For several years there has been an increasing interest in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in acquiring image data from a low altitude. Considering the cost-effectiveness of the flight time of UAVs vs. conventional airplanes, the use of the former is advantageous when generating large scale accurate ortophotos. Through the development of UAV imagery, we can update large-scale basic maps. These maps are cartographic products which are used for registration, economic, and strategic planning. On the basis of these maps other cartographic maps are produced, for example maps used building planning. The article presents an assessesment of the usefulness of orthophotos based on UAV imagery to upgrade the basic map. In the research a compact, non metric camera, mounted on a fixed wing powered by an electric motor was used. The tested area covered flat, agricultural and woodland terrains. The processing and analysis of orthorectification were carried out with the INPHO UASMaster programme. Due to the effect of UAV instability on low-altitude imagery, the use of non-metric digital cameras and the low-accuracy GPS-INS sensors, the geometry of images is visibly lower were compared to conventional digital aerial photos (large values of phi and kappa angles). Therefore, typically, low-altitude images require large along- and across-track direction overlap usually above 70 %. As a result of the research orthoimages were obtained with a resolution of 0.06 meters and a horizontal accuracy of 0.10m. Digitized basic maps were used as the reference data. The accuracy of orthoimages vs. basic maps was estimated based on the study and on the available reference sources. As a result, it was found that the geometric accuracy and interpretative advantages of the final orthoimages allow the updating of basic maps. It is estimated that such an update of basic maps based on UAV imagery reduces processing time by approx. 40%.