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For routine field photography, you can use the camera in your smartphone provided that it is up to the task. Many of the latest models can take excellent photos, but they can be memory and battery hogs. Make sure that whenever you set out to complete a project you have space in memory for the number of photos you are likely to take, and that you have some device with you for a quick recharge if the need arises. Otherwise, you may decide that for field photography a dedicated camera is your best option.

This point leads me to an important issue about fieldwork photography in general, namely, that your purpose is not to take photos that are aesthetically pleasing, although it does not hurt if they are. First and foremost, you are recording data. A photo for fieldwork needs to record relevant information, but it does not have to be composed artistically. You do have to be concerned with not getting too close or too far away from your subject matter, but it does not matter if there are extraneous details in your shot. There is more on this subject in relevant projects.

Cameras come in all price ranges with all manner of attachments. How much you want to spend will be determined by your abilities with a camera (and your wallet). A DSLR camera is the optimum choice because the viewfinder (or monitor) shows you exactly what the lens is seeing, and, therefore, the image that you frame will be the image that is captured. For fieldwork, a camera with point-and-shoot ability is ideal, that is, a camera that automatically adjusts focus, shutter speed, and aperture size, so that all you have to worry about is what to point at. Even with plenty of experience operating a camera manually it is best not to have to concern yourself with changing settings when you are recording data. The less attention you have to give to your equipment when conducting fieldwork, the better. Having decent zoom capacity for close-ups is useful, as is having the ability to capture wide-angle shots. Currently I use an 18/400 lens, which covers most bases and is not desperately unwieldy (although it is noticeable). In the past I used an 18/55 lens, which was perfectly adequate for documentation most of the time and did not take up much space. Expense may be your critical criterion here.

Most digital cameras nowadays can also take video, but they are limited in this respect. The built-in microphones are usually of poor quality, and video gobbles up memory and battery. They also tend to have time limits on recordings to prevent filling the memory card. If you have ambitions of making field videos of any length, you will need a dedicated video camera with an adequate external microphone.