The type of camera and camera equipment depend entirely on the kind of photography you will be taking. For example if you are fairly amateur and are only planning on taking basic photos the equipment you will need will be very different to that you will use if you are a professional photographer taking professional photographs.

Basic photography and the equipment you will need

The cameras you will probably be best using are the standard compact camera (usually fairly small as the name may suggest) and the digital compact camera, depending on what kind of quality and feel of picture you want to achieve. This meaning if you want the photos to have a more personal feel then you would be best using the film compact where as if you wanted the photos flawless and the ability to touch up the photo afterwards then you are best getting the digital compact. You also have to think about where you are taking the photographs, what are the conditions going to be like? What's the lighting going to be like? Indoors or outdoors? When all these questions are answered and you have ensured you have the right equipment for the conditions you will be working in you can progress to taking the kind of photographs you are after.

Although the compact cameras are good for the snap and go kind of photos you usually take when an amateur their zoom is usually fairly limited compared to that of the 1 piece SLR which tends to have wider lenses and longer zoom they also have optical through the lens viewing system. They usually have an LCD screen on the back that helps you either review a photo just taken or to help you frame a photo whilst taking one. However, these are mainly used by advanced amateurs and professionals.

Professional cameras …

When professional photographers are choosing their equipment they have to think about the kind of photography they do for example a wildlife photographer will require a different type of camera and equipment to a sports photographer. Professionals also tend to have their favourite brands many use the SLR because it has so many different attachments it can cater for practically any kind of photography if it is teamed with the right equipment for it. With the professional equipment there are differences in the way they work such as the focus system on basic cameras tends to be automatic, where as with professional products they are usually manual focus meaning they can alter the focus how they want, so the more skilled photographer can get their desired look for the photo they are taking by using their equipment manually.

With the various equipment that is available today it is possible to create almost any kind of effect in your photo especially with the technology within digital photography because you can alter the photo once it has been taken in the photo suite you use. It is best to have some knowledge of the correct techniques before using the more advanced products, there are many places that you can go to learn these techniques even on line or in the library.