Base from my observation and from some of the articles and tutorials I have read there are basically 4 categories a photographer can fall into first is the point-and-shoot, beginner, serious and advanced.
Point-and-shoot photographers are the ones who buy a camera to take snapshots of family and friends. They prefer their cameras to have a minimum fussing, complicated controls that is why they usually would buy digital cameras since it already provides auto shooting mode and perhaps also programmed auto and scene modes.A beginner photographer needs a digital camera that allows control over all the exposure settings. Besides the shooting modes found on most point-and-shoot cameras, cameras geared for beginner photographers will also provide aperture-priority shooting mode, shutter-priority shooting mode, and full manual shooting mode. Serious photographers are similar to those for beginner photographers, except that they provide better image quality, more parameters you can have control over, faster and more precise auto focus, faster burst shooting, faster performance, availability of add-on lenses and filters, possibility to use a more powerful external flash, more buttons and external controls for quicker operation. Lastly the advanced photographers,typically graduate to a Digital SLR which provides the ultimate in exposure control and flexibility. Performance is near instantaneous, image quality is excellent, and the lens is interchangeable, which means you have access to a specialized lens for almost any type of photography you may wish to pursue further.
