[g__day (Matthew)]

I'd be very interested in know what factors would folk in the know apply about where and when to go past a stock standard DSLR - e.g. a Canon 350D or 400D?

Do you simply mod your DSLR to add Ha + peltier cooling or go direct to a dedicated CCD?
Do you value a CCD with guiding inbuilt greatly over a non guiding chip?
Is anti-blooming AGB mush have?
Is USB far preferable to parallel port connections?
Do you go colour or straight to mono with filters (what factors should most determine this choice)?

What factors should best guide your camera progression?

I'm learning shot processing now that I have pointing, tracking and focusing going reasonably well. My next purchase is likely to be a reasonable CCD - but how should I plan this move?

Obliviously I can do alot more with the software side of imaging - but just seeing Jase's shots compared to mine shows I have alot to learn. At present I say go to the Helix Nebulae - I lock on and shoot say a 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 minute series of shots on a C9.25 then start Photoshop CS2 processing (levels and curves and a bit of filtering) - real basic stuff. I'm yet to stack or really play hard with my images.

How show I plan my next steps forward? When should I buy more gear (i.e. what skills must I master before I get more high end imaging gear) and what gear should it be? All thoughts greatly appreciated!