Dawn di-GPS

[Chris_911]

I've been using the Dawn di-GPS unit on my Nikon D810 over the last few months (IIRC since October 2014). In terms of the way it operates I am very pleased with it. It is relatively unobtrusive when mounted on the camera, though it does make accessing the flash buttons awkward on the D810. I have found it very quick to start up and don't believe I've missed any GPS coordinates on my shots.

One negative is that the battery life is greatly reduced. I can't put a figure on this but it is VERY noticeable in extended shooting. I always use my D810 with a battery grip attached so am always running two batteries so this is not really an issue, but it might be for someone using the camera without the grip.

My biggest concern when I started using the device though was its strength - i.e. its structural strength. It attaches to the camera via the 10 pin socket on the front and this is its only connection so any loading placed on the di-GPS is reacted at the metal collar which screws into the 10 pin connector. This is made worse by the fact that the unit has a pass-through 10pin connector on its front; this feature was an absolute necessity for me when I was looking as I frequently shoot with the camera on a tripod and a remote wireless release connected. This clearly puts extra load on the di-GPS mounting.

I felt right from the off that the unit may not survive for too long. I'm extremely careful with my camera kit but the mounting arrangement was clearly quite flimsy.

Anyway, guess I was right as what I felt was the inevitable happened the other day:

It broke in exactly the way I had anticipated. What caused the failure ultimately I don't know. To my knowledge my camera has never been bumped or dropped. I pulled my camera out of my bag and the unit was hanging by its safety thread from the camera. I've been in touch with the supplier (bps-camera.eu in Germany) but they are maintaining the unit has been 'bumped'.

My feeling is that the failure is due to the part being weak in this area. I've sent it to them this week and will see what develops.

So, functionally good from a gps point of view but I would say insufficiently strong.

 

[mistagain1]

Any update with this Chris as I am thinking about a non Nikon GPS unit for my D7200,D7000, D300s.

Thanks

Trev.

 

[Chris_911]

Hi Trev

The vendor replaced it for a fee of 30Euro. Apparently Dawn won't honour any structural failure under the warranty so this was the (easier) way forward. The new unit does seem to sit on the camera more securely in that there is not the degree of movement I had with the original one when the metal securing ring was tightened. It also came loose very easily - the new does not seem to do this.

I still think the design is structurally weak, but like its small size and the fact I can still attach a remote shutter release.

 

[mistagain1]

Thanks for the update Chris.

Trev.

 

[Chris_911]

The inevitable strike two:



Broken in exactly the same way as the first. For a product that uses the word 'professional' in its name it falls seriously short in the strength stakes.