After posting a commentary about the low cost ($400) of a reasonable 35mm
camera and 400mm lens, I asked Rick Droker, a photographer/birder friend,
about this. He showed me a photography magazine in which anyone could order
a Pentax K-1000 body (good camera) for $120, and a Sigma 400mm f5.6 lens
(good lens) for $180--down to $300 for a very adequate, if not
highest-quality, setup. Or you could get a Cambron 500mm f8 lens (not the
quality of the Sigma) for $100!!! Adding the cost of occasional rolls of
Ektachrome 200 film (which I think you would need for an f8 lens and the
frequency of cloud cover here), any birder could be in business for $220.

But you still have to be willing to carry it around; I put mine in my pack
any time I go walking very far from the car (I've been told I don't find
rare birds *because* I carry the camera).

Dennis Paulson