I get asked this question many times. I often ask people these questions:

- What are you going to take photos of?
--I ask this question because if you are wanting to take it underwater, on vacations, looking for small handheld or semi professional. Need to know what you are wanting to use the camera for. Let's say you are wanting to take photos of houses and do your own listing photos. I would look for a camera that has a wide angle lens, maybe one with something I could put an extension for additional light source and something I could use that has an automatic setting, programed setting and maybe settings that can be varied like shutter and aperture settings. All really good variables to have when shooting for Real Estate photography.

- Have you shot with a semi professional camera before and what make and model?
-- There is many different kinds of cameras and lenses. There is Nikon, Canon and Sony is the major brands for the professional and semi professional users. There is a few other kinds out there however the 3 main ones are listed above.

If the person is use to a Canon or Nikon I try to have them stick with the same brand and we go from there on what level they want to move to and how much they want to spend on a camera.

- Time and money?
--When buying a camera you need to know what the camera can do not only when shooting but for when you edit your work and how much you want to edit from the original photograph. So Time and money - how much on the camera and how much on the editing software. Then it is have you ever used the software and then training on software to learn how to edit the photos.

Just like any hobby or career or enthusiast you are wanting to be it in photography, there is much to learn and always learning when it comes to taking photos, editing the photos and displaying the photos either for print or websites. Keep in mind the cost of the equipment, the software and well what you are wanting to get out of the experience.