and on the camera. To me, this is a sign that it is not working properly .. unless the icon turns white again without waking up the phone. For me it does not.

 

[MarBa]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

I thought that it might be useful to explain what I do instead of using the phone app that does not work on my phone.

I have a GPS watch that I use to track my hikes, runs etc. So when I go out with K-3 III, I start tracking my location on my watch. The watch can last for tens of hours so I do not need to worry about that (unlike the external GPS unit that Pentax is selling). After I come home, I export the track as GPX file. This can be imported into LR where you can tag all photos with just few clicks. Advantage is .. you get ALL photos geotagged.

With K-1, I get few photos without location, those are the ones that I take too quickly after turning the camera on. This is an unfortunate thing about the implementation of this feature, you need to turn on the camera several tens of seconds before you want to take a picture (not ideal but usable).

 

[5r82]

Pentax should have included GPS into K-3 III. Too bad. It works great on K-1 though. One of my favourite features there. For example I use altimeter when in the mountains a lot.

 

[Kobie M-C]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

Thanks!

I did contact also Ricoh/Pentax support, no answer so far.

I went through every possible battery saving feature, turned them all off .. nothing helped.

I also tried Samsung A52.. was even worse. Got it to work once and after some time I could not reconnect at all. Had to start over with pairing etc.

It's a mess! It is probably in part problem on Android side as well .. but. .. these problems should really warn Pentax .. they have to keep GPS in their next K-1 and not to rely on this phone based solution. And no .. I not buying the large GPS unit that they sell .. that is not a solution for walking around with the camera.

I haven't had any of these issues on my Huawei P30 Pro Android phone. If I could find my older LG phone, I'd try with that one as well since it uses a different Bluetooth chip and a different Bluetooth revision than my newer phone. I'll see if I can find it over the weekend.

But you mentioned that the BT icon turns grey once you turn off and on the camera. To me, this is a sign that it is not working properly .. unless the icon turns white again without waking up the phone. For me it does not.

It turned grey when my phone lost location service. That's not a fault of Bluetooth, K-3 III or image sync.

 

[MarBa]

Hi,

I have the same problem. When the camera switches off (automatically or manually) I have to wake up the phone (not necessary to unlock) to reconnect bluetooth.

My phone is a Sony Xperia XZ1 compact.

I tested the same with a Samsung galaxy A3 and there automatic reconnection works just fine.

So it depends on what phone you have. You could be lucky...

I already sent this issue to the german ricoh support but they just told me they cannot reproduce the problem. Everything works fine. They tested "a Samsung" with Android 10 and a iPhone with iOS 14.5

I suggest that everyone that have the problem should write to the support. Maybe they re-think and test with some other phones too.

Thanks!

I did contact also Ricoh/Pentax support, no answer so far.

I went through every possible battery saving feature, turned them all off .. nothing helped.

I also tried Samsung A52.. was even worse. Got it to work once and after some time I could not reconnect at all. Had to start over with pairing etc.

It's a mess! It is probably in part problem on Android side as well .. but. .. these problems should really warn Pentax .. they have to keep GPS in their next K-1 and not to rely on this phone based solution. And no .. I not buying the large GPS unit that they sell .. that is not a solution for walking around with the camera.

I haven't had any of these issues on my Huawei P30 Pro Android phone. If I could find my older LG phone, I'd try with that one as well since it uses a different Bluetooth chip and a different Bluetooth revision than my newer phone. I'll see if I can find it over the weekend.

But you mentioned that the BT icon turns grey once you turn off and on the camera. To me, this is a sign that it is not working properly .. unless the icon turns white again without waking up the phone. For me it does not.

It turned grey when my phone lost location service. That's not a fault of Bluetooth, K-3 III or image sync.

 

[Breakfastographer 2]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

I thought that it might be useful to explain what I do instead of using the phone app that does not work on my phone.

I have a GPS watch that I use to track my hikes, runs etc. So when I go out with K-3 III, I start tracking my location on my watch. The watch can last for tens of hours so I do not need to worry about that (unlike the external GPS unit that Pentax is selling). After I come home, I export the track as GPX file. This can be imported into LR where you can tag all photos with just few clicks. Advantage is .. you get ALL photos geotagged.

Partly great and partly spooky, right?

With K-1, I get few photos without location, those are the ones that I take too quickly after turning the camera on. This is an unfortunate thing about the implementation of this feature, you need to turn on the camera several tens of seconds before you want to take a picture (not ideal but usable).

