What kind of cameras do we have? What are the difference between them? Which one are the best for me?

These are just a few of very common questions I get. In this post I will try to shed some light on differences between different cameras and their pros and cons.

Let’s start with the worst types of cameras and move upwards.

Mobile Phones Cameras

Pros – Always with you. Easy to share images.

Cons – Tiny sensors. No optical zoom, digital zoom poor.

Point-and-shoot Cameras

Pros – Easily fit in a pocket. Usually better quality than mobile phones cameras.

Cons – Very basic controls. Small sensors (poor quality especially on higher ISO).

Advanced Compacts

Pros – Larger sensors (better quality than point-and-shoot). More control.

Cons – Impossible to change lenses.

Bridge Cameras

Pros – Big zooms. Good construction.

Cons – With longer lenses they can be big and heavy.

CSC – Compact System Cameras

Pros – Bigger sensors (many of them use the same sensors as DSLRs). Great quality. Interchangeable lenses.

Cons – Some of them have smaller sensors than DSLR (i.e. on Olympus – 2x multiplication due to sensor size).

DSLR

Pros – Bigger sensors including full-frame. Wide range of lenses available.

Cons – Cameras and lenses big and heavy compared to CSCs. More expensive than CSCs.

Medium Format

Pros – Much bigger sensors than full-frame. Great quality.

Cons – Big and heavy. Expensive. Not as many accessories than DSLRs or CSCs.