Information primarily sourced from 大辞林's entry on とる.
General meaning: to take, to manipulate; to record
取る means “to have in hand”, “to take in hand”, “to collect”, “to demand time or labor”, “to undertake”.
Unlike 持つ【もつ】, 取る involves manipulation of the object in hand for a purpose; not just simply holding it.
撮る means “to shoot pictures or movies”.
録る means “to record sound/video to a medium”. It differs from 撮る in that it focuses on the medium moreso than the recording of what is taking place.
執る means “to take into hand and use”, “to carry out”.
とる is often written as 取る, however it can also be written as 執る in cases such as the following:
- 筆を執る [to pick up a writing brush/to take up the pen]
- 事務を執る [to attend to business]
摂る means “to take into the body” (e.g. nutrition), “to eat”.
捕る means “to arrest”, “to catch”. (cf. 捕まる【つかまる】)
獲る means “to catch game” (e.g. hunting or fishing). It can also be written as 捕る【とる】.
穫る means “to harvest crops”.
採る means “to gather”, “to go hunting for”, “to collect”, “to select”.
盗る means “to take someone else’s things”, “to steal”. It can also be written as 取る.
I just want to play it safe, which ones are generic?
取る is a safe bet for most things that involve picking up or taking objects, while 撮る is safe for anything involving recording.