Martin Matysiak

If you want a hassle free way of geotagging your photos, plugging in a GPS module into your camera is the best way to go. Coordinates are stored in the photo's meta information as soon as you take it, no additional post-processing required. However, Nikon's original GPS module, the GP1, is quite expensive with a price tag of about 260$. That's why I've decided to build a low-cost DIY version which performs exactly the same but uses much cheaper components. The full building instructions including schematics and PCB layout for the DIY module can be found in my nikon-gp1-diy repository on GitHub. The assembled module is extremely small and fits perfectly onto the camera body thanks to a hot-shoe mount. Just plug it in, wait for a GPS fix and start shooting photos, it couldn't be easier than that! The total cost for the DIY module is roughly 40$, much cheaper than any commercially available alternative that I'm aware of.

During a moment of boredom I decided to build an IR remote for my Nikon camera. Turned out it is a very simple and cheap project, perfect for a day with nothing else to do. The remote operates easily on distances of about 15 - 20 meters. It may be even more, but I haven't tested it yet.

Basically the remote contains a microcontroller which is powered by pressing the button. The controller then toggles an infrared LED at a frequency of about 38kHz and by that transmits the correct pattern to the camera. The remote is equivalent to Nikon's ML-L3 remote and works with a wide range of their cameras.