Better wildlife system?

My brother is starting from scratch to build a system for general photography with a strong emphasis on wildlife/birds. His budget is around $1,000 to $1,500. I use a Canon DSLR-based system but am not crazy about the weight. Thus, for him I'm wondering if a good interchangeable lens camera system could provide similar quality at a much lower weight. I'm looking at the t4i plus Canon 70-300mm IS STM vs the Panasonic G5 plus Panasonic 100-300mm. The added benefit of the Panasonic would be 600mm equivalent on the long end vs 480mm for the Canon. But I have no experience with ILC and MFT systems. Would love to hear from anyone on the pros and cons of these approaches.

Thanks

I will start by saying I have not handled a G5 and had to look it up to verify that it is a mirrorless camera. That said and not knowing a lot about it, I will offer this item to look at and verify. As a wildlife photographer, you need to have a quick response with the Autofocus system. No in an DSLR, we can use the viewfinder or the Live View system to take images, but there is a difference in how they autofocus. When you use the view finder, your camera is actually using "Phase" Detection for the autofocus. When you use the LCD, you are now actually using the sensor itself to focus and this is called contrast focus. I will not get into the details here, but know that Phase Detection is considerably faster. New cameras come out with faster and faster contrast focus, but per my reading, Phase Detection is still faster, which is needed to get the shot of a fast moving subject, such as a bird.

Further, even though you are looking at the cropping factor of the micro 4/3 sensor for reach, keep in mind that the 4/3's sensor may have higher noise than even your 7D. Your 7d and the 4Ti are both APS-C sensors, and therefore the pixel density is not as great as the 4/3rds. So in low light situations, you will likely generate more signal noise on the sensor, and create harder work in post processing. I shoot the 7D and went that route over the 5D for exactly the reason you are looking at the G5, however, I am not sure that I would change my mind now, because I am not extremely happy with the noise I get in shots over ISO400, and that is uniform across the three 7D bodies I own.

Hopefully this helps. I think if your brother is serious about wildlife photography, then, in my opinion, he should stick with the Canon or Nikon route on DSLR. In the future, he would have a greater opportunity to upgrade into better glass.

My two cents worth.

Ive seen some pretty nice photos from mirrorless cameras.

There are articles like this one
http://fstoppers.com …-cameras-can-trump-a-dslr
all over the internet how nice mirrorless cameras are becoming.

Will they be better for birds in flight? not yet they arent. But perhaps in a couple years.
For now I will stick with my DSLR and big, heavy zoom.
Check my flickr for pics of wildlife and birds with my setup.(I just bought the 7d, until yesterday I used a 60d and 100-400L)

For Nikon you your brother could try the V2 with an adapter with regular Nikon lenses. The crop factor is something like 2.7 so there is a huge increase in reach. But for wildlife, especially birds in flight, it is hard to substitute anything for a top AF system and high frame rate. I doubt you will see either of those in anything less than mid level DSLRs.

I have a Canon system, and I bought my wife a Panasonic a while back. The micro 4/3 is great when we don't feel like toting around a larger camera/lens. It take great still pictures, and it also shoots great video.

It does have limitations:
It have a longer shutter lag than the EOS system. After using 5D/7D cameras; it can be really frustrating.

I can't quantify it; but there is a level of sophistication missing from the autofocus. It is way more advanced than a P&S; but struggles with more advanced situations (sports, moving targets, etc).

Yes the lenses have a 2x crop factor; but that relates to field of view only. It still won't provide the reach necessary to get to wildlife. The challenge about the EOS lens lineup is my inability to afford all the lenses I 'need'; as opposed to not being able to find a super-telephoto 4/3 lens.

Thanks for the responses. Seems clear to me that, at this point, the T4i system is best for my brother's needs, and that's what Santa (his wife) brought him. Happy New Year all.

I think he will be very happy with the t4i.
It has better noise handling with its Digic 5 processor and slightly updated sensor (I hear) over the 7d, 60d, t3i and t2i.

He now needs to get some good glass for it as that is the most important thing.
for starters the 55-250 does a decent job.
the 70-300 USM lenses also do pretty well and give a bit more reach.
the 100-400L is probably my favorite lens for wildlife (I use it exclusively)
the 400 5.6 is an awesome lens for birds and wildlife that is not particularly far away.

I think I'm rambling as you probably already knew all that.
Congrats to your brother on his new camera.