6D GPS data in DPP 4 not visible

[NickMDal]

Hello.  I am a new (otherwise very happy) 6D user.  Have read the manuals carefully including the WiFi/GPS manual.  The image format used is raw and GPS data is needed.

Raws with verified GPS data are downloaded with EOS utility and then viewed in DPP4.  DPP4 shows the GPS icon on the thumbnails, but the EXIF GPS section is blank.

I use a catalog mgmt application (Phase One MediaPro), which also has no data in the GPS EXIF field for those same raws.

Is the GPS data recognizable as standard EXIF data?  Should DPP display coordinates?

[Waddizzle]

I piddled with the GPS when I first got my 6D.  I quickly realized that the GPS is a battery bandit, which will quickly run down your batteries, even when the camera is not in use.  I don't think DPP actually uses the GPS info for anything, but it would be nice if it would display it in some form or another.

As I recall, there is a separate software package for the GPS tagging and mapping.  You can tag one photo when you're shooting, turn off the GPS to save battery power.  After you download your images to a laptop, you can then copy the GPS data from the first photo onto as many photos as you wish. 

I have seen photos shot with iPhones fill out those fields.  I will have to check my older photos at another time, when I have access to the archives, and see what my setup was doing.  Like I said, I realized that I really didn't need it as much as I thought.  Although, for some, it could be critical information.  Once again, you can shoot one photo, tagged with GPS data, and later copy that information to other files.  This is useful to do if you are generally at one location, or site.

[NickMDal]

Thanks for helping!  I've heard much about the battery issue but it seems to a minor thing in actual use.  There is an indicator that shows its on.  Two or three uses and flipping it on and off became an easy habit.

Are you referring to ImageBrowser?  I've read that it works with the GPS logging feature, but didn't realize it was required for attaching the GPS data to the images.

Does the GPS data have to be added to the images after the images are downloaded?  That seems strange but it would explain a lot.

[Waddizzle]

No, not ImageBrowser, which is something that I have never used, BTW.  There is a separate GPS application that downloads maps from somewhere (google?) that shows where the GPS has "been". 

When I first got the camera, I had GPS turned on all of the time.  I took an hour long road trip, shot up the place, and drove back home.  The GPS applciation showed the roads I took to reach the destination, showed my wanderings around in the woods, back to the parking lot, and the drive back home.  Sure, the battery ran way down, but I didn't know any better, not until I recharged them, and didn't use the camera for a few days because of rainy weather.....my batteries were half drained.

Yes, the GPS tagging data can be copied from one image to a set of images, although I have only done it once.  Sure enough, DPP showed the GPS icon.  Contrary to my initial expectations, being an amateur enthusiast, I have found the GPS to be of limited value for most of shooting...except for the rare occasion when I go spelunking in the woods.  The last time I tried it recorded all of the circles I was walking when I got lost.  That's when I turned it off, and it has stayed off.

[NickMDal]

Hm...  Wondering if that app is google earth, which downloads data directly from GPSs.

Think I'm going to see what the Imagebrowser and the Canon GPS utility can do.

Has anyone here sucessfully attached Canon's GPS data to downloaded RAW images?

[Waddizzle]

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@NickMDal wrote:

Hm...  Wondering if that app is google earth, which downloads data directly from GPSs.

Think I'm going to see what the Imagebrowser and the Canon GPS utility can do.

Has anyone here sucessfully attached Canon's GPS data to downloaded RAW images?

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Yes, that's it.  It's called the Map Utility.  I have long stopped using both it and the GPS. 

ImageBrowser doesn't concern itself with GPS data.  I've have already said that I used the GPS software, Map Utility, to copy GPS data from one image to dozens of more images.  ImageBrowser is not that useful for me.  I have only opened it up once, when I first bought a Canon, which means a couple of years ago, and have never opened it since.  For one, it was prohibitively slow, like most of the Canon packages.

[NickMDal]

This is driving me nuts.  I have 2 machines, one inaccessible at the moment. That one has Map Utility.

This laptop has imagebrowser, which I agree is not that usable.  But the Canon article says IB and the Map Utility are installed together.  I spent an hour and a half last night installing/reinstalling image browser (online and CD) and Map Utility will not install.

Imagebrowser is supposed to show the MAP icon as in this Canon article https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART138539

.. but it doesn't.  There does not seem to be a direct download for Map Utility and it is not on the CD that came with the CD.  Am I doing something wrong?

[Waddizzle]

I just checked the download page for the EOS 6D, and the utility software for ther Map Utilityisn't there. 

EOS 6D Product Support Page 

I am almost certain that it was a separate software download before they updated the web site.  Not there.  It is not part of the ImageBrowser, nor is it part of the Utility Disk.  I even checked the GP-E2 GPS module, and it had no software download, either.  Just to be thorough, I even checked older Operating Systems, and still nothing.  This is not good.

[NickMDal]

Wow so confusing.  I have access to the other machine now and there is a large "Map Utility" folder under c:\programs (x86)\Canon, that was installed on 3/14/16.  Windows/Chrome history shows that the folder was created 20 minutes after the ImageBrowser install and exactly when I registered on Canon Image Gateway.  Can't find any traces of an installer for Map Utility.

[Waddizzle]

Is the executable file there?  The manual for the Map Utility can be downloaded from the same link, too.