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Your standard compact camera, often referred to as a point-and-shoot camera, does just that. They offer no real adjustable camera settings, but are incredibly affordable. They’re light-weight, easy to use, and you just point and shoot. They remind me of what family vacations are captured on - they belong in a 90s fanny pack, and are taken out when Mom wants a photo in front of a statue. Okay, I’m mostly kidding. Compact cameras are pretty awesome. And today, there are quite a few different kinds of these compact cameras that do allow you to get a little more involved in the photography process.

Alyssa Maio is a screenwriter from New Jersey, now living in Los Angeles. She works as a copywriter here at StudioBinder.

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It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional, hobbyist, or novice, at least one of the camera types should fit your needs once you learn a little more about them.

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Mirrorless cameras are a lighter, more compact alternative to the DSLR, and provide incredible quality images, especially video. The comparison between DSLR and Mirrorless is worth examining before you make a decision. Many professionals are making the switch.

While still compact and light-weight, advanced compacts are not quite as affordable as the standard compact camera. They allow for manual exposure mode and enable much higher resolution pictures than before. Some include interchangeable lenses as well.

Meanwhile, Ziemann & Urban (Moosinning, Germany) developed an automated system to provide precise measurements of disposable plastic pipette tips, which are used in laboratory testing procedures. The system, which is also inside an enclosure, relies on telecentric illumination, deploying telecentric lenses combined with telecentric backlights, LEDs and a green ring light. This technique tends to produce high contrast silhouettes, enabling measurement precision.

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As Lindsey Sullivan, technical marketing manager at CCS America, explains, “Once the required lighting is understood, the design of the inspection system can account for the positioning of the sample, size, working distance, color (and) geometry of the light.”

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Not nearly as common as the other cameras listed above, medium format is any camera format that makes use of the 120 film size or it uses a digital imaging sensor that matches that size. Medium format takes pictures that are just smaller than a large format size (102x127mm), but bigger than using 135mm or full-frame sensors.

There are a million different types of cameras on the market. Which one should you choose? Well aside from reading endless specs, one way to figure it out is to simply know the categories of cameras available to you. Do you want a mirrorless or a quick point and shoot? Is a DSLR better for your occasional impromptu video shoots? Knowing the different types of cameras will help you determine which is best for your projects. Let’s jump in.

Digital probably has way more advantages than traditional film. Well, not probably -- it does. Digital gives you the photos in real time and doesn’t involve developing or film costs. If you’re smart about backing up your photos, you’ll likely never lose them. But there is something about shooting with real film that no digital camera can touch. A nostalgic look and feel that still produces incredible res photos.

All of these camera categories can shoot video, but the next article is a dedicated buying guide to the best video cameras on the market. So if you know videography is your thing, and you need some guidance on what to spend the money on, look no further. From affordable to 10 grand, we’ve got them all.

Lighting is equally important indoors. TireTech (Frieberg, Germany) chose 3D triangulation to capture images of tires moving via conveyors through an automated system to inspect and sort used automobile tires. Once inside a steel enclosure, 3D triangulation cameras, which are equipped with a sensor and laser, scan a tire at high speed as it is rotated, creating a 3D image of the tire.

Knowing the categories of cameras available to you will give you the confidence to decide between camera models later.  And there are countless. We’ll provide recommendations for each camera type, but first, what are the different types of cameras?

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DSLRs are the go-to cameras for most creatives. Whether you’re a professional photographer or aspiring videographer looking to get their YouTube channel off the ground, you’ll likely find this camera works for any project. They deliver exceptional, professional-level sharpness and even incredible background bokeh. Videos are in high resolution thanks to DSLRs advanced sensors, manual camera settings, and interchangeable lenses.

Zoom compact cameras simply have a better zoom lens installed than standard. They don’t have interchangeable lenses but the zoom range is 28-300mm. While they’re not considered suitable for professional use, they do have automatic exposure settings and manual options, including HD recording. Many models of zoom compacts offer at a minimum, 12 megapixels.

This uniform approach to lighting helps ensure that the vineyard’s managers will get images that are consistent over time, allowing for comparative analysis of the grapes and vines.

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Similar to action cameras, many 360-degree cameras are water resistant and mountable on a ton of surfaces. They can be put on drones, helmets, cars, you name it. The best thing about these guys is their ability to capture really interesting footage. 360-degree footage using back-to-back lenses. Great for adventure photography and videography, perfect for reality style video and not a bad purchase before your next vacation.

The camera body lacks a mirror that reflects light to the sensor, instead the light goes straight to the sensor. The very mechanics of the mirrorless automatically limit camera shake as compared to the DSLR. And with less moving parts, they're quieter than DSLRs. However, when it comes to lens options, it’s somewhat limited. Make sure to watch the video on the key differences between the two mainstays in professional photography and videography.

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As these examples demonstrate, lighting is an important facet of machine vision applications, and it should be addressed early in the design process.

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There are many approaches to illuminating a scene, and deciding which one you should use depends on the specific machine vision application.

Whether the environment is indoors or outdoors, lighting is a crucial component of machine vision applications. Illumination helps create contrast in an image, which is necessary to highlight areas of interest within that image.

Action cameras, sometimes called Adventure cameras, are great for outdoor filming, or otherwise rough conditions. They’re often used for sports photography and videography. Weather and shockproof, these cameras are generally small and lightweight and the sensor is guarded with super durable glass. GoPros are common action cameras. Because of their small sensors, technically they’re not “for professional use” but I mostly disagree. You can get some pretty incredible shots and at the very least, inter-splice them with other footage from a DSLR or mirrorless. Again, it depends on the project and what overall aesthetic you’re trying to achieve. The video above shows the new GoPro and its footage.

For example, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards (Los Carneros, CA, USA) used active lighting when it implemented an AI-enabled machine vision system to track grapes during the growing season. The goal was to automate crop estimation by gathering and analyzing ongoing information about the crops as they mature. To accomplish this, the vineyard’s team purchased a specially designed stereo vision camera system. After mounting it on a vehicle, the camera system snaps images as the vehicle moves up and down the rows of crops. It includes 12 LED lights that flash with every shot—no matter how much ambient light is available in the environment.

“The only source of light comes from the cameras, which project a laser line onto the tires, which are then measured by the camera,” Marcel Staudinger, TireTech project manager, explains.

Linda Wilson joined the team at Vision Systems Design in 2022. She has more than 25 years of experience in B2B publishing and has written for numerous publications, including Modern Healthcare, InformationWeek, Computerworld, Health Data Management, and many others. Before joining VSD, she was the senior editor at Medical Laboratory Observer, a sister publication to VSD.