Camera under $500?

My Nephew wrote to me and asked about getting a camera for under $500 that he could use to take photos of birds at his feeder and also moon photos.
I know there are cameras out there that that have fixed telephoto lens but I know nothing more than that.
Any help?

Thanks
Tom

Canon SL2... it's only flaw is that it has only 9 AF points, but just fine for what he wants to do. Touch screen, tilt, 80D sensor, etc...

Otherwise a lightly used 7D might be good too.

There should be one in this: Point and shoot with telephoto range?

I hear very good things about the Nikon P900. If you are after the maximum in telephoto reach from a fixed lens camera. It gets a 2000mm FoV equivalence on the 35mm format from it's 375mm lens.

Drawbacks are JPEG only, and a really small sensor, even for this type of camera.

Alan

You can get the SL2 from Canon Refurbs for $374 right now or $478 with the kit lens. Not a point and shoot that is going to compete with that price or capability.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18586887
You can get the SL2 from Canon Refurbs for $374 right now or

Ugh. I am ready to upgrade my SL1, but do not need to be spending money.

Is that with the st Patrick's day 15 percent off sale I read about?

Yes MrGreenie or something to that effect. I suspect they will sell out of those pretty quickly. Sell the SL1 for $150-200 to help the purchase along!

The SL2 is a smidge larger than the SL1, something I noticed, but it is inconsequential. Nice to have a very portable landscape camera for trips, and it is my wife's real estate camera. We pair it with the Sigma 8-16, and slap the godox transmitter to fire off a couple of AD200s in the rooms of the homes she lists.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18586887
You can get the SL2 from Canon Refurbs for $374 right now or $478 with the kit lens. Not a point and shoot that is going to compete with that price or capability.

For purpose stated, bird feeder and moon, I think a P900 would compete and win.
(For general use I would agree with you.)

When I bought the SL1 I sold my old XSi with 18-55 and the 70-300 kit lens that came with the SL1 and came out 10 bucks ahead.

Might need to look around for some gear that isn't being used. Wonder what a S100 goes for these days?

Choderboy wrote in post #18586892
For purpose stated, bird feeder and moon, I think a P900 would compete and win.
(For general use I would agree with you.)

Seems like dynamic range alone the canon would crush the small nikon sensor.

Choderboy wrote in post #18586892
For purpose stated, bird feeder and moon, I think a P900 would compete and win.
(For general use I would agree with you.)

Possibly at ISO 200 or less, but higher than that, the SL2 IQ is substantially better. I even think putting a 55-250 on the SL2 for a birdfeeder shot would be better as well, just for detail and sharpness.

Birdfeeder shots will be at a higher ISO just to get faster shutter speeds. Also no raw to help with missed exposures...

There is no contest. The Nikon has more reach, but nothing beyond that going for it. That is the same for any superzoom compact, unfortunately. Great for web shots, not good for anything else. I have had several, but not this particular model personally.

Absolutely...

ISO 500, no contest on DR between P900 and SL2

Now for pure distance, the P900 might be okay, but I have looked at alot of moon images from that camera when I was trying to decide on the SX60HS. Nothing stood out as really great. However to get that reach with an APS-C, you are going to have to run a Sigma or Tamron 600mm along with a 1.4x, which increases the costs substantially. So for a moon shot or shots of jetliners, the Nikon would win until you put long glass and a quality TC on the SL2.

This is with the 7D2, but the SL2 would produce the same basic image.

Interestingly you can also get a 1D3 for under $500 on the used market. That could be a fun body too, and would do more than just birds at a feeder. Still need glass for that though, however, you get 1.3 crop and decent ISO through 3200, 6400 is passable in today's standards. 10fps, great AF system, long battery life, but just a bit bulky.

For stated budget and chosing a refurb SL2, you need to compare P900 to an SL2 with $126 glass.
That's what I was doing, sticking to the OPs parameters. I still think P900 wins for stated use.
I'm well aware of the tiny sensor and implications of the P900.

Considering the obvious challenge of budget and intended use, P900 and lower shutter speed for bird feeder would be a work around for the poor ISO performance of the P900. Sure, there will be plenty of blurred shots due to motion of the bird but there will be keepers too.