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Thanks for your comments everyone. Along with some 'netsurfing, a visit to CameraHouse, and a visit to a mate's house (who has recently bought a Nikon D70), you have shed an enormous amount of light on the subject and helped me to focus (every pun intended) on some answers.
From what I now understand, as I am interested in Deep Sky stuff rather than the moon and planets, and therefore need long exposure times, my interests are best served by a DSLR. Gulp...very expensive.
The ToUCam seems mainly for moon and planets and seems to need a lot of post-production, which doesn't hold a great fascination for me. Using a lesser digital camera with mounts sounds achievable, but quite fiddly and prone to problems such as vignetting. Am I right in understanding that set-up time for these options would be longer than with a DSLR?
If I do go with a DSLR, it seems that the choice comes down to 2 in the $1,800-$2,000 range, being the Nikon D70 or the Canon EOS 300D.
The Canon is noticeably lighter and is better with noise elimination, but looks a bit "plasticy". The Nikon has a superior body, and has better terrestrial-photography features. Does anyone out there have any comparitive experience to comment on these two options? I am concerned that the extra weight of the Nikon may interrupt the clarity of deep-sky images. Should I be concerned about the weight?
In terms of post-production software for DSLR images, what do you folk recommend? I want to know all of the expenses up-front so that I don't end up digging too deep into my pockets!
When my scope finally arrives (anytime now!) my friend with the Nikon is going to come over so we can play together!!! I will need to buy a Digi T ring adaptor for the eyepiece and a digital camera adaptor for the Nikon for this to work - is that right?? I assume that the Nikon may be a different size to the Canon, so if I end up buying the Canon, I'll have to buy another adaptor?? Is there any way of working out if they are the same size - what should I be looking for in the specs of each of the cameras??
I PROMISE I'll post some images as soon as I am up and running. Thanks for any further comments you may wish to make.
Rodstar
PS Iceman, thanks for the slick sales pitch, but you'll have to find another buyer!
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