Panasonic LUMIX FZ80

At that price point, you're not risking a whole helluva lot, if it turns out wildlife photography isn't your jam. To me, the FZ80 has all three of the main features I look for in any digital camera: full manual exposure mode, so you can explicitly set iso, aperture, and shutter speed. RAW capability, for the most latitude in post-processing, and a flash hotshoe, so you can do [off-camera easily.

The lumix fz80 bridge super zoom is a fairly decent camera that is within your price range that would be good for bird photos. It has a smaller sensor than a dslr but it is 18 megapixels and also shoots 4K video. It’s also only about $300 new and has a 60x optical zoom. You won’t need to buy or change lenses.

[Panasonic Lumix [Panasonic Lumix [Canon EOS ​.

Even with a 400mm lens, and a 1.6x crop body, I'm still cropping most of the time. I would also point out, you can get [a new Panasonic FZ80 for so you may want to double-check prices where you are. That FZ70 feels expensive to me, since the FZ80 is the current model, but I'm not familiar with how Canadian pricing goes. Also, be aware that even with stabilization and that the "zoom" on the FZ80 is mostly coming from the 5.6x crop factor, not so much the lens, physically you'll still want some form of stabilization (say a monopod) or a very high shutter speed if you're handholding.

But it is a real chore to try to get any decent shots using it and really need a bright sunny day to do so. The zoom lens makes it somewhat worth dealing with for wildlife but nothing else. But if you aren't happy with iPhone quality I'm sure you'll be disappointed with FZ80. Panasonic ZS100 is much better and currently sells new for $400.