That would be super useful to quantify. I wonder how much it actually drains - I'm used to being able to let my DSLRs sit switched on to avoid additional startup delays without consuming much power. That's without GPS, though. I guess it pulls location at fixed intervals? (Manual probably says, feeling lazy for once.)

 

[JeremieB]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

I thought that it might be useful to explain what I do instead of using the phone app that does not work on my phone.

I have a GPS watch that I use to track my hikes, runs etc. So when I go out with K-3 III, I start tracking my location on my watch. The watch can last for tens of hours so I do not need to worry about that (unlike the external GPS unit that Pentax is selling). After I come home, I export the track as GPX file. This can be imported into LR where you can tag all photos with just few clicks. Advantage is .. you get ALL photos geotagged.

Partly great and partly spooky, right?

With K-1, I get few photos without location, those are the ones that I take too quickly after turning the camera on. This is an unfortunate thing about the implementation of this feature, you need to turn on the camera several tens of seconds before you want to take a picture (not ideal but usable).

That would be super useful to quantify. I wonder how much it actually drains - I'm used to being able to let my DSLRs sit switched on to avoid additional startup delays without consuming much power. That's without GPS, though. I guess it pulls location at fixed intervals? (Manual probably says, feeling lazy for once.)

Remember, it's a Pentax manual ;-)

Without checking, I'm pretty sure it doesn't give you this sort of detail.

In fact I think Wakashiro should really have continued posting those "Pentax stories" about K3III, it was great, and on each subject it was very clear. They could even submit a poll each month to decide what topic Wakashiro (or someone else) will talk about, maybe about other cameras as well.

 

[Breakfastographer 2]

Hello everyone,

sorry if this topic has already been discussed... but are there any user experiences regarding the K3-III and the usage of gps data? I work as a tourguide and just love that function on my K1... is it possible to sync between the K3-III and the smartphone?

Thanks for you help

I thought that it might be useful to explain what I do instead of using the phone app that does not work on my phone.

I have a GPS watch that I use to track my hikes, runs etc. So when I go out with K-3 III, I start tracking my location on my watch. The watch can last for tens of hours so I do not need to worry about that (unlike the external GPS unit that Pentax is selling). After I come home, I export the track as GPX file. This can be imported into LR where you can tag all photos with just few clicks. Advantage is .. you get ALL photos geotagged.

Partly great and partly spooky, right?

With K-1, I get few photos without location, those are the ones that I take too quickly after turning the camera on. This is an unfortunate thing about the implementation of this feature, you need to turn on the camera several tens of seconds before you want to take a picture (not ideal but usable).

That would be super useful to quantify. I wonder how much it actually drains - I'm used to being able to let my DSLRs sit switched on to avoid additional startup delays without consuming much power. That's without GPS, though. I guess it pulls location at fixed intervals? (Manual probably says, feeling lazy for once.)

Remember, it's a Pentax manual ;-)

Without checking, I'm pretty sure it doesn't give you this sort of detail.

They used to be really great. One area I wish they'd re-invest in. I wonder what the reason was, personnel change or funding.

In fact I think Wakashiro should really have continued posting those "Pentax stories" about K3III, it was great, and on each subject it was very clear. They could even submit a poll each month to decide what topic Wakashiro (or someone else) will talk about, maybe about other cameras as well.

I wonder how much effort it takes - presumably they have to put those stories through both marketing and legal to ensure the tone is right and nothing pending gets unwittingly hinted at.

 

[arnelie]

Roland wrote:

"I do not believe in a solution where a phone and a camera are supposed to be always connected with an app. I have never seen such a solution really working, ever. The phone has a zillion energy saving tricks that apps can do nothing about. And also, you really need to turn of the camera now and then to save camera battery."

I think Bluetooth LE standard should be used, very low energy used for periodic update of small amounts of data. From what you write, it seems they have not used that :-/

Best regards Arne

 

[Roland Karlsson]

Roland wrote:

"I do not believe in a solution where a phone and a camera are supposed to be always connected with an app. I have never seen such a solution really working, ever. The phone has a zillion energy saving tricks that apps can do nothing about. And also, you really need to turn of the camera now and then to save camera battery."

I think Bluetooth LE standard should be used, very low energy used for periodic update of small amounts of data. From what you write, it seems they have not used that :-/

Best regards Arne

They have used bluetooth, of course. But, it is not bluetooth that is the problem. It is GPS and also the CPU and other electronics that needs to be active. Phones have stamina mood in order to get long stand by time. If the phone is active, then the phone do not last many hours. Stamina mood means turning things off.