HELIX incorporates several digital cameras, from panchromatic to visible spectrum, wide response to colour, medium-resolution, and high-resolution units. The lens characteristics of these cameras are modeled and calibrated, resulting in imagery that can be processed in conjunction with the LiDAR data to produce orthographic images and area mosaics.

HELIX is also capable of time-synchronized digital videography. The system can presently use the more traditional DVCam progressive scan technology or the new firewire-based, IIDC progressive scan, high resolution video cameras. This imagery is time-coordinated with the GPS references permitting time stamps to be annotated onto the final video product.