I can probably only afford $400 or less for a camera. I may have to save up to buy something higher priced. I currently have a Panasonic ZS7 with 12x zoom, but it is nowhere near powerful enough. My binoculars are probably very inexpensive, a pair of little Bushnells, 8 x 21.
Bushnell is a good company but those 8X21s are absolutely awful. Even a $60 Nikon Action 7X35 would be light years better.
For $400 you can get a low end DSLR with a kit lens if you look and wait long enough. I found and bought a Sony Alpha 230 with the 18-55 kit lens for only $230. It was an unusual buy and was on clearance but if you look long enough you will find something similar.
The good thing about the Sony DSLR is I can use my old Minolta Maxxum AF lenses on it. Those Minolta lenses are of excellent quality and you can find them cheap.