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Ricoh G700SE-M	Digital SLRs	Point-and-Shoots	GeoMapr Module

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Why Choose GTS?

GTS is dedicated to providing you with the hardware, software, training and support you need to maximize the efficiency of your workflow. Our GPS-Enabled Cameras and GPS Modules combined with powerful Photo Mapping Software deliver a complete end-to-end solution second to none. We pride ourselves on working closely with each customer to ensure the right tools are selected and implemented for acheiving the desired results.

How Are We Different?

Our proprietary technology was recognized years ago by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) as an opportunity to bring advanced geotagging and photo mapping capabilities to the United States Military. Since then, we've developed a wide range of hardware and software products and extended our reach beyond the military to offer our solutions to federal, local government, and commercial organizations around the world. We enhance our cameras with special firmware and modules that allow you to capture the critical Who, What, When, Where and Why of each photograph while seamlessly integrating your data into Photo Mapping and GIS software applications. We don't just sell cameras! We deliver custom-tailored solutions coupled with on-site training and 24/7 support.

Effortless Photo Mapping And Reporting

Accurately organizing image files, mapping photos and generating professional reports used to be difficult and labor intensive. Our cameras and software solve this problem. After collecting geotagged photos (with attribute data) in the field, our Photo Mapping Software (PhotoGIS) allows you to effortlessly map your images, auto-generate reports using pre-built templates, and integrate your data with popular GIS programs such as ArcGIS, FalconView, GeoSuite, TIGR, and Google Earth. Contact us today to learn more»

 

Software Solutions

PhotoGIS (Photo Mapping Software)

 

Regardless of your industry, we'll work closely with you to develop a solution that fits with your workflow. Harnessing the many benefits of photography and geography to capture, analyze and report critical information in the most efficient way possible minimizes errors, saves time, and leads to better "data-driven" decisions.

Ease of Capture Error-Free Complete Data Reduced Man-Hours

Increased Efficiency Fewer Questions Reduced Re-Tasking Better Decisions

Select Your Industry

Military/Defense

Federal Agency

Commercial/Insurance

Why Choose GTS?

GTS is dedicated to providing you with the hardware, software, training and support you need to maximize the efficiency of your workflow. Our GPS-Enabled Cameras and GPS Modules combined with powerful Photo Mapping Software deliver a complete end-to-end solution second to none. We pride ourselves on working closely with each customer to ensure the right tools are selected and implemented for acheiving the desired results.

How Are We Different?

Our proprietary technology was recognized years ago by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) as an opportunity to bring advanced geotagging and photo mapping capabilities to the United States Military. Since then, we've developed a wide range of hardware and software products and extended our reach beyond the military to offer our solutions to federal, local government, and commercial organizations around the world. We enhance our cameras with special firmware and modules that allow you to capture the critical Who, What, When, Where and Why of each photograph while seamlessly integrating your data into Photo Mapping and GIS software applications. We don't just sell cameras! We deliver custom-tailored solutions coupled with on-site training and 24/7 support.

Effortless Photo Mapping And Reporting

Accurately organizing image files, mapping photos and generating professional reports used to be difficult and labor intensive. Our cameras and software solve this problem. After collecting geotagged photos (with attribute data) in the field, our Photo Mapping Software (PhotoGIS) allows you to effortlessly map your images, auto-generate reports using pre-built templates, and integrate your data with popular GIS programs such as ArcGIS, FalconView, GeoSuite, TIGR, and Google Earth. Contact us today to learn more»

Hardware Solutions

Rugged GPS Cameras

Digital SLR Cameras

Point-and-Shoot Cameras

GPS Modules

Laser Range Finders

 

Software Solutions

PhotoGIS (Photo Mapping Software)

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When shopping for or submitting a Request for Quote (RFQ) for photography equipment, having a firm understanding of the common competitive practices retailers will employ in order to earn your business is critical and potentially priceless in the way of short-term and long-term costs. Simply knowing the difference between USA products vs. import (grey market) products, new vs. refurbished and what’s included (in the box) will go a long way towards making a smart buying decision.

