The camera platform is the device that lifts or suspends the camera in the air above the ground. The platform may be manned or unmanned . The former are necessarily large enough to lift a person safely along with photographic equipment. The latter may be relatively small.
Unmanned platforms are much more variable in their technical specifications.
A further distinction can be made between powered and unpowered platforms. The former become airborne through some kind of artifical thrust provided by a motor or engine. All powered platforms vibrate and move relative to the ground. Balloons, blimps and gliders that drift with the wind move slowly relative to the ground and have minimal mechanical vibration. Regardless of the kind of powered or unpowered platform, any vibration or movement of the camera relative to the ground creates the potential for blurred imagery.