Best Superzoom (Bridge Cam) for Bird & Wildlife Photography? (1 Viewer)

I'm looking to pick up a lightweight camera for wildlife photography while backpacking, hiking and kayaking.

Looking for a very capable optical zoom and preferably a larger image sensor.

An optical view finder or electronic view finder would be nice but not absolutely necessary if image quality is very good.

Video would be nice but not at the expense of photo image quality.

I was inspired to this direction by a friend who took a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/996038-REG/panasonic_dmc_fz70k_lumix_fz70_digital_camera.html on trips to Antarctica and safari in Tanzania - the zoom photos were surprisingly high quality - higher than expected revealing much detail at distance like hairs on an animals back and parts of small individual bird feathers - the photos looked excellent printed in a 11.5 x 8.5 in. Flickr photo book even considering many were shot from a vehicle with no tripod, sometimes with the engine running, though the camera struggled in low light at late dusk and struggled with motion at greater distances, which is to be expected.

For the current 2015 super zooms, such as the ones on this list: http://www.cnet.com/topics/cameras/best-digital-cameras/megazoom/ including the Editor's Choice Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 and Canon PowerShot SX60 HS as well as my friend's Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 Digital Camera, which would you suggest?

Note that while the DMC-FZ200 offers a variety of features and better image quality over my friend's FZ70, it loses the FZ70 longer 20-1200mm telephoto and 60X optical zoom - instead the FZ200's has a zoom range of 25mm to 600mm with f2.8 aperture through the whole range.

The Canon SX60HS seems to have good image stabilization and a 60X optical zoom, but appears to not be as strong as the FZ200 in other areas.

Hi LK,I own a Panasonic fz200 so I can give you my own personal opinion on this camera.Let me first answer the questions you asked at the start of your thread:
1.The fz200 is nice and light for a camera of this type but still feels good quality.
2.The camera has a typical sensor for this type of camera which is fairly small.
3.The electronic viewfinder is one of the best you will find on a camera of this type.
4.Image quality is excellent once you learn how to get the best out of the camera.

You mention the limited range of the zoom on the camera which only goes up to 600mm.A 600mm f2.8 lens is far more useful than a 1200mm f6.5 which most of these mega zoom bridge cameras possess,walking around trying to capture wildlife that is a long distance away at the long end of a 1200mm on a bridge camera won't get you great quality photos.Unfortunately many people make the mistake that the longer the lens,the more chance they will have of getting that high quality shot.....it does'nt always work out like that.Also,don't forget that you can get a 1.7x converter for the fz200 which will take the optical zoom up to nearly 1000mm and still give you an aperture that is better than most mega zooms on the market.
The fact that the fz200 has a 2.8 aperture throughout the whole zoom range makes this camera more useful in a wider range of conditions than many and the Leica glass is also a plus in helping to get detailed photos.
Don't get me wrong,like every camera,certain users will have issues that they won't like about the 200 but for me it's still the best option currently available for wildlife photography.All the photos in my gallery (Neil G.) were taken with this camera,all without the teleconverter or close up lens and will show you what sort of quality you can expect with the camera......don't forget they have been resized to much lower resolutions than the original photos but at least it will give you an idea.
Ps,the camera also has one of the best video modes in it's class.

Take a look at the Nikon P900, at least rent it so that you know if the small sensor is okay with you, this camera has 24-2000mm optical in a fantastic zoom which has a great stabilizer , video is awesome but not 4k , it has an articulated screen which is great for difficult angles and the viewfinder is okay. Of course it has the kitchen sinc like GPS and WIFI. The incredible thing is the reach, being able to see what kind of bird when at plain sight is merely a spec, and zoom , and zoom , and zoom... incredible.