Microsoft’s photogrammetry division—Vexcel Imaging, GmbH—today reported an impressive 30 sales for its UltraCam digital aerial camera systems during the company’s 2010 fiscal year (July 2009 – June 2010). In addition, 11 camera upgrades were sold. Details of the sales are as follows: 1) Large-format cameras—UltraCamX, UltraCamXp and UltraCamXp Wide Angle—totaled 18 and 2) Photogrammetric medium-format cameras—UltraCamL and UltraCamLp—totaled 12. With these 2010 transactions, not factoring in the additional system upgrades, UltraCam worldwide adoption is now at 143 large-format units and 16 photogrammetric medium-format units. “We are quite pleased to be able to report such a successful year,” said Alexander Wiechert, Business Director of Microsoft and Managing Director for Vexcel Imaging GmbH. “Given the historically tough economic situation worldwide, we are honored that our customers are providing such strong evidence that our products are sound investments.” The first model of the UltraCam family of digital aerial mapping cameras, the UltraCamD, was introduced in 2004 delivering the largest image footprint of the digital aerial sensors on the market. Since that time, Vexcel Imaging has released the UltraCamX, followed by the UltraCamXp, featuring even larger image formats (the UCXp boasts a footprint of 17,310 pixels across the flight strip), reducing the amount of flight lines necessary for mapping projects, and an enhanced storage system with removable storage units for longer flight missions and minimal ground time. In September 2009, a wide-angle version of the UltraCamXp was introduced; its wide-angle lens with a shorter focal length allows lower-flying airplanes to collect data at the same ground sample distance (GSD) as higher-flying planes carrying the UltraCamXp, while delivering comparable image quality. Read More
