Three camera systems-16mm, 35mm and 70mm-are used by the flight crew to document activities inside and outside the orbiter. All three camera systems are used to document on-orbit operations. The 16mm camera is also used during the launch and landing phases of the flight.

The 16mm camera is like a motion picture camera with independent shutter speeds and frame rates. The camera can be operated in one of three modes: pulse, cine, or time exposure. In the pulse mode, the camera operates at a continuous frame rate of two, six or 12 frames per second. In the cine mode, the camera operates at 24 frames per second. In the time exposure mode, the first switch actuation opens the shutter and the second actuation closes it. The camera uses 140-foot film magazines and has 5mm, 10mm and 18mm lenses.

The 35mm camera is a motorized, battery-operated Nikon camera with reflex viewing, through-the-lens coupled light metering and automatic film advancement. The camera has the standard manual operation and three automatic (electrically controlled) modes-single exposure, continuous and time. It uses an f/1.4 lens.

The 70mm camera system is a modified battery-powered, motor-driven, single-reflex Hasselblad camera that has 80mm and 250mm lenses and film magazines. Each magazine contains approximately 80 exposures. This camera has only one mode of operation, automatic; however, there are five automatic-type camera functions from which to select. The camera has a fixed viewfinder for through-the-lens viewing.

Interdeck light shades are provided to minimize light leakage between the flight deck and middeck during in-cabin photography. The light shade is attached with Velcro to the middeck ceiling around the interdeck access. Adjustable louvers are provided to regulate the amount of light between the flight deck and middeck.