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Hi Peter. a modded camera is not needed initially. You can certainly make do with your current D80. The modification I think you are refering to is to replace the IR/lowpass filter in your camera with a standard IR filter. The standard filter allows the passing of more of the Ha band. Depending on the item being photographed this may or may not be required. Some cameras are already quite Ha sensitive.
Mirror lock up is also a contentious issue with a lot of people saying it is required but with a properly balanced scope on a rigid mount you can live without it. Both my Canon 350 and 40D had mirror lockup but I very rarely used it. If you allow a reasonable time between shots, say 5-10 seconds, you will notice very little in the way of scope movement. Cameras like the 40D have a live view facility which in effect locks the mirror up when activated anyway and the shutter action is then very small.
I would give the D80 a go first and see what you really need.
I haven't seen you for a while, so how is the observatory works progressing?
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