Budget camera for nature and astrophotography?
Budget: $200 or less including lens
Country: Canada
Condition: Used
Type of Camera: Mirrorless or DSLR
Intended use: Photography
If photography, what style: Landscape, nature, wildlife, streets, night sky, (just about everything but close up personal photography like portraits)
If video, what style: Not planning on primary videography use
What features do you absolutely need: Ability to shoot in low light (high resolution, large sensor, high iso range?), articulating screen, and 30 sec or longer shutter speed for long exposure shots.
What features would be nice to have: Fast AF tracking and continuous drive, easy to use (if not I’ll learn and adapt!)
Portability: Small/large bag, doesn't need to be pocket sized
Cameras you're considering:
Nikon D5300 ~ 24MP quality, iso extendable to 25600, wifi, articulated screen, great autofocus, overall superior for landscape/nature/night photography. The only downside is the cost, which might be just outside my budget.
Nikon D5100 ~ 16MP, also great iso, sensor, AF, etc. A slight downgrade from the D5300 but still a good camera/fallback option.
Canon Rebel T5i ~ 18MP, iso extendable to 25600, touchscreen, articulated screen, great AF. Can be found within my budget, only downside is that its specs are worse than the D5300, which may be possible to find for $200.
Canon Rebel T3i ~ 18MP, also great iso, sensor, AF, etc. Slight downgrade from T5i, but still a good camera/fallback option.
Sony NEX-5 ~ mirrorless, many lens options due to E-mount, smaller and quite convenient for size. Also a great camera and potential contender, but not as aware of its ability. Also might be just outside my budget like the D5300.
Cameras you already have: Canon powershot sx260 hs. I have used it for quite a while and performs very well in the daytime. Works well as a stereotypical digicam for flash photography, but also works great for its zoom capability. However, I struggle to focus properly when many components of different distances are present. Struggles in direction of light, like taking photos of a sunny day. Struggles in lower light, if it's very cloudy, rainy, or the evening, AF will almost stop working and quality decreases significantly. Performance absolutely ceases to exist in a night setting. I also have a galaxy s10 for my phone. The photos you see right now are from my powershot and phone camera, but I would like to do better.
Notes: I live in a place that's far enough north and remote that I get fairly low light pollution in the outskirts of town. Most days, I can see the whole sky full of stars and a partial galaxy + aurora, but neither of my current cameras (powershot and iphone) do me justice to capture what even a jist my eyes can see. I would like a recommendation for a camera from the few I mentioned, or any others I didn't mention, that would work great at night, as well as any other generic nature, landscape, and street photography setting. I understand the budget is tight, but my primary source is facebook marketplace, and I do come across some very good offers so nothing is impossible. If you give advice for one camera, please include a list of the top 3 if you can as I cannot guarantee I’ll be able to find a good offer for first place. As of now, most likely considering the T5i due to availability, quality, and price, but I’ve seen that there are many potential alternatives like the Nikon D5xxx, Canon EOS 60D, Sony a5xxx, and Olympus E-M10.