If you can stretch, Get the EQ6, it is only a couple of hundred more, and you won't outgrow it anywhere near as quickly, otherwise you may find you are selling the HEQ5 within a year anyway....
An ED80 is a good start, but this might be better:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=86779
There is a HEQ5Pro in the classies that has been there a while too. Maybe make an offer to both of them and see if you can get the pair for under $2500.
Photography is a whole other ballgame. I'd personally get a 2nd hand cooled CCD like a QHY8, but you can do nice work with a DSLR, I just found them frustrating though. Avoid the 300D though, get something with better software support.