GPS and 7D MKII

[Eudoxus]

In today's post I received my copy of Nina Bailey's 'Pocketbook for the EOS 7D Mark II'. On page 33 under the heading GPS SETTINGS I read and I quote "The EOS 7D Mark II has two ways of recording GPS (SETUP2menu). Firstly it can record where the images are taken and save the information as image data This does use extra power but if the camera is turned off between sessions it's only a small amount."
The book continues to explain that when the GPS logger is turned on battery life is significantly decreased.

Can someone tell me how I can set the first option i.e. only saving GPS information on image acquisition?

I am somewhat baffled.

[TonyT]

Re: GPS and 7D MKII

Welcome to the forum, I do not own the said camera so cannot comment, hopefully someone who has it will be along to help, so don't get despondant, my 1D has the external GPS and I must admit I haven't seen it draw much power when in the off mode, if at all.

[TonyT]

Re: GPS and 7D MKII

Bump
....

[antoeknee]

Re: GPS and 7D MKII

Have 7D2 but can't really help with your question as I have GPS turned off.

[Jock]

Re: GPS and 7D MKII

I don't know about the 7D, but I know on the 6D Mk II, setting GPS to Mode 2 means GPS is only active when updating and stamping photographs, while in Mode 1 it keeps a log all the time, even when the power is off.

[scarletti]

Re: GPS and 7D MKII

I think the book is wrong, and the short answer is that you can't.

Once you enable the GPS, it's always active, and records the path of the camera in the background, even when the camera is switched off. Many times I've forgotten to disable the GPS before I switch the camera off, and then come back to a flat battery a few days later. For that reason, I don't use the GPS as often as I'd like to.

At a recent Canon CPS event, I asked them about that. Their response was that they had listened to our complaints, and that new cameras (e.g. 6D MKii) have a mode that switches the GPS off when the camera is switched off, but that they had no plans to upgrade the firmware of existing cameras to give them the same options.

To make things a bit easier, I've added the GPS options to "My Menu", so at least I don't have to keep hunting for the settings.

[Claire Barrett]

Re: GPS and 7D MKII

Hi Eudoxus and welcome to the forum

The two GPS options mentioned in the EOS 7D Mark II Pocketbook are as follows:
1) From the SETUP2 menu, when you enter into the 'GPS/digital compass settings' and change 'GPS' from Disable to Enable (i.e. turn on the GPS), this activates the first option – where the camera records where the images are taken and saves that information as image data.
2) Once GPS is enabled, the GPS/digital compass settings menu extends and at the bottom of this menu the 'GPS logger' function becomes available. This is the second GPS option. In addition to recording the image data, the camera will also now track the entire journey, so long as there's signal available.

If you only want to log as image data, then change GPS to 'Enable' but leave the GPS logger on 'Disable'.

Both options draw on power when the camera is off, but the second option draws more power than the first. The harder it is for the camera to position itself, the more power it'll draw. In that respect the camera behaves as your smartphone does when location services or similar are active.