A simple frame camara can be a 35mm or 70mm camara. Multiframe camaras have different film and filter combinations that can look at the electromagnetic spectrum from visible to near-infrared. Strip camaras have continuously moving film with light coming through a slit. Strip camaras are mostly used for military applications. Photographic systems are used primarily on airborne platforms.
Arial photography is the system most commonly used by cartographers.
The high spatial resolution makes it useful in applications such as urban mapping and ground topology. When using arial photographs, the cartographer has to consider scale variations. In an arial photograph, objects at higher altitudes appear larger. Radial displacement causes objects closest to nadir to have a larger scale. Nadir is the point directly below the aircraft.