Here’s a review of geotagging tools available as of today (July ‘08). I tested all of them personally and tried to come up with a pro & con list on each of them. If you know a geotagging Mac application that’s not included on this list, please drop a comment.

Ovolab GeoPhoto

GeoPhoto is an all-in-one solution for your geotagging workflow and probably the most feature rich geotagging application today for the Mac. The registration fee is US$ 24.95. A trial version of GeoPhoto can be downloaded here.

Pros:

• Automatically geotags your photos using a GPS track log.
• Uses Google Earth (globe, 2D maps, satellite maps and terrain views) fully integrated into the application using the Google Earth API
• Handles all sorts of photo formats including RAW camera files like Nikon NEF, Adobe DNG, Hasselblad 3FR, Pentax PEF and many more. See here for a more complete list.
• Imports existing photos from Aperture 2 and iPhoto projects by referencing the files, not duplicating them
• Stores precise altitude information based on satellite data in case it’s not accurate or missing
• Reads many GPS logger formats including .NMEA, Google Earth & Maps (.KML, .XML), GPX. See here for a more complete list.
• Import GPS data from some loggers directly using Bluetooth or USB. Devices include NaviGPS GT11/BGT-11, GlobalSat DG-100/BT-335, MKT-based loggers, Magellan, Wintec 100/200. See here for a more complete list.
• Is able to batch-update lots of photos
• Offers time zone, time/date correction
• Exports your photos to a Flickr or Photocast gallery on the fly
• Has its own support forum

Cons:

• No hi-rez imagery available for the Google Earth globe window. May be a limitation of Google Earth API though? High-resolution details are available in the Google Map window.
• While thumbnails are displayed correctly, my NEF files looked very ugly in the preview windows. It seems that GeoPhoto just zooms into the thumbnail.

If you’re interested in GeoPhoto don’t miss my post about the geotagging workflow using Aperture 2 and camera RAW files.

iCraig GeoTagger

GeoTagger let’s you manually geotag JPEG photos using Google Earth (which has to be installed separately). It is freeware and can be downloaded here.

Pros:

• Freeware
• Uses Google Earth to mark a location

Cons:

• Supports JPEG only
• Doesn’t support track log import. Geotagging has to be dony by hand for every photo.

If you’re using iPhoto don’t miss iCraig’s cool iPhoto plugin iPhotoToGoogleEarth that let’s you export geotagged photos from iPhoto for viewing in Google Earth.

GPSPhotoLinker

GPSPhotoLinker is free to use but it’s donationware. Please don’t forget to donate if you use it on a regular basis. It can be downloaded here.

Pros:

• Donationware
• Automatically geotags your photos using a GPS track log
• Supports various image formats, including JPEG, TIFF, Nikon NEF, Adobe DNG and some other camera RAW formats as well.
• Offers time zone and date/time correction
• Is able to batch-update lots of photos
• Offers linking options depending on time or distance between a GPS track point (nice!)
• Shows preceding, next and time weighted average track points (cool!)
• Writes location information (city, state, country) into IPTC/XMP header
• Shows selected track points in Google Maps
• Clearly laid out user interface
• Easy and straightforward to use

Cons:

• Only supports GPX track log format. You may want to have a look at GPSBabel to convert your track log to GPX if your GPS logger doesn’t support GPX.
• A bit slow while loading larger images for preview.

JetPhoto Studio

The basic version seems to be free but you will have to buy the Pro version to get access to some features. Some features will deactivate themselves in the basic version after you use them like 15 times or so. The Pro version costs US$ 25. Download JetPhoto Studio here.

Pros:

• Automatically geotags your photos using a GPS track log
• Supports iPhoto library
• Exports your images to Flickr
• Is able to create web galleries, including Flash
• Supports various track log formats, including NMEA and GPX

Cons:

• Only supports JPEG
• Not that intuitive. I didn’t get warm with the user interface.
• Doesn’t support Aperture projects

HoudahGeo

HoudahGeo claims to be the only one-stop solution for the Mac. It’s the most expensive of all my reviewed applications and has a price tag of € 25 which is about US$ 40. Download it here.

Pros:

• Automatically geotags your photos using a track log
• Supports iPhoto, Aperture 2 and Lightroom projects
• Supports various track logs formats, including NMEA and GPX
• Supports track log download from GPS loggers directly using USB or Bluetooth. Supported devices include Wintec WBT-100, WBT-200 and WBT-201, Magellan, Garmin,
• Supports various image formats, including TIFF, JPEG and camera RAW formats like NEF
• Exports your images to Flickr
• Exports your track log to Google Earth format and includes images
• Offers time zone and date/time correction

Cons:

• More expensive than the competition

PhotoGPSEditor

PhotoGPSEditor is free to use but it’s donationware. Please don’t forget to donate if you use it on a regular basis. You can download it here.

Pros:

• Donationware
• Automatically geotags your photos using a track log
• Integrated Google Maps view
• Supports various image formats, including some RAW formats like .NEF
• Is able to batch-update lots of photos
• Supports time offset correction
• Clearly laid out user interface
• Easy and straightforward to use

Cons:

• Supports only GPX track log format. They claim to support NMEA but I can’t select a track log with the extension .nmea.
• Current version crashes if I try to import an (admittedly large) TIFF file

Conclusion

My favourite GPS geotagging applications on the Mac are Ovolab’s GeoPhoto and GPSPhotoLinker.

There’s no way around GeoPhoto if your intention is to have both, the most flexible and easiest-as-possible geotagging workflow on the Mac. While most other tools offer some form of geotagging, none of them match the vast list of supported image and track log formats of GeoPhoto. I also really like the way it shows my photo’s thumbnails on the integrated Google Earth globe. Even though I’m a fan of GeoPhoto, it still lacks some of the cool features from the mother-of-all-geotagging tools: GeoSetter. Unfortunately, GeoSetter is only available on Windows.

Considering it’s a non-commercial product, GPSPhotoLinker is an awesome geotgagging tool and if you can do without Aperture 2 and iPhoto project support, it certainly is capable of supporting your geotagging workflow very well. I particularly like the average waypoint weighting function in GPSPhotoLinker.