Canon R7 with the EF 100-400 IS II USM, or the 400 f/5.6 L USM
Just before Christmas I bought a R7 and the RF100-400 from John Lewis in their 20% off sale which along with Canon Cashback came to what I thought a very reasonable £1526. Also picked up the 1.4 teleconverter from Canon which with cashback was £370. Coming from bridge cameras and an M50 with an EF 100-300 I've been very impressed with the reach and the quality especially considering the price of the lens to me, £371. Think you have to pick your timing with purchasing and leap in when deals appear, the JL stock went very quickly. I probably went for the Canon because I already had one and the price.
This. And to explain in no uncertain terms, the AI autofocusing on modern mirrorless blows old school phase detect DSLR out of the water, especially concerning eye detect technology. Even a mediocre lens will get you locked on the eye for a sharp focus. Get the best mirrorless camera body you can and use the remaining budget to fill in the lens from there. My two cents.
Absofrigginlutely agree. Not only what you said about locking onto the eye in an instant, but there's the live histogram in the viewfinder, there's no need to calibrate lenses to compensate for front/back focussing. etc etc etc.
A Nikon D850 DSLR has pretty much the same file size as a Mirrorless Nikon Z8 or Z9 as they are all 45 M pixel. DSLR or Mirrorless will be the same with regard to necessary computing power.Firstly, welcome @Barwickbird I hope you enjoy the forum, it's a great place to learn both about birds and photography.
Now to the tricky questions...and this might seem a little out of left-field, but can I first start by asking how old is your Desktop / Laptop?...and I ask this because it's no good having the latest mirrorless camera if you don't have a computer and software capable of processing the latest high-res files at a reasonable speed.
Next...are you new to photography, or do you have a good understanding of what it takes to produce a good image...and please don't think this as being patronising because it's not meant in that way at all, I'm just trying to get a sense of your skill level in terms of photography.
As for kit...some good advice has already been given above and the R7 is a good shout if you want to go with Canon and mirrorless, though I wouldn't rule out a good DSLR just yet, all the images in my gallery were taken with a DSLR which should give you a good idea of what can still be achieved with dinosaur kit
Hope this is of some use
I took a look at your gallery images. The Short-eared is WOW! Amazing shot. They’re all good but that one is stunning.
