News An Update on our Website Transition

An Update on our Website Transition

Two people sit at a desk in front of a screen. The screen has a historic black and white aerial photo on it. Out of focus in the foreground is a woman with red hair writing with a pen. In focus in the background is a man in a light grey jumper.

We’d like to thank all of our users, longstanding and new, for your continued support and patience during this period of transition. As many of you are aware, we recently retired our legacy website earlier than anticipated. This decision was not taken lightly, but it became necessary for technical reasons.

While we understand this is causing disruption, especially for those who have relied on our online imagery for many years, this change is allowing us to accelerate the development of our new platform, the online gateway to an ever-growing virtual collection of historic aerial imagery.

We’re excited about what’s ahead and want to keep you informed. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive the latest updates directly to your inbox.

A screenshot of the NCAP Air Photo Finder. It shows a map with numerous blue dots covering it. Each dot contains a number reflecting how many images are visible for that area. The NCAP logo is visible top left.

A screenshot of just some of the imagery already available on our new online platform.

FAQS

Below, we’ve outlined answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve received in recent days:

 

What happened to my subscription or login?

  • All user accounts from the previous website – both paid and free – have been retired.
  • Notifications regarding service changes and refunds were sent out in advance.
  • Subscriptions are not currently available, but a new offering is in development and will include many familiar and new features.

 

Where is the imagery I used to access?

  • Uploads to the old site had been paused for some time, but our digitisation and metadata teams have continued working diligently behind the scenes.
  • Over 1 million high-quality images will become available in the coming months.
  • While some imagery previously available will not become available in coming months, if there’s something specific you’re looking for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

When will Zoom & Pan functionality return?

  • We understand how essential this feature is for the interpretation of aerial photography.
  • Zoom & Pan will return as part of our upcoming subscription service, along with faster delivery of high-resolution imagery.
A colour aerial photo showing a grid of streets. The buildings have grey roofs and the various colours of the cars on the roads stand out, especially red.

A zoomed-in image of Edinburgh's New Town. Collection: Airbus Defence & Space, Sortie: GEONEX/0041/90, Frame 0295 (24 July 1990)

What about the Finding Aids?

  • With a collection of approximately 30 million images, full digitisation is a long-term endeavour.
  • Finding aids (sortie plot maps) are a key resource and will become accessible again in the future.
  • In the meantime, our Paid Image Search service remains available to help users access not-yet-digitised content.
A colourful map of Paris, with blue representing water and green for woods. The map is covered with black boxes indicating where aerial photos were taken. There is an inset covering Rouen and a label with information about the reconnaissance sortie.

A finding aid for a sortie flown over Paris and Rouen during the first year of the Second World War. Collection: ACIU, Sortie: HAA/0059 (1 July 1940)

Can I still place a Scan on Demand (SoD) order?

  • Yes – this service is not affected and remains available.
  • We’re also working on a new online order form to make placing requests easier and more user-friendly, which will be launched in the near future.

 

We recognise that this transition has been challenging, and we’re incredibly grateful for your understanding and engagement. Your feedback continues to shape our future developments and reminds us of the importance of the work we do.

Thank you for being part of this journey – we’re building something better, and we look forward to sharing it with you soon.

 

Rachel Nordstrom, NCAP Operations Manager

 

NCAP Legacy Website Retired