Customer Reviews

Promote Systems GPS Receiver GPS-N-90 for Nikon D90, D3100, D5000, D5100 and D7000 Cameras

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the reasons that I upgraded to the Nikon D90 was its support for GPS input for tagging photos in real time. However, like many, I was disappointed with Nikon's effort, the GP-1. I had read about a number of third party units, but the reviews of the other version of the Promote GPS unit caught my attention. This unit is essentially the same at the one for the D300 and other Nikons with its cable interface:Promote GPS Receiver for Nikon D300, D700, D3, D2X, D2Xs, D2Hs, D200 and Fuji S5 Pro cameras so you should check the reviews for that unit as well.

Since it uses the SiRF STAR III chipset, it does as expected and gets a pretty quick fix on the satelites and has proven quite accurate in my testing. Initial lock takes a few minutes (the GPS icon flashes on the top LCS panet). After the initial position has been found, "hot fix" only takes a second or two when you press the shutter half way to turn the meter on.

The unit is powered only when the meter on the camera is active and there is no option to have it draw power contantly and maintain the lock. While I'd like the option, it's not a deal killer. If you want to get automatic GPS tagging while indoors, you will need to change the function in your menu for the time before the camera meter turns off to something long, like 30 minutes. Then, you will need to get your position fix while outside. Once you are inside, the GPS will remember your last position and use to tag while you are inside.

The unit is fairly large. If you use it as designed - attached to the hot shoe, there is no using the built in flash on the D90. The flash cannot fully open to fire properly. So, if you want to use the on board or an external flash, you will need to remove the GPS unit from the hot shoe and clip it to your strap some how. Promote does not include any kind of additional clip to mount the unit on a strap.

But, it's considerably cheaper than the Nikon unit, gives fast and accurate GPS data, and the angled connector plugs securely into the side of the camera and sticks out of the side a minimum distance. Overall, I'm happy with the unit.

It took some time for the first lock up but, then it locks up seconds after I turn it on outdoors. Indoors it may or may not lock up but, usually will if given a few minutes. My unit was packaged with a black plastic thing with no information on what it was or how to use it. Looking it over I found that it was a thing to put on our camera strap that would hold the GPS, leaving the hot shoe free. I have yet to see what degradation the GPS being mounted that way and possible sheilded body has on its operation.

On my D90, it will take about 2 minutes to get its bearings. After that, when you turn on the camera again, it takes less than a minute. You can tell if it's grabbed onto the satellites by going into the GPS menu on your D90, where it will show you the latitude, longitude and elevation. Truly amazing.

I have a Nikon D7000, I use iPhoto on the Mac and I live in Chicago, IL. I've always been interested in Geo coding my photos so that I can sort them by location besides I own two other GPS devices as well (one for driving and another for hiking/biking). So naturally, I was interested in this product.

Things I have learned about this product. It does need a fairly clear line to the sky. Like most GPS devices, it has difficulty locking in your location when I am tightly in between two buildings. Sometimes it takes 4 or 5 minutes to acquire a signal, but once it has your location, it is very accurate. One drawback, I haven't had much success getting a signal through a window, whereas my other two devices seem to be able to do it.

The Promote GPS came with a small plastic strip (Thank you Promote!) which you can attach the GPS and then hook the strip up to the camera strap. It is a great alternative to the the camera flash shoe and it allows you to either use the built in flash or attach your own flash. It also helps if you need to quickly tuck your camera back in the bag; one less thing to take off the camera.

The GPS has a significant drain on the battery, if you always leave it on. So I highly suggest getting a second battery. Unlike other reviewers, when I turned it off and on, it still took a while to reacquire a location. If the power was off for only a few minutes, it acquires a signal very quickly (matter of seconds), so it has some memory of your last location. If you leave it off for a long time plus you change your location, it will take much longer to reacquire your location. Keep in mind, this is true with most GPS devices. I also found that if it acquires a location, then you shut it off, change locations and turn it on indoors, it retains that general location. So it is a good idea to either reacquire the signal outside or turn it off, otherwise your photos will be tagged with the wrong location.

To make the GPS more reliable, I have modified some of my settings and ways I go about shooting. First, I went into the D7000 Custom Settings Menu (pencil icon) -> Selected "c Timers/AE lock" -> "c2 Auto meter-off delay" and set it to 5 minutes. Next, as stated before, I attach the GPS to my camera strap and plug it into the camera. I turn on the camera and the GPS, then depress the shutter release button to turn on the meter. After that, I check either the control panel or the display info screen for the flashing "GPS" symbol. When I see it. I know the GPS is on and looking for a signal. Then I put the camera back in the bag with the portion of the strap with the GPS on it hanging out of the bag and go about my business. After that, every 5 minutes or so, I re-depress the shutter release to keep the meter active and the GPS location working. When I am ready to shoot, the GPS is usually ready to go and my photos are tagged.

