Forgot where you snapped that pic of a giant green French lady hoisting a torch? You need a GPS-enabled camera. We took the four newest models for a test drive.
Roundup: View Finders
Learn How We Rate ##### Wired
Embeds location data in HD video, too. Fastest cam tested — blazing autofocus, no shutter lag. Landmark library spans 73 countries. 300-shot battery life.
Roundup:
- 1/10A complete failure in every way
- 2/10Sad, really
- 3/10Serious flaws; proceed with caution
- 4/10Downsides outweigh upsides
- 5/10Recommended with reservations
- 6/10Solid with some issues
- 7/10Very good, but not quite great
- 8/10Excellent, with room to kvetch
- 9/10Nearly flawless
- 10/10Metaphysical perfection
1. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V
If not for the picture of a satellite on the side, you'd never guess this camera is location-aware — the GPS functions are buried that deep in the menus. But once we activated them, the 10.2-megapixel HX5V geotagged our sharp shots with sniperlike accuracy.
2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7
The ZS7 not only embeds latitude and longitude data in your shots, it also displays city, state, and country — along with points of interest — right on the 3-inch LCD. Too bad it's sometimes a step behind: When we were taking night shots of the East River in Queens, the ZS7 thought we were still in a Brooklyn park we had visited earlier. It had the best image quality of the batch, though, capturing crisp photos with bold, natural color.
3. Leica V-Lux 20
The main difference between this camera and the Panasonic ZS7 is the price: That red dot on the handgrip commands a $300 premium. Otherwise, the specs are almost identical: 12.1-MP sensor, 12X optical zoom, even built-in GPS that sometimes gets confused. On a positive note, the V-Lux 20 matched the superior image quality of the ZS7; on a sour note, it was a second (or two) slower on the draw. But maybe your subjects will be so dazzled by the Leica logo that they'll hold their poses indefinitely.
