TucsonDave Loc: Tucson, Arizona

DSLR - sorry

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

If you can find a club. The interaction with photographers will support and help guide you. Even a poor photographer can some times help by unknowingly show you what not you do.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

The OP's desire is to get hands on advise. I take that to be a desire for simple non-technical advise and that they know little if anything about modern digital photography, or photography in general for that matter. You can look at my previous reply. I tried to keep it as untechnicsl as possible.

BlackRipleyDog

The best advice I have seen on the subject so far. I started digital 15 years ago with a hand-me-down 3mpx Nikon Coolpix. I made the jump to a 6mpx DSLR in 2008 and now shoot with a D850. Small steps until you get your feet under you and a better sense of where you want to go, develops. Read real books. Forums and Youtube are full of misinformation driven by bias. Too much advice is driven by the assumption that you have a bottomless budget and you should shift gears willy-nilly every two or three years based on the gear market. Too many Youtube videos cater to this presumption. There is no shame in getting a camera body like a D700 and starting off with that as it gets you started with F-mount interchangeable lens systems for a fraction of the cost of entry in the more current mirrorless sytems. If you eventually become accomplished and are a working pro who can justify that level of expenditures; knock yourself out but most of us are tightly constrained by our wallet. Starting off, it is a personal journey and not a team sport. So don't let yourself be bullied.

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Meadwilliam

It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer. Since your just staring out I’d suggest a good phone. They are the future. If you later find yourself being an avid and good photographer, you can buy a good camera then, assuming they still sell them.

Meadwilliam

It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer. If you’re any good, any camera you can buy new today will work. I’d suggest getting a good phone/camera. They are the future. That’s heresy here. If later you find yourself being an avid and good photographer, then you can by a high end camera, assuming they still sell them.

Markag

My move to mirrorless was simple. No shutter noise! My daughter performs in two choirs, band, and orchestra. The clicking of my D700 embarrassed her while in a room full of tablets/Phones shooting away.

BlackRipleyDog

But your D700 was head and shoulders above the capabilities of those tablets and phones.

Markag

Still is better, but in a room full of tablets, its noisy.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

First - WELCOME TO UHH!

The possibilities are endless. Main points that affect what would be best is your budget and what you actually want to do with it.

Do you want something pocketable? Most are not, those that are have some limitations. The better ones have a lens that goes from wide angle to telephoto. The limitations are mostly how well they work in low light and how strong the tele end of the lens is. Strong tele is desireable for things in the distance and for birds. One good example of this type is the Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS80 ($397.99 new). It has a relatively strong (for a pocketable) tele and fits some pockets. I would buy this rather than the Lumix DMC-ZS100 knowing what I know now.

Miami39 Loc: Florida

I think that a lot depends upon your budget and what you want to spend and shoot. The difference between a DSLR and a mirrorless camera is the mirror. I have both systems and frankly, it does not matter, I believe that most new systems will be mirrorless. As far as a bridge camera, I think that they are limiting as you won’t be able to change lenses. However, I do have a Leica that has a short zoom that I use a lot. You might try the used market as you will get more for your money. In order to learn about photography, my advice is to look at photographs taken by the old masters. There are many techniques to learn, such as composition, lighting, etc. Also, what works for portraits, landscapes and “birding” are different. Don’t be discouraged, buy what you can afford and have fun. There are many folks on this site that can give you good advice but ignore the snippy, opinionated views.

BigOldArt Loc: Seminole, FL

I am strictly an amateur so if you want to be more professional ignore this reply. Consider a bridge camera
I have had many cameras over the years. A few years ago, I purchased the Nikon Coolpix p900. It was expensive, but for amateur purposes, it has some good features. But first, it has 3 problems.
(1) It is heavy, about as heavy as I can easily handle with one hand, and hold myself up with a cane in the other hand.
(2) It has wifi and GPS, but for fast location and indoor location recording, it does not take location from the phone! The P1000 is almost the same camera controls etc but does take location from the phone. P1000 was too heavy for me. If you are more organized than most people, recording the location inside the file for the photo may not be important. I think the term is something like EXIF data.
(3) it was expensive.

I have taken very distant shots and very close shots. I still have not worked out taking pictures of things like Rx pills. I have tried about half of its scene settings. I have cropped out small portions and had decent hard copies, photos look good on 65" UHD TV.

Advantages are
(1) it has "scenes" for many things.
(2) It does not need a big bag of lenses but seems to cover a lot of purposes.
(3) Although expensive, it may not need to be replaced as often.

The P900 is a several years old model so these days there may be a better bridge camera.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

If you're still following this thread my advice would be to get what's called a premium compact, preferably one that has a 1 inch sensor. Carry it around with you as much as possible (not so easy with a DSLR or large mirrorless) and be constantly on the lookout for things that catch your eye and that you think would make an interesting photo. That way you'll develop a feel for the sort of photography that you want to focus on, and that in turn will (eventually) determine what is the best camera for you.

A 1" sensor won't give you the ultimate in image quality in all situations but in most situations it'll give an IQ that's only marginally worse than large, expensive DSLRs or mirrorless cameras. And you'll learn what the limitations of the smaller sensor are, which is a good thing to learn because larger sensors have the same limitations but not to the same extent, so it's a good thing to be aware of. You'll get the occasional spoiled shot but not so much that it'll put you off, and the failure rate won't be anything like as bad as it would be if you had a small sensor (1/2.3) compact. And even DSLR owners get the odd failure (or so I've heard ).

THESE were all taken with a 1" sensor camera (Lumix zs100).

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

My thoughts exactly. Keep it simple when you first start out. Work on getting the kinds of pictures that you like to look at. Grow as you go.

cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX

Take pictures (not photographs) with your crappy phone camera. Take a lot of them, with many different themes. Show them to a photographer. If he (English plural usage) can offer praise or approval for a few of them, then start looking at cameras. And don't start with a "beginner's" camera. Get something which will produce quality photographs from the start. Learning will be much more satisfying that way, and you won't have to replace (it) in a few months.