GPS Camera accuracy vs. Garmin

[+FolsomNatural]

I have two cameras with built-in GPS, but I've noticed the GPS accuracy is not quite

as good as the dedicated Garmin 62st that I use.

I decided to make some comparisons.

 

To my surprise, the Cascio EX H20G Exilim rounds the GPS measures to a whole degree.

That's approximately a 1-mile error at my latitude and longitude.

So, that camera is essentially useless for GPS accuracy.

 

The other camera is a Cannon PowerShot SX260 HS ($200).

I took several photographs with the GPS turned on and compared them with

my Garmin 62st hand-held.

 

The Cannon's GPS locations differed from the GPS unit by an average of

36 feet of latitude and 11 feet of longitude.

That's darn good for a $200 camera with a bunch of other great features

(such as 1080 HD video and 20X zoom).

 

I am wondering if the more expensive cameras have better accuracy.

If anyone owns a Panasonic DMC ZS20 (~$300), or the

Sony Cybershot DSC HX20v (~$380), I would like to see how good the

GPS is for them. Both those cameras have EXCELLENT user reviews.

 

I often take photos while geocaching and sometimes will post the photos

of interesting places to Panoramio dot com, which in turn may be used in Google Earth.

I generally keep the GPS function turned off on the camera as it drains

a lot of power from the batteries.

 

With the Cannon I feel it is accurate enough to take picture with the GPS on

and then post them - - many viewers will take the photo "EXIF" file

and assume the GPS figures are accurate, but that's not always true.

I feel it's at least in the ballpark with the Cannon reading.

It sure would be interesting to see how other cameras compare.

[alandb]

I also have a Casio Exlim-H20G. Where are you seeing the coordinates rounded off to a whole degree? My camera does not behave that way at all. In fact I have been amazed at the accuracy when I plot the coordinates recorded with an image into Google Maps satellite view. Zoomed in, it always shows my position within a few feet of where I actually took the photo.

 

Displaying the image with coordinates on the Casio picture viewer screen, the coordinates are shown as degrees, minutes and decimal seconds down to .01 seconds. Looking at the values stored in the EXIF data of the image file (.JPG), the coordinate values are shown as degrees and decimal minutes to .0001 minutes precision.

 

So I am confused where you are seeing the rounding of coordinate values. Have you applied the latest firmware updates to your camera?

[+redwoodkestrel]

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4, and the accuracy is great. An organization that I worked for field tested a bunch of GPS-enabled cameras and found the Lumix to have the best accuracy while still being relatively affordable, rugged (shock proof and waterproof) and lightweight (we give them to volunteers doing research for us).

[+FolsomNatural]

I also have a Casio Exlim-H20G. Where are you seeing the coordinates rounded off to a whole degree? My camera does not behave that way at all. In fact I have been amazed at the accuracy when I plot the coordinates recorded with an image into Google Maps satellite view. Zoomed in, it always shows my position within a few feet of where I actually took the photo.

 

Displaying the image with coordinates on the Casio picture viewer screen, the coordinates are shown as degrees, minutes and decimal seconds down to .01 seconds. Looking at the values stored in the EXIF data of the image file (.JPG), the coordinate values are shown as degrees and decimal minutes to .0001 minutes precision.

 

So I am confused where you are seeing the rounding of coordinate values. Have you applied the latest firmware updates to your camera?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to check on that.

Maybe I have to reset something.