I use the gisteq’s own software to write gps data to jpeg s files (shoot RAW+S(quality 1) with 1D2) and using exif tool i sync the gps parameter fields from jpeg’s to raw’s. Like this:
“exiftool -P -tagsfromfile %d%f.JPG -gps:all -r -ext CR2 “

I’ll guess that they chose the “12° 34′56″ ” format probably because that’s the formate generally used by humans for the last hundred-plus years. The format written to the XMP (which is the one you want to see displayed) appears to be common computationally, although (personally) I much prefer a simple single number rather than two. There’s currently now way to switch formats, but I’ll submit a request for it to Adobe. —Jeffrey

Are you referring to the display in the metadtadata panel of the Library Module, or the data encoded in exported files? If the former, then mine seems to be formatted differently than yours (I get degrees, minutes, and seconds), and if the latter, how it’s displayed is a function of what you use to look at it, since EXIF has the coordinates encoded in binary. It’s up to each application how to convert it for human consumption… —Jeffrey

The data has to already be associated with the image — Lightroom reports it only if it’s there, and, sadly, does not give you the ability to add or change it. However, you can sort of work around it using techniques described here. —Jeffrey