Vexcel Imaging presents UltraCam Osprey 4.2

Vexcel Imaging has announced its latest evolution in large-format nadir and oblique aerial imaging technology: the UltraCam Osprey 4.2. Designed to deliver the highest-detail photogrammetric image quality, it ensures maximum productivity for 3D city modelling, infrastructure monitoring and high-precision urban mapping applications.

The UltraCam Osprey 4.2 builds upon the success of the UltraCam Osprey 4.1 to further reduce costs and improve coverage. It promises a 27% greater flight line efficiency with a swath width of over 25,000 pixels in panchromatic nadir, along with enhanced operational flexibility. 

Additionally, the new 4.2 model is the first Vexcel system to feature the high-end 247MP Sony IMX811 CMOS sensor, combined with custom Vexcel lenses that fully optimize the sensor for maximum resolution. Software-based adaptive motion compensation (AMC) technology eliminates all translational and rotational motion blur in nadir and oblique imagery, preserving full detail at long exposures and low ISO settings in a scale-adaptive manner. This allows users to fully leverage the high dynamic range of the new CMOS sensor, consistently ensuring crisp, high-accuracy imagery even in challenging conditions. As a result, the system delivers precise measurements for superior feature extraction, providing an excellent foundation for deriving data products like 3D city models.

Minimal impact of airspace restrictions

The UltraCam Osprey 4.2 is available in two lens configurations to enhance the operational flexibility and to reduce the impact of airspace restrictions. The standard lens system model enables data capture at higher altitudes while maintaining the same ground sample distance (GSD) as its predecessor. Meanwhile, the telelens system model further extends the collection capabilities, enabling 1cm GSD capture at flying heights of above 4,200m. Furthermore, for optimal efficiency depending on the application, operators can customize image collection or processing workflows by selecting the desired Oblique Imaging Mode: all-active (default), nadir-only, or corridor mapping.
 
Vexcel’s fully integrated UltraMap photogrammetric processing software streamlines workflows for both nadir and oblique projects. With advanced automation, intuitive tools and optimized data interaction, UltraMap enables the seamless generation of high-precision digital surface models (DSMs), digital terrain models (DTMs), orthoimages and 3D models. The UltraCam Osprey 4.2’s superior data quality supports LOD2/LOD3 city modelling and vectorized urban mapping.
 
“The UltraCam Osprey 4.2 is more than just an assembly of medium-format camera heads,” said Alexander Wiechert, CEO of Vexcel Imaging. “With a thoughtfully designed system architecture, groundbreaking efficiency improvements and the integration of the Sony IMX811 CMOS sensor, this system marks a significant leap in aerial imaging technology.”
 
The UltraCam Osprey 4.2 will be commercially available in Q4 of 2025.