Wide-field high-resolution imaging is widely used in aerial surveillance, topographic mapping and safety monitoring. A summary is made for wide-field high-resolution imaging mainly in terms of optical design, and a scaling law that determines how resolution increases as a function of lens size is stated. The generalized scaling law shows that, by using computation to correct aberrations, a greater resolution can be achieved with a smaller camera size. Monocentric multiscale design, which is a good way to achieve wide-field high-resolution photographs, is emphatically described. Finally, an introduction to wide-field cameras based on monocentric multiscale theory is given, a comparison is made on their performances, and existing issues of monocentric multiscale camera are discussed.