Upgrade recommendations from EOS M100 for bird photography

[Ditzie]

I’m an amateur photographer that takes seascapes and bird photos mostly, with some flower photography as well. I’ve had my Canon M100 camera for 5 years now and mostly use my 55-200mm lens. I’ve had issues with the photos being too grainy when I get them printed in larger sizes like 16 X 20 and larger. I’m thinking of upgrading to a better camera and Lens that would allow me to zoom on marsh birds that are further away. I love the M100 in that it was very easy to learn, and I get very nice images.  I always shoot in RAW and manual mode. I’m looking for suggestions on what would be an upgrade that would allow me to take photos from further away and give great detail and that would also be easy to learn. I looked at the EOS R50 with a 55-210 mm lens am wondering what your thoughts are. Would that give me a further reach with better detail and less grain if I want large prints? 
thank you in advance for any and all suggestions. 

[shadowsports]

Greetings, 

Your M100 is a 24.2 megapixel camera and captures at 6,000 by 4,000 resolution.  For large format printing a resolution of 6,000 x 4,800 is recommended for 16x20 prints at 300 DPI.  For images that'll be viewed from a distance you can use lower resolution, and lower DPI.  For close-up viewing however a higher DPI is recommended for greater detail and "gallery quality" prints.

Simply moving to another 24 megapixel camera could help, but may not be enough to give you the level of detail you are looking for.   The difference in image quality between the M100 and R50 would be noticeable but I don't want to promise the level of quality it could provide would exceed your expectations.  Would it be better, in some cases yes, but I would only consider it to be a moderate upgrade from a image quality standpoint.  It would offer improve low-light capability/performance for the most part.  The R50 is 5 years newer than the M100.  It has a higher performing sensor, better AF, and the lenses available for it are also optically superior.  Generally speaking, there's a good chance this combination would help.  Lens choice would also be a contributing factor.  I might suggest that you rent an R50 and lens to see if it meets your needs.  If you see yourself printing larger than 16x20 consistently you should go with a camera that has a higher working resolution.   If you have the budget, an R6 mkII or R6 mkIII would be better.

R50 good

R6 mkII better

R6 mkIII best

[Ditzie]

Thank you so much for your reply. You’ve been very helpful.