No. It may be helpful if you want to purchase a camera that interfaces directly with a printer to produce prints, but even that does not always require equipment the same manufacturer. If you really know nothing about photography and don't want know much more, there may be an advantage in purchasing matching equipment. It is better to purchase the equipment that meets your needs, instead of limiting yourself to a matching camera and printer. The people selling the equipment may say otherwise, especially if they work at big box stores. They have limited training on the products they sell and always try to push an extended warrantee, which is very profitable. You would almost certainly get better advice at a decent camera shop, one that is in the business of selling photographic equipment, not one-hour printing. I have a Nikon digital camera, which lets me use some accessories (excluding lenses) from my Nikon film camera. It produces very good quality JPEGs, as well as RAW format pictures which give me complete control over the image while editing. I have an Epson printer that uses an eight-colour print system. Just as important as the camera and printer is the software you will use for editing and printing. The best is the industry-standard Adobe Photoshop CS, but it costs US$650. Adobe Photoshop Elements costs a little over US$100 and includes many of the same features found in Photoshop CS. Editor software may be included with the camera, but I do recommend Photoshop Elements. You need a little patience when learning to use it, though. Many schools offer night-school courses in digital photography using the Adobe software.

No, but you may get a better deal if you are buying the two together. The other thing I would look for is if the camera, printer and computer (if you are using a computer) are compatible. I by force of habit often buy items of the same brand.