For Contracting Officers, if you do not specify your requirements, expect to have to wade through the smoke and mirrors to uncover the true nature of the bids coming your way. Simply stating the requirement for “New in box from Canon Authorized Dealer with Canon USA Manufacturer Warranty” and listing all required items and accessories will go a long way towards ensuring complete bids for comparison.

Suspicion is your friend!

Below are the keys to identifying and comparing photography gear you may be considering:

1. 1. Identify the source of the equipment: US Manufactured and Warranty or Imported (direct Import, international import, etc.) carrying a 3^rd party (non-manufacturer) warranty.
2. 2. Identify the condition: new, used or refurbished.
3. 3. Compare the contents to what is listed against the manufacturer’s web site for completeness. If it’s not listed, it’s likely not included.
4. 4. If you still have questions, contact the seller directly and ask the questions above and demand straight answers.
5. 5. Read product and customer service reviews from previous buyers.

Let’s dive into the details behind the points above for a more complete understanding.

What Is The Difference Between USA Products And “Grey Market” Products?

It’s important that consumers and contracting officers understand the difference between "grey market" items and USA Manufacturer Warranty products in the photography market. In the United States, a grey market product or imported product (a.k.a. international, import or direct import), is any product sold without authorization from the original manufacturer, be it Nikon USA, Canon USA, etc. If a vendor is not listed on an authorized dealer list, then a red flag should pop up in your mind because you may not be purchasing a USA warranty product. Giving customers the false impression that you are buying a USA warranty product when it is actually a grey market item is illegal. Selling a grey market item, though, is legal.

What Is Grey Market Anyway?

Black market is the illegal sale of goods or services. White market is the legal market for goods and services. Grey market is somewhere in between and is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer; illegal if not properly disclosed to the consumer but legal if advertised properly.

This might seem confusing, but it really isn’t. In a nutshell, when Canon makes a lens, such as their 70-200 f/2.8L lens, it’s made in Japan. Big corporate Canon then sells the lens to its regional companies (all owned by corporate Canon), in our case Canon USA. Canon USA imports them, marks them up, and sells them to distributors and retailers throughout the Country. When they import the lens, they warranty the lens – if anything goes wrong, Canon USA owns the problem, not Canon Corporate in Japan.

What’s interesting is that each regional company (Canon USA, Canon Europe, Canon Asia, etc.) sets their own price based on local market conditions, currency exchange rates, what the local market will bear and a number of other factors. In the end, some regions sell the lens for more, some for less.

All Canon Is Not Canon USA, And All Nikon Is Not Nikon USA

Imagine you are an enterprising U.S. distributor or retailer who bought a pallet load of Canon camera bodies and lenses from one of your photography buddies in Malaysia (or Hong Kong, or Singapore, etc.). You wouldn’t pay any local tax, but you would have to figure in US import tariffs, and, in the end let’s say you get a good deal. Having acquired the cameras and lenses far below Canon USA distributor channel pricing, you now offer those Canon cameras and lenses in your US store and web site for a great price, beating your competition handily.

What’s In The Box?

Selling grey-market cameras is legal, provided they're identified as such, but buying one is generally a risky venture. You may end up with photo-copied manuals and on-screen menus in another language, incompatible video ports, or AC adapters set to the incorrect voltage. A dealer may strip the box of included items, such as a memory card, battery, and cables, and sell them separately. Worse, most camera manufacturers (including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Sony) won't honor a grey-market warranty in the United States. If the product breaks, you're stuck. While prices may be tempting, the hassles can be daunting.

Short-Term Savings Or Long-Term Costs?

Consumers and contracting officers need to look at more than just the price. Always ask the seller if the camera comes with a U.S. Manufacturer’s Warranty. Know what you're buying and what it includes. Check the bundled accessories at the manufacturer's web site and match item-for-item.

