Switching from bridge cam to DSLR (1 Viewer)

Hi, help needed....
I have a sony 50x optical zoom camera that has served me well as a novice birder. It produces good pics of still birds but rubbish at action shots. Im looking to switch to a DSLR but i dont really want to compromise on the zoom capability of my current camera....so i guess it will be expensive!!

The current camera is equivalent 4.3mm-215mm. If i buy a DSLR and invest in a 150-500mm lens, will i still be able to achieve shots of birds as close up if not closer?

Its a lot of brass from what i have googled so want to get it right.

Any help much appreciated

Thanks

Andrew

Is your current camera this one? : http://www.dpreview.com/products/sony/compacts/sony_dschx400v

if so, you are never going to be able to achieve the equivalent of 1200 mm on a camera with exchangeable lenses unless you put a telescope in front of a regular (short) lens.

However, that might also not be necessary. REally good pictures are always going to be taken at relatively short distances. For longer distance photos, a combination of lens and crop will give you that id that you are seeking. Compare for example with this thread from Ecuador, where I used a m4/3 camera with a lens that reaches 200-600 mm eqvivalent and I severely cropped the shots afterwards. If I used the in camera crop, I would reach the 1200 mm equivalent with this setup, but I prefer raw images to process.

If the latter does sound interesting, there is now a pana Leica 100-400 lens that will give 800 mm equivalent available, more reach than on my older lens. Pair that with a Pana gX8, G7, or an Oly EM1, and you will be going with a lot less weight than the lens you list above.

For an impression of what a m4/3 setup can do for you if you are not doing extreme reach, then look at these two:
http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/7427 (the last many pages are with this setup)
http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=702 (check out BF galleries of several of the thread participants)

Niels

Hi filby,
I don't know if there is something like this shop in the UK:
http://www.lensrentals.com/
but that is where you might want to start.

The few hundred pounds you would spend testing out three or four well chosen body and lens combinations will transform your understanding of the capabilities and limitations of DSLRs and their lenses. Learning is best when one has real money on the line and renting helps keep the tuition tolerable.

Do note that there is a whole separate world of digital image processing through software packages such as Photoshop that are increasingly an essential element of the photography process. Mastering that involves another serious commitment of time and personal effort.

Alternatively, you might consider some of the new 'large sensor zooms' such as the Canon G3X or the Nikon DL500, cameras which offer better performance for capturing moving birds at a lower weight and price than the big lens/DSLR combination.