Compact or point-and-shoot cameras

These are usually small compact cameras that you can put in your pocket or purse. They are most communally used for vacation, tourist photos, online social networks, or just capturing fun events with your friends. These cameras are by far the easiest to use and with the increase in quality in these cameras and their megapixel count, you can achieve some great quality photos. The downside to these cameras is that they do not usually have many settings you can choose from or customise. They also usually have very small optical zooms, usually 3x or less, and you cannot add different lenses to achieve the photo you want. These cameras often do not have any external attachments you can add to them such as an external flash, filters, remotes, etc. either which can lead to badly exposed photos in poor lighting conditions.

DSLR-like cameras

DSLR-like cameras are usually meant for someone who wants a camera between a compact and a DSLR. These cameras have many settings which make them more complicated than a point and shoot camera. However, they usually have larger optical zooms and come in a wide range of megapixel counts. The downside to these is you cannot change out the lenses or add filters like in DSLR cameras. You are usually stuck with just the settings that come with the camera. These cameras often will give you better exposure in poor lighting conditions.

In a true DSLR camera, you have a reflex mirror. When you take a picture, the mirror flips up and allows the photo to be taken. These cameras offer the most customisable options and creativity for photography. Most of them allow you to install many external attachments such as external flashes, lenses and filters. The biggest downside to these cameras is their size and weight, not to mention cost!

Integrated digital cameras

Nokia smartphone

Integrated digital cameras are used by many of us on a daily basis. These include devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs, BlackBerry's, netbooks, modern laptops and tablet computers which incorporate digital cameras of various resolutions for both still as well as video capture. Some of these modern mobile devices include two cameras which are front and rear facing. Usually one camera is of low resolution and purpose built for video conferencing while the other is of higher resolution built for image capture. With advances in technology the present day smart phones and tablet computers incorporate digital cameras which range from 3 megapixels to 8 megapixels. Some of the higher end phones have integrated cameras with 10 to 12 megapixels. Although the image quality might not be as good as a purpose built DSLR camera, these devices capture high resolution images in compressed formats which can be instantly shared over the internet.