I Learned Every Photographer Needs These 3 Types of Cameras
As a professional photographer, I have photographed everything from editorial photo essays to product photography to landscape, travel and street photography in my personal work. During this time, I learned that there are three types of cameras that every photographer should have in their collection. And I don’t mean brands, like a Sony or a Canon, or even sensor types, like a full frame or an APS C. I mean a Deeper level of camera selection: Camera types that offer fundamentally different ways to approach your photography and allow you to create your best work, no matter what genre you like to dabble in.
And while these types can be three physically different cameras, they can also be represented in two cameras, or even just one. I’ll explain, so let’s dive into camera type number one.
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The workaholic
It’s the camera that makes things happen. It probably has modern camera technology. It’s quick to use, shoots at high speed, has super-fast autofocus, possibly image stabilization, and almost certainly uses interchangeable lenses. It may well be full frame. It’s the camera that professionals around the world use for all kinds of photo shoots – just like me – from weddings to cars to produce to pets… it doesn’t matter. This is a versatile camera that you can trust and will do everything you need it to do at any time.
I have used my Canon R5 on many professional photo and video shoots. It is a versatile and efficient device.
For me right now, it’s the Canon R5. Fast and high resolution. Tons of features. A creepy screen. And he makes awesome videos. Endless lens and accessory options. This is the camera I trust for most of my professional work because I know it can deliver and I know I can get it when I use it. Previously, it was the Canon 5DIV and before that, the Canon 6D. For you, it could be the Sony A7RV, the Nikon Z8 or the Panasonic Lumix S5II.
It may not be the latest model on the market, but whether it was launched in 2025 or 2005, it will tick all the boxes you need for a busy day of photography, whether you’re a professional or an enthusiastic amateur. The workhorse is a camera that will do everything and it will do it well. But it’s probably also quite big and probably quite expensive. While it’s great that there are so many lenses to choose from, maybe sometimes you don’t want to have the burden of choice. So this is when you need…
A compact fixed lens camera like the Fujifilm X100VI is great to have with you, always ready to take photos.
Daily transportation
It’s a small digital one. Ideally, a compact point and shoot. This is almost certainly a fixed goal. The Fuji X100VI or the Ricoh GRIII. Even the relatively old Sony RX1R or the Leica Q3. The Q3 isn’t really that small, but I really like my Q3 43 as an everyday carry accessory. This will be the type of camera you can quickly grab when you’re leaving in a hurry without thinking about lenses. When you don’t want a backpack full of gear when camping, but want lots of fun photos of you and your friends around the campfire. It’s the camera you can always take with you. It is the social camera in which you do not hesitate to enter into the chaos of life. It could even just be your phone’s camera.
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It’s probably the lightest camera you own, allowing you to wear it comfortably around your neck as you walk the streets of an old Italian town. It might even be small enough to slip into your pocket when you walk into a bar and easily pop out again when the light streams beautifully through the pub window and you want to take a quick photo.
Always having my Leica Q3 43 with me allows me to take scenes whenever I see them.
This is a camera intended for quick shooting and social shooting – maybe even dirty shooting from the hip or spray and pray. It’s probably the camera you’ve captured the most memories with, but it’s also probably not the camera you’ve used to take your favorite art photos. Oh no, it will be this one.
The clever
Maybe it’s not technically be your best camera. It may not have the most features. It may not be the smallest, fastest, or easiest to use. But it’s the camera that inspires you the most. It’s the one that makes you feel creative just by looking at it. This is the one you choose to take when you drive for hours to a location in the slim hope of having good light that evening.
It’s the camera that makes you slow down and think about the artistry of your images rather than producing a thousand mediocre shots. It’s the camera that’s responsible for the work you’re most proud of.
The Hasselblad 907X: an astonishing and original camera.
This camera could be many things. It can be a film camera, whether 35mm or 120 medium format. That alone would slow you down and force you to take a more methodical approach, unless you’re happy to spend a fortune on cinema. Or maybe it’s a modern digital mount like a Fuji GFX or my favorite, the 907X 100C from Hasselblad – this weird little box thrilled me so much when I used it that it was really hard to part with when I had to return it.
I found the Hasselblad’s X-Pan panoramic mode incredibly inspiring. This image was even shortlisted for a major British photography prize.
It’s a camera you may not yet own and may not even know you want. I didn’t know I was interested in film photography until recently, and yet I gave a handful of money to a man in a parking lot to buy his medium format Mamiya 645 Pro, which I have greatly enjoyed portraying in many film roles. Life sometimes throws obstacles in your way. So maybe this camera is the one you’ll need to be a little open-minded about. But it’s also the one you might be happiest to have in years to come.
Three guys, one camera
Between the workaholic, the everyday, and the artful, you’re covered in all aspects of photography, no matter what genre you like to dabble in.
I took my Canon R5 to Sicily where it fulfilled all the roles of workhorse, daily carry and inspirational camera admirably. You don’t necessarily need three separate cameras.
Of course, some cameras can have two functions. Hell, some cameras might be all three. And that’s totally fine, as long as this camera checks all three of those boxes for you. It’s really up to you to decide whether your camera is small enough to be your everyday device or inspiring enough to be your trick device. But this rule certainly doesn’t mean you have to buy two additional cameras.
My Canon R5 with a compact lens can definitely be all three. It was great daily transportation while traveling in Sicily and inspired me to take artistic photos which I then allowed to go into a luxury travel book, meaning it was Also my work horse. So on this one trip he checked all three boxes. But it’s not always all that for me.
My Leica Q3 43 was a superb everyday camera on my recent trips to the Swedish Arctic and Barcelona. This is the camera I took on several ferry trips to various remote Scottish islands and it’s the camera I took when I was going to go out with my brother for his 40th birthday. And yes, it’s also a camera that excites me, inspires me and pushes me to be more creative in my shots. Because it’s a damn Leica and what photographer doesn’t feel excited about taking photos when holding a Leica?
My Leica Q3 43 was an incredible daily carry and professional tool during my assignment in Sweden. Did it also inspire me creatively? You bet.
But it was my recent forays into filmmaking that taught me even more about slowing down and creating an image and the culmination of that led me to pick up the Mamiya 645 as a nifty camera, which completes my personal holy trinity.
And of course, as my work and style develops and other cameras come and go, this trio of cameras will likely change over the years, but the basic elements of workhorse, everyday carry, and nifty will always need to be satisfied by the cameras I have.
