What kind of camera do I need to get pictures of the northern lights? Do I need specialist lenses / equipment?
A camera with a manual (M) setting is ideal but not essential so you can slow down the shutter speed - either a DSLR or mirrorless. The northern lights are often not entirely visible to the naked eye, and so you need to slow your shutter speed on your camera to capture them.
If you have a DSLR or mirrorless camera you'll want a wide-angle lens so you can capture as much of the northern lights in your shot as possible, and the landscape around you too if you want to include it in the photo.
A lot of small compact cameras and bridge cameras have a night time setting which can be used to slow down the shutter speed, and even some phones have cameras worth trying.