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Hi Chris,
I'm old enough to have photographed most of the sky back in the days of film, with an SLR and fast lenses, and also used a 6" f/5 scope and manually guided exposures and all that.
But this was in an era when (a) the available lens and film technology had basically plateaued for several decades (b) not many were doing similar.
In addition the sensor being film meant that you could always have the latest and greatest sensor by buying a roll - and without having to sell the camera body every time. In this respect digital cameras are distinctly inferior !
These days I don't bother with astro photography because:
- the technology is still evolving rapidly (ie sensors bodies and lenses) to the extent anything you buy is obsolete 3 months after you've got it; either squander a fortune on current gear, or forget it IMHO. Might be ok if you're a professional photographer by day and claim the costs as a tax deduction but for anyone else... no.
- there are so many people banging away with little idea what or why... Many will happily take a photo for you on request, for free, if you have a good reason. So.. let them do it with their gear. Cheapest solution IMHO !
Eventually digital camera technology will hit hard limits imposed by physics (sensors) and optics (lenses) at which point the pace of evolution will slow. At that point it will be much like it was in SLR days.
But there was one thing in the 1980s that has no match digitally - a plate camera that shoots on 4 x 5 glass plates. I had access to one in an observatory with a 100mm aperture f/5 lens ... awesome.
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