Solmeta Geotagger N3-c is camera GPS Receiver & Shutter Release for Nikon Df, D750, D610, D600, D7200,D7100,D7000, D5600,D5500,D5300,D5200,D5100,D5000, D3300,D3200,D3100, CoolPix A, P7800,P7700

Sorry for the long review; read the first 2 paragraphs for the most critical info, and the rest if you want more!I’ve owned at least 4 different camera-mounted GPS devices for Nikon (D90, D7000, D7100 and now D610) over the past few years. This one (the Solmeta N3-c) seems best so far (along with it’s “big brother” the Pro2, see separate review), because of 3 features: It records direction as well as location (lat/long); the coiled cable “hugs” the camera better and has some “give”, more so than a straight wire on other brands/models, which snag and stress the connections; and the plug is “L”-shaped and also hugs the camera body when inserted, rather than sticking straight out as on other brands/models (including earlier Solmeta’s). The weak link in every camera-gps device I’ve owned is the cable and/or plug, and the possible damage it can cause to the socket in your camera when the cable snags on something and yanks out the plug, or tries to. That is still possible, but the design is now improved.Like at least one other reviewer, I had a problem with the plug (which goes into the remote control socket on your Nikon camera) coming apart. After about 3 or 4 insertions/removals, I pulled the plug out and found the silver “sleeve” around the plug had remained in the camera. I was able to extract it easily with a needle-nose pliers. I emailed the seller (Dauphinus) and within about 48 hours received a reply offering to send a new cable, or to send the entire unit back for repair. It was explained that replacing the cable was not difficult. I opened the N3-c (you need a T5 Torx screwdriver to pull 4 screws) and found that the cable was attached to a small “plug” inside the GPS, and was fairly easy to unplug and therefore replace...see photo from Solmeta with this review. (This all assumes you’re OK with minor electronics repair and disassembly.) So I opted for waiting for a replacement cable and doing the repair myself. I am not convinced the replacement plug is any stronger than the original, it looks identical, and I intend to reinforce the “sleeve” with a bit of hot glue or plastic filler to ensure it remains in one piece. This is my only hesitation in recommending this particular GPS device, especially as other reviewers have had similar problems with the plug. At least the seller stands behind their product and would fix it if you are not comfortable doing it yourself. The replacement cable took about 8 days to arrive. (At the same time I contacted the manufacturer Solmeta from their web site and received a similar offer to send a replacement cable or send back my device for repair...good support including a photo of the install process attached below....)You can skip the rest of this review unless you want more detail about the packaging and other positive features of this unit. I’ll mention I also just bought the Solmeta Geotagger Pro2, the next model “up” from this one, with an LCD display. There are pros/cons to each model…the Pro2 has many more programmable options so a bit more “complicated” or possibly for advanced users, but having the LCD display is helpful at times. It’s more expensive, but has its own internal battery some may prefer. But then you have yet another proprietary charging cable to keep track of (why not a standard USB connector as on a smart phone for charging it?) Pros/cons as I say. Please see my separate review of the Pro2-f for details.I ordered the Solmeta N3-C from the Amazon vendor "Dauphinus" who shipped within 24 hours of my order from China, I received it here in the USA in less than a week with the expedited shipping option. It was well-packaged for shipping that far.The Solmeta N3-C arrives professionally packaged in a very nice box, not cheap-looking at all. The instruction booklet is printed in color, easy to comprehend and in 95% good English. There is a necessary calibration procedure for the internal compass which is recommended before use; I found a video of that procedure on the Solmeta website. Not hard to do. The instruction manual is also available from the website if you want to look at all details of operation before purchase.The box includes the geotagger, a remote control (standard mini-jack, plugs into the side of the geotagger when needed), a plastic clip so you can optionally mount the geotagger to your camera strap rather than in the hot shoe (be advised this may affect compass readings, though not location accuracy), and a well-made neoprene zippered bag to store everything in.Other than the plug issue mentioned above, the build quality is very good. As stated, this model has an L-shaped plug, so the cord goes straight up the side of the camera. I use an Arca-style "L bracket" on my D610 Nikon...the plug for the Solmeta “nests” nicely within the open side of the L bracket, further protecting the plug area.In use I found that both location and direction of my photos was very accurate, certainly within 20 feet or better under an open sky. (I export photos from Lightroom to Mac software called HoudahGeo, which creates a Google Earth file showing the location of your photos very easily). I believe this is as close as you can possibly expect with civilian-grade GPS. The compass can be affected by nearby metal, so for example shooting from a car window, the heading may be affected. I can't really make a statement like “the compass was accurate within 5 degrees" or the like but in testing during a day of shooting several hundred images it was close to readings from a hand-held compass. I just need to know what direction my photos were taken, and for this purpose it worked well.Two possible drawbacks for some users (though personally I like both of these design features): The cable on this model is permanently attached, so you must buy the model with a plug for your particular camera’s remote socket, meaning it can’t be used in the other type of sockets Nikon uses on various model cameras. I consider this a plus as I have had trouble with the connectors on other GPS units (including earlier Solmetas) when the cable could be removed from the GPS “body”.The other possible negative is that this GPS draws on your camera battery for power. Again, I favor this feature, as I never need to worry about charging yet another device. In use over an 8-hour shooting day, i needed 2 camera batteries, discharging the 2nd one about half way before the end of my shoot. The instructions say this device will draw occasional power even when the camera is turned off, so it should be unplugged if you want to power it down (there is NO on/off switch). I’ve had mine plugged in with the camera off for 2 days now, and the battery has perhaps declined 1 “notch” on the battery meter during that time.Overall, I recommend this unit, with a caution about the plug coming apart, I hope this is an issue Solmeta is working to resolve.

