Medium Format Digital Cameras - a Eurosdr Project

More medium format airborne camera systems are in operation globally than the well recognised large format digital imaging systems. EuroSDR has initiated a digital medium format project to investigate the market, the geometric and radiometric potentials as well as current trends and future developments. After a categorisation of small and medium format systems an in depth comparison to large format cameras is given. Beside the apparent differences in size and system cost, the special problems such as differences in the interior orientation, the minimum GSD and the photogrammetric workflow are addressed. Medium format cameras require geometric and radiometric calibration. Medium format cameras have established their own markets and application domains, such as strip mapping and the joint operation with a laser scanner. A market overview compares five different camera systems. A description of current trends and future developments concludes the paper.