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Story: Modern mapping and surveying

Aerial photography, 1953

Video file

These staff of the New Zealand Aerial Mapping Company are taking aerial photographs of the land around Rotorua. The camera was situated in the nose of the plane, with the lens pointing vertically down. It took photographs automatically, while the plane was flown in straight runs over the land below. Photographs in a run overlapped by around 60%, and the runs themselves had an overlap of about 25%.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: New Zealand Mirror, no. 21. National Film Unit, 1953

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Melanie Lovell-Smith, Modern mapping and surveying – Aerial photography and maps, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/18903/aerial-photography-1953 (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Melanie Lovell-Smith, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 August 2018.