A single lens reflex camera, a prosumer camera and a smartphone camera were compared for their ability to produce digital intraoral images. Standardized intraoral images produced by the three cameras were evaluated according to sharpness, depth of field, exposure, white balance and image composition. The digital SLR camera was significantly superior to the prosumer camera regarding sharpness and depth of field. The digital SLR camera and the prosumer camera were significantly better than the smartphone camera when considering white balance. There were no significant differences in anterior versus posterior intraoral images for any of the camera systems.