[Astrobserver99 (Rob)]

I am looking to upgrade my Canon 300D to something that can take longer exposures with less noise.

My budget is limited to around $1000.00 for a camera.

So far, I have narrowed the choice down to the new Atik 16IC Cooled Astro Camera and The Canon 40D DSLR.

I guess my main questions are:

1. Will the 40D enable long exposures with low noise. 10 minutes would be great but 20 minutes even better.

2. Would resampling the images taken with a 40D to a smaller size remove most of the noise.

3. Would I be better off getting the cooled Atik, even though it has a smaller chip and lower resolution. The Atik should be capable of 20 min exposures with no noise.

I am leaning towards the Atik, as it is a dedicated astro camera and also has an autoguider port for later use as an autoguider if need be.

Cheers,