Richard: For starting out, I would go with one of the point and shoot pocket cameras. They are pretty good these days and do all the necessary stuff automatically. Once you start enjoying the digital camera world (for me it was realizing I had 8000 pictures from a small camera), you might get bitten by the "shutterbug". The next level would be a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera. No longer point and shoot, you have to take control and learn some photography basics. The introductory level cameras run in the several hundred $. After that, there is the "pro-sumer" level, around $2K and after that you need to be making your living from the camera or have more $$ than you know what to do with. I think of the equipment cost in these terms.
Good pocket point and shoot = a parts Parker
Intro DSLR = a reliable shooter
Pro-sumer = a reliable shooter with some decent engraving and maybe some nicely preserved damascus barrels
Professional = high end collectibles
I still use a pocket camera for ease while hiking.
I keep a pro-sumer Canon in the car for more relaxed shooting, taking some time to think about the shots
Here are a few point and shoot images, which, on a computer screen, compare to much more expensive equipment. Where it can fall down is printed enlargements but you would have to go to poster size to really tell the difference. The other issue tends to be focus, as they average out a scene which may then not focus on what you really want. But they keep getting better and many now have facial recognition software included, so people will be more in focus than background. Anyway, once you get going with these cameras, you may never stop
Camera used below: Panasonic Lumix which was around 150$ a couple years ago. It was Santa who brought me the first little digital camera in 2003, so he knows where to find them.
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