Among the questions often asked about the PR.9 is why its cockpit was offset. In fact, the pilot's seat is in exactly the same lateral position as in the other models, hence the empty space to his right, which would have been occupied by the second seat in the trainer variant and the access door in the bombers. The fighter-style canopy gave excellent all-round vision - a boon in staying aware of both surface and airborne threats, and occasionally for aiming the cameras by eye.

Control of the reconnaissance sensors in the PR.9 was vested in the navigator, housed in the aircraft's nose. Access to the navigator’s compartment was via the hinged nose seen here. Of particular note are the stowed chart table, above which is the periscope viewfinder (truncated orange cone), and below and to the left of this is the control panel, used to input target data and control the cameras. Unlike the U-2, which carried the SYERS, in the PR.9 the system could be reprogrammed inflight.

Работая в достаточно тесном хвостовом отсеке Canberra PR.Mk 9, техник снимает кассету с пленкой с фотокамеры Zeiss RMK. Камера установлена на направляющих и может сдвигаться в сторону от люка для облегчения доступа.