Digital cameras record the exact time each photo was taken. HoudahGeo relies on this information to match photos to a GPS tracklog. Unfortunately, most digital cameras fail to specify which time zone the recorded time is expressed in. I.e for a photo taken at noon, HoudahGeo cannot tell if it was noon in Los Angeles, or in Luxembourg, etc.
HoudahGeo thus needs a little help to make sense of the camera timestamps. Getting camera clock setup right is essential for automatic geocoding to work.
Fortunately, HoudahGeo makes this very easy. You get to choose between 3 options for specifying camera clock setup.
1. Camera time zone + clock error
Tell HoudahGeo for which time zone you had configured your camera clock. E.g. your home time zone. Additionally, HoudahGeo needs to know how many seconds the camera clock was running fast or slow.
Double-check the values: compare the time displayed by HoudahGeo to the one currently displayed on your camera. If you prefer, you can also just tell HoudahGeo what the time on your camera is and it will figure out the rest.
2. Clock photo
Sometimes it may be easier to just point HoudahGeo to a photo and tell it exactly when that was taken. Typically this will be a photo showing current time: a GPS device display, watch, clock tower, etc. You will need to tell HoudahGeo in which time zone the time is expressed. E.g. a clock tower in Los Angeles can show PDT – Pacific Daylight Time.
3. gps4cam pro
Things get even easier when you use the third-party gps4cam pro iPhone application. This application displays a QR code of which you take a photo using your digital camera. From this photo, HoudahGeo will be able to figure out how your camera clock was configured.
Additionally, gps4cam may record your trip. HoudahGeo can load the matching tracklog from the QR code photo.