If you’re looking for a compact camera, I’m a fan of the Fujifilm Finepix and Canon Powershot cameras. If you’re more serious about your photography, and want more control over your images consider a digital SLR.

Digital SLRs are getting cheaper and cheaper all the time. If you’re just starting out in the world of digital SLR photography, you can get Canon’s Digital Rebel with one lens for about $799, or Nikon’s D40 with one lens for about $650 — both of these cameras are compatible with quite a number of lenses from other Nikon and Canon film and digital SLRs. There are also other models from Pentax, Olympus and Sony, and while they’re perfectly fine cameras, they don’t have access to as many legacy lenses and may not provide the most ideal upgrade path down the road. (Once you start buying lenses you end up locked into a system, for better or for worse, unless you’re willing to jump ship and start again from scratch.