Canon GP-E2/ other gps device opinions wanted

[Chris Summers]

I'm very late to this thread. The GP-E2 is a piece of crap! The electronics function well, but the mechanics are fragile! I do a lot of hiking around. First GP-E2 broke when my neckstrap broke and my camera tumbled down a rocky slope. The camera was fine, but the GP-E2 snapped off from the mounting attachment. Canon doesn't make parts and wouldn't repair it. $300 down the drain. Second GP-E2 snapped off the same way when my camera was in my daypack. I shouldn't have attached the GP-E2 before I put it in the pack, but I didn't realize it was that fragile. I think there may have been a 3rd one that failed, too. I tried the Solmeta and it didn't work properly at all. ARGH! So I then went to using a GPS app on my phone, then a 3rd party Geotagger that added the location based on timestamp once I uploaded them to my computer. PITA! I finally bought a used 7D mk ii just so I could have the location in my photos w/o hassle. Unfortunately, the 7D mk ii has terrible low light capabilities, but otherwise is a super nice body. Looking forward to the R5 mk ii. Hope to heck it has GPS in it!

I've had 2 of these GP-E2 GPS for my cameras for several years and have had no breakage and they stay on my cameras most of the time. You mention your camera fell down a rocky slope. You were lucky your camera and lens survived ok but the GPS is made of plastic and only held on at the hot shoe, it was the weakest link in the chain as they say. Probably better it broke than your hot shoe. And who knows what happened in your day pack, was the pack a padded one? Did it get set down hard? Cameras and accessories are delicate instruments. I once dropped my Canon 1Dx MkII when I picked it up off a coffee table and the strap caught on the edge, it only fell on the carpeted floor from about 30 inches up but required a Canon Service repair to re-adust the mirror to fix the focus costing me well over $100.

 

[Squirrel Girl]

@Chris Summers Absolutely! I can't blame Canon for that first one breaking during the tumble. I think I crushed the polarizing filter I had on the lens. But with effort and a metal filter wrench (don't buy the plastic filter wrenches) I got it off. I definitely felt lucky overall that that was the worst of the damage I had on that incident. But it still irks me that the GP-E2s are unrepairable.

For the second incident, the pack was not padded, but nothing untoward happened. IIRC, I put the camera in my pack, and the pack in my car, and when I arrived at the my destination, l took the camera out and the stupid GP-E2 had snapped! No free pass for that incident.

Bummer about your 1Dx. That seems extreme for the fall onto carpet. Still, $100 is a lot cheaper than a GP-E2!

 

[Bryan Conner]

@Chris Summers Absolutely! I can't blame Canon for that first one breaking during the tumble. I think I crushed the polarizing filter I had on the lens. But with effort and a metal filter wrench (don't buy the plastic filter wrenches) I got it off. I definitely felt lucky overall that that was the worst of the damage I had on that incident. But it still irks me that the GP-E2s are unrepairable.

For the second incident, the pack was not padded, but nothing untoward happened. IIRC, I put the camera in my pack, and the pack in my car, and when I arrived at the my destination, l took the camera out and the stupid GP-E2 had snapped! No free pass for that incident.

Bummer about your 1Dx. That seems extreme for the fall onto carpet. Still, $100 is a lot cheaper than a GP-E2!

Sorry to hear about your damaged GP-E2's. You mention that you carried your camera in a "daypack" which wasn't padded. Was this daypack a dedicated camera backpack made for transporting camera equipment? With adjustable dividers that would hold the camera stationary inside the pack?

 

[Squirrel Girl]

Sorry to hear about your damaged GP-E2's. You mention that you carried your camera in a "daypack" which wasn't padded. Was this daypack a dedicated camera backpack made for transporting camera equipment? With adjustable dividers that would hold the camera stationary inside the pack?

Hah, hah, hah, hah! No. I do a LOT of highly rugged outdoor stomping around in windy, dusty, bouldery New Mexico, teetering on rock ledges doing a lot of documentary photography (of the environment). In recent times, I bought a used 7D mk II (for godsakes why don't all cameras have GPS built in?) since it turns out the 7D mk II with the Tamron 28-300mm takes decent shots of rocks (doesn't have great lower light fidelity, though). I'm anxiously awaiting the new R2mkII, but I surely won't take a $5K camera when I'm on these rugged, rough excursions. Canons are generally quite robust. My brother (also a Canon shooter) sent me a link to a guy who proved how tough the 7D was by freezing one in a block of ice, then setting it on fire. THAT is the kind of camera I need. Anyway, ta ta to my 5D mk III and it's lack of GPS for this type of photography.