When specifying items within an RFQ, make sure you specify the requirement for a US manufacturer’s warranty and list all items to be included as specified on the manufacturer’s web site.

At the end of the day, it's your choice as a consumer. Grey market items may cost you less than USA market products, but there is ultimately high risk to buying a “grey market” item.

What Do Canon And Nikon Say About It?

Canon U.S.A., Inc. Authorized Dealers provide the following benefits to our customers:

• Access to purchase genuine Canon products: cameras, supplies and accessories
• Authorized Dealer access to specialized Canon administrative support services
• Authorized Dealer staff who have access to ongoing product training from Canon
• Authorized service and repair facilities
• Comprehensive support for Canon product warranties
• Access to Canon-offered promotional programs, consumer rebates and special offers

We recommend that you purchase your Canon products, supplies and accessories from Canon Authorized Dealers who are required to meet our high customer service and support standards.

The Nikon Where-to-Buy feature contains the most up-to-date list of Nikon authorized dealers in the United States. By purchasing Nikon products from a Nikon authorized dealer, you qualify for important benefits including:

• Nikon Inc.'s limited warranty
• Ability to obtain both warranty and non-warranty service
• Promotional offers such as rebates made by Nikon Inc.

Nikon products not distributed to authorized dealers or resellers by Nikon Inc. (commonly referred to as grey-market products) are NOT eligible for these benefits.

Many modern digital cameras are capable of recording GPS location via an integrated GPS receiver which will give you spatial information on where the operator (i.e. the camera) is positioned at the time an image is taken. But what if you need accurate GPS coordinates of a distant ‘object’ within the photograph? GTS’ G700SE-M tactical GPS-enabled cameras  and GPS Modules work seamlessly with TruPulse laser range finders to automatically obtain GPS coordinates of photographed objects.

How Does It Work?

Several elements come into play when calculating object location: 1. The GPS coordinates of the camera; 2. Altitude of the camera; 3. Distance from the camera to the object; and 4. Direction from the camera to the object (i.e. compass heading). The camera’s onboard 3-D compass and altimeter provide direction and altitude, the GPS module provides the camera’s GPS location and the TruPulse laser range finder provides distance-to-object information. All of this data is then automatically calculated by GTS firmware installed on the camera to provide the object’s GPS coordinates. After hitting the shuttter button, object location is immediately shown on the camera’s LCD screen and stored in the image file along with ‘memo’ information and other data for future processing, mapping and reporting.

GPS modules are  also available that can work with almost any digital camera to offer similar capabilities as the G700SE-M, including the ability to record 'object' location. In this case, the firmware programmed to calculate object location and provide 'memo' features is present in the module which communicates with the camera via a wireless, cable or Bluetooth connection.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, the already impoverished Caribbean Country of Haiti was shocked and devastated by a catastrophic magnitude 7.0M earthquake, negatively affecting an estimated three million people by death, injury or homelessness. The United States Navy was one of many other organizations around the world to answer the profound cry for help. As with any significant natural disaster response effort, up-to-date and timely intelligence on the ground and from the air was needed to understand the who, what, when, where and why of the situation for supporting informed decisions and effective resource allocation.

The Challenge

U.S. Naval Forces SOUTHCOM, in collaboration with other forces, was tasked with delivering support and supplies to help stabilize one of the most devastated regions in Haiti—Port-au-Prince, the Nation’s Capitol. The mission was to identify where aid was needed most and get food, water, medical support, shelter and other assets on the ground as quickly as possible to stabilize the local Haitian population. This would allow International Aid to confidently and successfully take over the post-earthquake support efforts.

SOUTHCOM needed timely and accurate geographic and situational intelligence to help them identify what was needed where. Important elements of that intelligence included ground and aerial photographs. From the start, SOUTHCOM had access to over six thousand photographs taken from various locations around the Country but didn’t know exactly when or where the photographs were taken. They needed a fast and easy way to capture and geo-locate images to effectively coordinate their disaster relief efforts.