For cameras without an internal GPS tagger, and for naturalist photog's using such cameras who don't want to mess with a phone link (esp. where there may be no phone connection), this is a useful device. Needs to be calibrated, but very useful and I've found it reliable.

Sadly (lazily actually), I have only written one Amazon review prior to this, but this unit AND their great customer service has prompted me to take a minute to say how impressed I am with the Geotagger N3-c. It seems reasonably well built, locks a fix almost immediately on my D750, and the design is sleek. I haven't actually benchmarked its time, but it's never held me up when I was ready to shoot and I usually have the camera ready in my car’s passenger seat to pull over for grab shots. Every shot has been spot on for GPS accuracy, too. This is somewhat surprising maybe because I haven’t even calibrated it yet. I wanted to see how it would do straight out of the box.The customer service has also been top notch. Initially something went wrong in the ordering process and about five minutes after ordering I received a form letter from Amazon saying my order had been cancelled with little explanation of why. But ten minutes later an email from Dauphinus (Amazon Market) customer service said there had been a "mistake... [in] the shipment setting", asking me to resubmit the order. Since the geotagger was coming from China I was a little hesitant to reorder a $150 item before I checked for a credit to or no charge on my Amazon card, but went ahead as they had also indicated I'd be refunded the original order immediately if there was a charge and their Amazon store rating was 100%.So, long story a bit shorter...there was no charge for the first order AND Dauphinus even gave me a $20 good will credit, so shipping was free and the price discounted about 10%. But most amazingly I received the unit in LESS THAN TWO DAYS after being shipped from Shenzhen China via DHL! My previous experience with orders from China for other companies’ products was that they took quite a while to get to me by mail. Like almost a month in one case. So this capacity for a two day turnaround was a revelation.Also, prior to and then after receiving the N3-c, I sent two other emails with questions for Dauphinus and received an almost immediate reply for each.Bottom line is that if this unit holds up well (and note that it's listed as having a TWO year warranty), the whole experience will have been a solid five stars. Highly recommended.

Well I was not expecting to be so impressed. Was expecting to have to finagle with settings, get a clear sky, etc. Un-boxed, read the simple directions, mounted on camera, and plugged it in. Was indoors just to familiarize, so was not expecting a satellite fix until I went outside. Blink, blink, green blink blink presto solid fix. According to the directions anyway. Made a picture, and copied to look at properties of the jpeg. Yep, there the coordinates were. I know my home co-ords, but for grins plugged into that famous (or infamous) map program - there it was. Within a few feet. Needless to say worked outside as well. Kind of anti-climatic since since sometimes I like to geek things out. But, I'm impressed. Now if it will hold up to use over time, I got my money's worth. Nikon D7200 if anyone cares.Only downside, and no biggie, is that mounted on the shoe you can't use the internal pop-up flash. However it seems to work just as well attached to the strap with the (included) handy clip-thing. Also included a wired remote shutter release/switch that was nice though I didn't particularly need that.