Cameras & their associated accessories are available in an absolute huge array. Keeping with the digital theme, cameras are available mainly in the following formats:

1) Compact

2) Bridge

3) SLR

4) Medium format

5) Large format

Types 4 & 5 are left generally for the true professional as they are way beyond the budget of the hobbyist or semi-pro photographer (£20k+). These type of cameras are normally kept in studios for high fashion photography & that sort of scenario. For this reason I will not be going into much further detail on these.

Type 1 (compacts) probably account for about 80% of all cameras bought (if not more). There is a vast variety of manufacturers & specifications, far more than I can list here but nonetheless they perform pretty much the same. A good quality mid-range compact would set you back about £200 & would do everything you could need it to.

It is a common issue though with most compact type cameras that they suffer from a sluggish boot up time (time it takes to turn the camera on) & a slow response time to the point where the photo is actually taken i.e. it can on some models seem to take forever for the camera to focus lock on your subject, work out the exposure & then take the shot. & by that time your subject has moved or disappeared altogether. Vast improvements have been made over the last few years however this will always remain an issue for compacts due to their inherent design.

By far the best cameras to set you on your way to learning how cameras work, what photography is all about & what it takes to take a great picture is the digital SLR. I have personally owned quite a few in the past but today I stick with my trusted Nikon D200. It’s about 4 years old but still houses some of the best technical advancements known. With a 10Mb sensor, I can take very high resolution photos & with a little tweaking in Photoshop, produce fantastic looking images….in some cases better than the Pro’s.

What I love about my camera is the fact that it doesn’t have an automatic mode which forces me to think about everything that you need to. You very quickly learn this way, believe me.

Although the camera I currently own cost an arm & a leg when I bought it, you can buy better technical spec SLR cameras starting around £350 for the body only. Never has the time been right to buy a digital SLR when they offer so much for so little a comparitive price.

Once you have purchased the body you obviously need some glass (lenses). Now this is a whole separate topic on which I have written a little about.