Supported digital cameras

ArcPad supports digital photos at three levels:

• The filename for a digital photo can be stored as a feature attribute. The associated photo can be viewed in the Picture page of the Feature Properties dialog box, or the photo can be viewed via the Hyperlink tool.
• Georeferenced, or geotagged, photos can be displayed as a photo layer.
• ArcPad provides a Camera tool which can be used to capture photos with a camera which is connected to your mobile device.

Digital photos which have GPS coordinates embedded in the EXIF header of the image can be displayed on the ArcPad map as a photo layer. These georeferenced photos can be created with any camera which can interface with a GPS, such as the Ricoh 500SE camera. There are also software tools available which can insert GPS coordinates into the EXIF header. This is typically done by matching the time and date of the photo with the time and date of positions captured by a GPS. When creating a photo layer, ArcPad reads the GPS coordinates in the EXIF header, and automatically projects the latitude and longitude coordinates into the projection of the current ArcPad map. For more information on the EXIF header of digital photo image files, visit www.exif.org.

ArcPad includes drivers for cameras which are connected directly to a mobile device. Connected cameras include cameras that are integrated in mobile devices, such as the HP iPAQ Windows Mobile devices, and cameras that are connected via the USB port on a mobile device. ArcPad includes drivers for the following connected digital cameras:

• Cameras integrated into Windows Mobile 5 (and above) devices and which use the standard Windows Mobile camera API.
• Cameras integrated into some of the HP® iPAQ® Windows Mobile device models. These include the HP iPAQ rx3700® and hx6300® series devices.
• On PCs, ArcPad includes a module for cameras which interface via the standard Windows Multimedia API (MCI), and also a module for camera which interface via Microsoft's Direct Show API. These cameras can be built in or connect to the PC via a USB cable, and typically include PCcam and Webcam cameras which are capable of taking still photos—although some standard digital cameras can also operate as a Webcam. There are a number of Webcam cameras available from various vendors. Creative Labs and Logitech® are two of the more well-known vendors of Webcams.
• In ArcPad 10, the ArcPad Camera module was added. This module communicates with Microsoft's Direct Show API, ensuring that it will work with a greater range of cameras. This module is available for both Windows and Windows Mobile.

Support for additional connected cameras can be provided via custom camera extensions.

The Camera tools in ArcPad are used to take a photo with a connected camera. The camera tools are located in two places in ArcPad: on the QuickCapture toolbar, and on the Picture page of the Feature Properties dialog box. When taking a photo with the Camera tool, ArcPad verifies if you have a GPS active and a valid GPS position. If there is a valid GPS position then ArcPad will insert the GPS coordinates into the EXIF header of the resultant photo image file. These georeferenced photos can then be viewed as a photo layer in ArcPad. Whether or not a photo is georeferenced, photos that are associated with a feature can be viewed via the Picture page of the Feature Properties dialog box or by using the Hyperlink tool.