Mirrorless cameras are becoming more popular than DSLR. We have a whole generation of people who learned photography looking at the screen of a phone, and who don't care about having a viewfinder. Mirrorless cameras are lighter weight, and are less expensive to build. That said, I grew up looking through a viewfinder, and can't abide the mirrorless style. Choosing between those two is the first issue you need to resolve.
Christopher Frost has a YouTube channel where he reviews Canon lenses. If you go with Canon, before you plunk down coin for a lens, be sure to read his review of it. It will save you a ton of grief. You'll probably end up with more invested in lenses that in camera bodies.
Most of the cameras you're likely to consider will have an APS-C, or "cropped" sensor. The sensor is smaller than "standard". If you stick to highly rated lenses, the smaller sensor will put you at no disadvantage for image quality. If you cheap out on glass, the smaller sensor will show the shortcomings. On the plus side, with an APS-C sensor, you multiply the actual focal length of the lens by 1.6 to get the effective focal length, due to the cropping of the image. So your 250mm lens becomes 400mm. The bad news is that it's hard to get a really good very wide angle lens for APS-C.
250mm is probably the shortest focal length that will put you in the game. Longer is better, but weight, size, and especially cost escalate greatly beyond that point. I have a 100-400 which is better, but it stays home a lot because of weight.
If you want a Canon DSLR (which is what I shoot), take a look at the Canon T6i. It has a 24 Mpixel APS-C sensor, which is all you'll need. (The non-i version is only 18). It's an excellent value for money, and has all the features you'll really need.
Christopher Frost highly rates the Canon 55-250mm IS STM lens. I have two of them. They are very sharp, and they are easy to carry. Those can be had on eBay for around $125. I have two, because I found a nice used one on the local classifieds for $79. One goes in my big kit, which is for when I'm serious about something, and the other goes in my little quick kit, which is what I actually usually use the most. BTW, the Canon 70-300mm is a dog.
And yes, it is a lot of fun. We're just about to the point that the bald eagles will return, and I plan to be out at the bird refuge shooting pictures.
Last edited by denton; 12/01/19.