I gave this 4 of 5 starts because of its quirkiness, that it doesn't pull a signal through my window like my other GPS devices and it would have been better if it was self powered. I'm not sure if there is an issue with Nikon's design, or with power feedback issues or whatever, but none of the GPS devices are self powered. However, if this unit was self powered, it would be a clear advantage over the competition. Otherwise, it works great!

This is a nice unit and it works well. It is compact and has fast lock up time. I will offer the following observations: 1- The unit will interfere with the built in flash if mounted to the shoe on top of the camera. Since GPS does not work indoors, I suggest you remove it. For those that will argue it remembers the last close position, I can only say that if you are indoors you should know where you are. If not, ask an adult. You will need the flash shoe in most cases anyway for a real flash unit or.... 2- The strap mount that comes with the unit is all but useless. Nikon makes a nice one (CL-1) that is grossly over priced for the GP-1, there GPS unit. At $13.00 it is a rip-off for a small piece of plastic, but it works well with this unit if you need a strap mount. 3 - The Promote unit is well made and I would buy it again without hesitation.

Promote Systems lived up to the wonderful reviews about their customer service. I had difficulty recognizing whether the unit was functioning when it arrived yesterday, so I contacted them by submitting a ticket on the Promote Systems website (not Amazon's). They replied by e-mail within a few hours giving me the information on where to look in the camera's menu for the GPS indicator to tell if it was operational. I used the information and verified that it was working just as all the favorable Amazon reviews discuss. (For other newbies: the GPS indicator on the D7000 is in the camera's topside LCD screen just to the right of the rectangular meter indicator in the center of the display. It says "GPS" and it will flash while acquiring satellites and go steady when they have been acquired.)

Just as important, the reviews here on Amazon that talk about the amazing customer service from Promote Systems are spot on. Not only did they help a newbie learn how to use the device, but they offered to take it back if it wasn't working. I didn't even have to ask. But it does work so I won't be sending it back. I look forward to a lot of painless geotagging for a long time to come. (Sure beats carrying a Garmin Nüvi around and taking notes; or worse, going back on Google Maps and trying to reconstruct a location with no on-site coordinates.)

A helpful hint for those who complain about how tight the GPS input on Nikon cameras are. There is a little raised area in the camera's GPS input slot which corresponds to a groove in the N-90's plug. Line them up before trying to push the plug in and you can't go wrong. Use reasonable care pulling it out again gripping the plug and not the cord. The N-90's cord is reinforced at the plug and at the device. It is very substantial. There's no reason to think that it should fail as so many of the competing brands' cords are reported doing.

I am very Happy with it, it's fast and easy to use, some time you may need to wait 2-4 min to get ready. I upload some photos to my PANORAMIO [...] it's great add to my photos no need to guess my positions any more.

I take most of my pictures while camping/hiking at various rivers, so having my photos geotagged is an awesome feature. Reviews of the Nikon branded GPS vs the Promote led me to buy the Promote product, and I couldn't be happier with it. A signal lock happens pretty quickly (based on prior experience with other GPS products) and is reacquired quickly after turning the camera back on; I've even got a lock while indoors. It came with an odd shaped piece of plastic that allowed me to hand it off the strap, allowing me to leave the unit attached all the time with no problem fitting the camera in my hip-bag.

An excellent unit, works as advertised on my D90. If the wire was a bit longer, you could mount it backwards and it wouldn't get in the way of the flash.

I purchased Promise GPS for my Nikon D5000 about 1 1/2 months ago. It is very easy to connect with the camera. If you keep its power on and the camera's power on, it locates your photo very quickly and accurately. The unit gets its power from the camera battery, but I have noticed very little power drain compared to simply leaving the camera on without the GPS unit connected.

From a "cold start" -- power off -- it takes a minute or two to acquire the location.

The only problem I have encountered may be due to my lack of knowledge of Photoshop. Using Photoshop CS4, the photo will not be accurately located on Panoramio. Useless! However I found that by using Corel Paintshop Pro X2, this problem is completely by-passed. It tend to think the problem lies with my knowledge rather than the unit. Comments on this would be welcome.