What do you want to shoot?
Knowing what you’d like to shoot is a big step in determining the type of equipment you need. Consider the following categories carefully.

Beginners: Getting started with dSLRs
Street and travel: Good ol' general purpose
Sports: Need for speed
Wildlife: Getting back to nature
Underwater: Marine photography
Portraits: People pictures

Beginners: Getting started with dSLRs
Digital cameras have sped up the learning process for beginner photographers. The ability to immediately review shots taken, as well as other features such as viewing image histograms, highlights, shooting information and so on, are great for novices. It takes the hassle out of having to second guess your mistakes, which can often be corrected on the spot.

Most beginners have yet to develop a good sense of which type of photography they favor, although they might have an inkling or inclination for one particular style through viewing the works of other photographers. If you fall into this category, avoid splurging on equipment all at once. Start off with a basic dSLR system, such as the Canon EOS 400D or the Nikon D80, and a set of basic lenses (one kit lens and a telezoom glass) and accessories. In this way, you’d avoid getting locked into equipment which might not be ideal for you in the long run.

Street and travel photography are often categorized together, as strictly speaking, there isn’t a hard-and fast rule on the subject. It often can be anything and everything the photographer’s eye "sees", so these are best served by keeping the equipment simple, yet versatile.

However, common sense dictates that for street and travel photography, the equipment should be kept light and convenient. Some functions can often be dispensed with, such as an optional vertical grip with shutter release, to reduce the weight. Nothing kills mood faster than overloading with equipment and getting tired earlier. A lighter, more compact system also means that fewer accessories can be used as well, such as a smaller, lighter tripod and smaller camera bag. The system should ideally be quick to start-up and respond, in order to catch any action that may be unfolding before your very eyes.

The fast and furious world of sports photography is an exciting one, and from the massive super-tele lenses that the professionals use, it’s also an expensive one. However, for hobbyists, it’s often possible to capture sports action with a modest dSLR setup. A good tele-zoom lens is generally considered essential, but it’s sometimes possible to extend the focal range using tele-converters. The crop factor of dSLRs also helps to boost the reach of the camera--for example, a 70-200mm lens on a Canon EOS 30D (1.6x crop factor) becomes a 112-320mm lens for effective focal range. The Nikon D80, on the other hand, has a crop factor of 1.5x.

Fast autofocusing, a larger image buffer and better image noise control for higher ISO settings are also some factors to consider. Sports photography seldom requires large image sizes as well, as smaller pixel count files mean better management and faster phototaking ability.

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