Film-based imagery is better suited for covering larger areas. Williams said that digital sensors are not mature enough to manage the data volumes that are necessary to do large areas quickly. He explained that because of the nature of film, image providers can capture a relatively large area quickly at a very high resolution. Digital cameras are very small in comparison, requiring a lot of frames to capture a comparable area. Digital cameras also capture images at a fixed given resolution.
Location also factors into the puzzle.
Williams said it's easy to get coverage in Denver and a number of other metropolitan areas where digital imagery aircraft are based. It's also cheaper to have work done in these areas, he said, because a customer can avoid the staging cost of sending aircraft to the job site. A city such as Salt Lake City, on the other hand, poses a real problem, said Williams. Stratman countered, however, that digital aircraft don't have to contend with the extra regulations that the Federal Aviation Administration imposes on film-based aircraft. Unlike film-based aircraft, digital aircraft can fly anywhere, in any weather and at any time, day or night.