The Solution

SOUTHCOM used a combination of cameras and software to collect, geo-locate and share ground and aerial images. Geo Tactical Solutions (GTS) provided enhanced GPS-enabled Ricoh 500SE-M tactical cameras for collecting geotagged images along with FoxView Google Earth software for exporting images to KML and mapping them in Google Earth. Google’s Picasa web application was also used as a quick and easy solution for hosting, mapping and sharing the photographs within SOUTHCOM and other supporting organizations.

The Results 

With the geotagging and ‘memo’ capabilities of the 500SE-M GPS cameras, images captured on the ground were easily mapped in Google Earth and Picasa to collaborate with other Navy and emergency response personnel on where the most troubled areas were, when the images were taken, and what activities were occurring in those areas. For acquiring geo-referenced aerial images, SOUTHCOM used the 500SE-M camera from Navy UH-60 helicopters. By the end of SOUTHCOM’s presence in Haiti, a large collection of useful geo-referenced images were collected that were passed on to International Aid organizations, helping them to more effectively target their limited resources in support of the distraught Haitian population.

Rugged GPS-Enabled Cameras

Image Mapping Software (PhotoGIS)

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Carlsbad, Calif. – GTS expands product line of GPS-enabled digital cameras capable of taking geo-tagged images with advanced photo-capture capabilities such as obtaining GPS coordinates of distant objects, tagging images with attribute data, and exporting image files for integrating with popular mapping applications.

Current GTS firmware which facilitates these capabilities is currently only available on select Ricoh cameras. However, in Q1 2012 the firmware will be available on a broad array of Canon models as well. “This product extension will allow GTS to provide a much wider selection of cameras to better meet the unique needs and budgets of our military, federal, and commercial customers,” reports Matt Kidd, President of GTS.

Some noteworthy features that will come with the soon to be released customized Canon cameras include compatibility with laser range finders for capturing “object location”, geo-tagging of the camera’s position, image attribute tagging or “memo tags”, automatic data imprinting on photographs for visual recall, and image file exporting for seamless image mapping in programs such as Google Earth, ArcGIS, GeoRover, TIGR, and FalconView.

Using these cameras, after the operator has collected images in the field, they can connect to a computer via SD card, USB cable, WiFi, or Bluetooth to transfer the image files. GTS provides software along with their cameras that will automatically convert the digital image files into various formats that can be used for reporting and mapping. A standardized report template is also automatically generated by the software which is auto-populated with the associated images and their attribute information (e.g. date, operator’s name, mission type or job ID, etc.).

“The focus for GTS is the customer’s workflow,” said Andy Shannon, Sales Manager for GTS. “Whether our customers need low cost and rugged compact cameras for teams to capture hundreds of geo-tagged images at a time, or they need a powerful DSLR with high image quality that can collect object location and memo tags, we want to be able to offer them a simple solution that fits those needs,” Mr. Shannon continued.

GTS plans to target their new line of Canon cameras and supporting technology at organizations that deal with large amounts of photographic data and have a need to more easily manage, map, organize, and report that information for internal and external use.

Read the full story here »

GTS provides a range of GPS camera solutions including tough point and shoots, rugged digital bridge cameras, and DSLR GPS cameras. One of the most popular GPS cameras provided by GTS is the Ricoh G700 SE M camera. This camera contains GTS' proprietary firmware designed to deliver mission-specific geo tagging and memo tagging capabilities. This camera is known and appreciated for its rugged design and extreme versatility.

Ricoh G700 SE

Rugged GPS Cameras

Our Story

After our proprietary technology was recognized by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) as an obvious ISR advantage for the US Military, GTS began developing and distributing this technology for the express purpose of bringing the benefits of tagging operational mission photos with complete Who, What, When, Where and Why information to support intelligence gathering operations.

What started as one specific camera platform reporting to one mission planning and mapping application, has grown to include a wide selection of Advanced GPS Cameras, GPS Modules, Photo Mapping Software, and Accessories. Providing our extensive knowledge and experience along with these proven tools, allows us to deliver comprehensive end-to-end geospatial photo intelligence solutions that successfully meet the unique demands of our diverse customers in a wide range of industries around the world.

