mirrorless is 100% the future. It’s the lightest, but it is also so expensive now. If you put a premium on weight, then you’re gonna pay for it.
On the other hand, you can get great deals on traditional used DSLR cameras as people sell their old gear and replace it with mirrorless. I pretty much buy everything used at one particular website. I will be unloading my old gear soon. I should’ve probably already done it last year.
this also really depends on what you mean by taking photographs outside. That could be wide angle landscapes, close-up shots of things 18 inches from you, or zooming in on wildlife far away. Or all three. Each will need different lenses.
I bought a canon R10 for my daughter. While not perfect for all occasions, it worked out really nice for her photographing soccer and football - even if it’s not really the best camera body for that application. There was only so much I was willing to spend. Lol
For outdoor still life, you can get incredible results with pretty much any camera body through the main manufacturers. Having the right glass is more important than the body. But most important is the skill of the photographer. Give a professional a point and shoot and a beginner a $10,000 rig and I will put my money on the professional every day.
1. Photographer
2. Glass
3. Camera body
from there, my only personal experience is with Canon. While follow the Nikon lines, I’ve never purchased anything from them. Sony also has some intriguing sensors in their camera bodies.
For sports photography, I use a canon 7D mark II with a canon 70–200 F2.8 zoom lens. It works well for me.