What use is a GPS in a camera?

When I read blog posts or camera reviews, there is very little talk about GPS units included in the camera.  Most “experts” seem to think that it is an unnecessary accessory.  I’ve read blog posts that exclaim: “I know where I am when I take a picture!”  I had a recent experience that would make me disagree with that.

Five years ago, I went on a trip to Italy.  Rome and Venice to be exact.  I took lots of pictures because I wasn’t sure when I’d have the chance to go back.  My camera of choice was a trusty Sony Alpha A700.  I tracked all my movements on my iPhone using the MotionX app.  When I returned home, I merged all the track information with my pictures using a geosetting piece of software.  (I would now do it with Lightroom.)

A few days ago, I came across the picture seen above.  I remembered the baptismal font and the small chapel it was in, but I couldn’t for the life of me, remember what church it was from.  With all the churches in Rome, remembering which one was a daunting task.

And then I switched over to map view.  There it was!  It was taken at Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.  I could go to Wikipedia and re-read the history of this fantastic building.

Yeah, I knew where I was when I took the picture.  Five years later though, the memory was a little fuzzy.  Thank goodness for geotagging.  With that, all the memories came rushing back.

Happy (geotagged) shooting!