Ricoh 500SE expensive GPS-ready camera

Camera manufacturers continue to position GPS-enabled cameras at the very high end, either for pro photographers or as GIS-imaging solutions.

The Ricoh 500SE is "GPS-ready", which means you can use it either with an optional Ricoh GPS unit, or with any Bluetooth NMEA GPS (and possibly optionally WiFi NMEA GPS).  It will automatically geocode photos if it can find a GPS - including displaying the location & number of satellites on its LCD screen, and storing the coordinates in the EXIF.

UPDATE 2008-09-18: See information from Ricoh.com and Ricoh-USA.com

The camera itself comes in SE-B (Bluetooth only) and SE-W (wireless plus Bluetooth) versions.

The optional GPS is called the Ricoh SE-1 GPS Module, it attaches to the left side and partially covers the top of the camera, it uses the SIRFstar III chipset.  See the SE1 Product Overview (PDF) for more information.

ENDUPDATE

It's an 8 megapixel camera.

It is not available yet, Ricoh is positioning it to only be available from "Ricoh Geo-Imaging Resellers".
Initial pricing looks like about US$900 for the camera, and US$1100 for the camera plus Ricoh GPS.

You would really have to want an integrated solution in order to pay this much.

via The Map Room

UPDATE 2008-09-18: The Ricoh 500SE is not widely available.  There are only a few sites online that sell it.  If you're interested in a consumer camera with built-in GPS, check out the Nikon P6000, which is priced at U$500.

Comments

[Ole]

Both the integrated and non-integrated solutions have benefits.

The non-integrated has the benefit of two independent power supplies, one for the camera and one for the GPS. GPS is a power consumer so an independent power supply makes a lot of sense.

By the way, the 500SE is also available in Europe from alta4. http://www.alta4.com