Digital photography is a kind of photography where a digital camera is used to take photos . Digital cameras use an image sensor instead of film , based on chemicals . Some commercial photographers , and some amateurs interested in artistic photography , have been resistant to using digital rather than film cameras because they believe that the image quality available from a digital camera is still inferior to that available from a film camera , and the quality of images taken on medium format film was thought to be impossible to match with a digital camera .