Dated term for a photographic camera; in modern Japanese, カメラ is overwhelmingly more common.
See also: カメラ
When my grandfather was young, he took landscape photos with a camera.
写真機 is a formal, technical word for a camera, while カメラ is the everyday term used in casual speech.
Standard kanji form; the most common written representation.
Irregular kanji usage; rarely used and not recommended for learners.
Compound of 写真 (shashin, 'photograph') and 機 (ki, 'machine, device'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term follows a common pattern for naming mechanical devices.