diff --git a/source/isaaclab/changelog.d/fix-camera-normals-default-data-type.fixed.rst b/source/isaaclab/changelog.d/fix-camera-normals-default-data-type.fixed.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cfee2f18d36f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/isaaclab/changelog.d/fix-camera-normals-default-data-type.fixed.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Fixed ``image_normals`` raising ``KeyError: 'data_type'`` when constructed through the observation manager.
diff --git a/source/isaaclab/changelog.d/fix-camera-normals-default-data-type.removed.rst b/source/isaaclab/changelog.d/fix-camera-normals-default-data-type.removed.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8d469b946bb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/source/isaaclab/changelog.d/fix-camera-normals-default-data-type.removed.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+* Removed the unused ``CameraImageBase.default_data_type`` class attribute. Custom camera image terms
+  declare their default in the ``data_type`` argument of ``__call__`` instead.
diff --git a/source/isaaclab/isaaclab/envs/mdp/observations.py b/source/isaaclab/isaaclab/envs/mdp/observations.py
index b5379ae2fd97..4bf57b21d96d 100644
--- a/source/isaaclab/isaaclab/envs/mdp/observations.py
+++ b/source/isaaclab/isaaclab/envs/mdp/observations.py
@@ -390,12 +390,11 @@ class CameraImageBase(ManagerTermBase):
     """Base for camera image terms: validates the data type and owns the frame stack.
 
     Subclasses read their sensor output and pass it with a normalizer from
-    :mod:`isaaclab.utils.images` to :attr:`_frames`.
+    :mod:`isaaclab.utils.images` to :attr:`_frames`. Each subclass declares a
+    ``data_type`` argument with a default in ``__call__``, which the manager
+    resolves into the term parameters before construction.
     """
 
-    default_data_type: str
-    """Legacy data-type alias. Defaults are resolved from the subclass's ``__call__`` signature."""
-
     def __init__(self, cfg: ObservationTermCfg, env: ManagerBasedEnv):
         super().__init__(cfg, env)
         data_type = cfg.params["data_type"]
@@ -440,8 +439,6 @@ class image_rgb(CameraImageBase):
         The image, or ``out`` when supplied. Shape is ``(num_envs, H, W, 3 * frame_stack)``, or channel-first.
     """
 
-    default_data_type = "rgb"
-
     @staticmethod
     def _accepts(data_type: str) -> bool:
         return is_rgb_like(data_type)
@@ -491,8 +488,6 @@ class image_depth(CameraImageBase):
         or channel-first.
     """
 
-    default_data_type = "distance_to_image_plane"
-
     @staticmethod
     def _accepts(data_type: str) -> bool:
         return is_depth_like(data_type)
@@ -530,13 +525,12 @@ class image_normals(CameraImageBase):
         normalize: Whether to normalize the image. Defaults to True.
         channel_first: Whether to return ``(num_envs, C, H, W)``. Defaults to False.
         frame_stack: Number of recent frames to stack along the channel axis. Defaults to 1.
+        data_type: The surface-normal camera data type. Defaults to "normals".
 
     Returns:
         The normals image. Shape is ``(num_envs, H, W, 3 * frame_stack)``, or channel-first.
     """
 
-    default_data_type = "normals"
-
     @staticmethod
     def _accepts(data_type: str) -> bool:
         return is_normals_like(data_type)
@@ -548,8 +542,10 @@ def __call__(
         normalize: bool = True,
         channel_first: bool = False,
         frame_stack: int = 1,
+        *,
+        data_type: str = "normals",
     ) -> torch.Tensor:
-        images = _read_camera_output(env, sensor_cfg, "normals")
+        images = _read_camera_output(env, sensor_cfg, data_type)
         return self._frames(images, normalize_normals if normalize else None)
 
 
@@ -570,8 +566,6 @@ class image_segmentation(CameraImageBase):
         The segmentation image. Shape is ``(num_envs, H, W, C * frame_stack)``, or channel-first.
     """
 
-    default_data_type = "semantic_segmentation"
-
     @staticmethod
     def _accepts(data_type: str) -> bool:
         return "segmentation" in data_type
diff --git a/source/isaaclab/test/envs/test_camera_image_mdp.py b/source/isaaclab/test/envs/test_camera_image_mdp.py
index 8bae4046d9d2..4627d0c3a04c 100644
--- a/source/isaaclab/test/envs/test_camera_image_mdp.py
+++ b/source/isaaclab/test/envs/test_camera_image_mdp.py
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.unit
 
 from isaaclab.envs.mdp.observations import (
+    CameraImageBase,
     image_depth,
     image_features,
+    image_normals,
     image_rgb,
     image_segmentation,
     stacked_image,
@@ -144,6 +146,23 @@ def test_buffer_on_cuda(self):
 class TestModalityTerms:
     """Per-modality reading, validation and normalization."""
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("term_cls", CameraImageBase.__subclasses__(), ids=lambda cls: cls.__name__)
+    def test_constructs_without_data_type(self, term_cls):
+        """Every camera image term declares a default data type, so its config may omit it."""
+        outputs = {
+            name: _random_rgb() for name in ("rgb", "distance_to_image_plane", "normals", "semantic_segmentation")
+        }
+        _, observe = _make_term(term_cls, _make_env(outputs), normalize=False)
+        assert observe().shape == (NUM_ENVS, HEIGHT, WIDTH, CHANNELS)
+
+    def test_normals_map_to_unit_range(self):
+        """Normalized normals are mapped from ``[-1, 1]`` to ``[0, 1]``."""
+        normals = torch.linspace(-1.0, 1.0, NUM_ENVS * HEIGHT * WIDTH * CHANNELS).reshape(
+            NUM_ENVS, HEIGHT, WIDTH, CHANNELS
+        )
+        _, observe = _make_term(image_normals, _make_env({"normals": normals}))
+        torch.testing.assert_close(observe(), (normals + 1.0) * 0.5)
+
     def test_rgb_drops_alpha_and_accepts_constant_mean(self):
         """Albedo's unused alpha channel is dropped and a constant mean replaces the per-image mean."""
         albedo = torch.randint(0, 255, (NUM_ENVS, HEIGHT, WIDTH, 4), dtype=torch.uint8)