Mirrorless – has an electronic shutter and electronic viewfinder, many of the latest high-end cameras are mirrorless.
DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) – Has a prism and an analogue viewfinder, dominated the market until recently.
Mirrorless and DSLR cameras consist of a body and removable lenses.
Bridge – Usually smaller in size than a DSLR, has a fixed lens and usually an electronic viewfinder. Can be almost as good as a DSLR although not as flexible.
Compact – small often point and shoot, however compact cameras include everything from very cheap children’s cameras through to very expensive, professional level cameras. Some compact cameras have removable lenses
Smartphone – The cameras on smartphones are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the quality of some can rival that of high end cameras. The advantages of using a smartphone to take photographs is that it usually has a macro mode that allows you to get very close to a subject without specialist lenses, it is convenient and easy to take everywhere. However, a smartphone has a relatively short focal length, the settings will be restricted compared to a camera and apart from expensive models, the quality is inferior to stand alone cameras.
Also Film / Large Format / Medium Format / Action Cameras