Since our founding, GTS has supplied thousands of integrated systems to operational units worldwide. As a result of close user contact and feedback, we have listened and developed unsurpassed solutions that increase the power, accuracy, speed and safety of the photo intelligence gathering, mapping, and reporting process.

Our Mission

Our mission is to deliver cutting edge innovation, technology, training and service in the field of geospatial photo intelligence to produce maximum benefits for our military, federal and commercial customers.

 

CARLSBAD, Calif., May 27, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Simsol ® (a.k.a. Simultaneous Solutions, Inc.) -- a leader in insurance claims software, announced a partnership with Geo Tactical Solutions, Inc. -- the leader in solutions-based intelligent-photo management hardware to deliver a complete end-to-end photo capture solution streamlined to meet the insurance industry's unique workflow demands.

The photo capture solution, based around Simsol's software and Geo Tactical Solutions' hardware offerings, enables claims adjusters to virtually eliminate all time spent processing and integrating photographs during claims based workflows.

The solution allows an adjuster to easily pre-load specific claims information into the Ricoh G700SE-f digital camera and capture enriched claims images in the field every time they press the shutter button. Once in the field, the adjuster simply selects the appropriate claim within the camera's menu and then captures the images for that claim. Every image is embedded with the selected individual claim's information by the press of a finger. Once back in the office, the adjuster simply uploads the day's images into the Simsol software which in turn automatically places the enriched photographs into the appropriate claims. Photo integration has never been easier.

"Simsol has successfully integrated with Ricoh to provide a seamless connection between its digital cameras and our adjusting software. Each photo is automatically imported from the camera into the correct Simsol claim file. Every photo contains the picture's GPS location and claim file information. This information is printed right on the photos!" stated Dan Sutliff, Director of Training at Simsol.

This process improvement will save countless hours per day for claims adjusters thereby allowing for improved efficiency, increased productivity and elimination of human errors relating to image association. All in all, the solution allows for an increase in error-free claims and overall claims processing time by streamlining a traditionally cumbersome process.  

"Geo Tactical Solutions is pleased to partner with Simsol to deliver our expertise in the intelligent-photo capture market to the insurance claims industry. We look forward to providing Simsol customers a tool that not only eliminates painful hours of photo matching, but also in looking ahead and developing future solutions as technology and the insurance industry evolves," says Matt Kidd, President of Geo Tactical Solutions, Inc.

The photo streamlining hardware solution is available from Geo Tactical Solutions with its enriched image capabilities being incorporated in the latest release of Simsol's claims software, slated to be released in early June 2011.  

For any questions regarding the partnership, or the overall solution, please contact Geo Tactical Solutions at 1-800-846-6585 or by e-mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Ricoh G700SE-M Rugged Tactical GPS Camera

The best of both worlds; small and compact like the Tough Point-n-Shoots but with added versatility of a DSLR. Waterproof and tough to sustain the abuse of the most challenging work environments while delivering enhanced capabilities.

•  The most advanced geo-tagging camera available.
•  Captures GPS “object” location when coupled with a laser range finder.
•  Powerful optics capable of achieving detailed images beyond 2,000 meters.
•  Night vision optics compatible for 24-hour operations.
•  Bluetooth® and wireless LAN capability
•  Additional support for bar code readers
•  Resistant to shock, dust, weather, water, and chemicals

 

Exclusive "M" Firmware

The G700SE-M Rugged Tactical GPS Camera is our flagship product. This camera contains our exclusive "M" firmware which adds several powerful capabilities to the Ricoh G700SE camera that you won't find anywhere else.

Some of these capabilities include:

1. Capturing "object" location (when coupled with a laser range finder)

2. Instant internal memory deletion and password protection

3. Extended geographic data formats such as MGRS, Decimal, and LAT/LONG

4. SAASM compatible GPS receiver

G700SE-M Product Brochure»

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