I bought an Olympus DSLR about 6 years ago, when I was clueless. Of course they essentially stopped making them in favour of mirrorless cameras immediately! Still, seeing as 80% of my pics were of birds, that doubling of effective focal length due to the 4/3rds system was incredible, and something I totally lucked into. I loved it. Shot about 30,000 pictures and took it on safari and everything.
Now, though, I want to upgrade because my camera is old, and the autofocus and low-light performance was frankly never acceptable. I don't have a lot of money to spend (rough budget 1,000 dollars, could go higher for serious value) and over the past 6 years if I've learned anything it's that what makes a good picture is the following - the user -> the subject/event -> the lens -> the camera, so that's how I'm approaching this. Also, something without a viewfinder is simply not an option.
So I'm thinking of buying a Nikon D3300, with the 18-55mm kit lens, the 35mm 1.8 prime, and the 70-300mm telephoto (to continue my bird work and for better autofocus than the 55-300mm - I'm sick of shit AF in the wild). I can get all that for about a grand, and the camera itself is probably only worth about 250 of it, so I feel like the spending ratio between camera and lenses is right. I'm going to miss the UI and feel of my Olympus, and having used a 3000 series Nikon I know they feel cheap by comparison, but I'm really desperate to upgrade and you just don't get enough for your money by moving up a class. I'll be losing out on 150mm of reach at the long end and an amazing Macro on my Olympus, but the advantages feel worth it.
Anyway, my question is (apart from what you think of my plan) - what essential accessories would you say I need in this situation, if any? Filter kits, wireless adaptor, extra battery are included. 64GB Professional standard card is a must, obviously. Have a tripod (rarely used, because I'm always hiking/walking and shooting). Anything else? Any reason to hold out for a better model, or choose Canon or someone else? Can't imagine making many videos. Image quality is my goal.
EDIT: I'll try to post some pics after work.