Point & Shoot Long Exposure

[GazA]

hi guys, debating with myself, im new to any sort of astrophotograhy and was wondering instead of investing £300+ on a basic sort of DSLR which i would love, (but afraid of not getting used as much as it deserves) is it worth for me to invest in a point&shoot for multi-purposes, but obviously with a slight view for minimal AP?

Im currently looking at a Panasonic Lumix FS16, or something within the budget of £200 what kind of results would i get? mainly looking at eiether afocal or piggy backing for general sky/constellations shots.

or does anyone have any other suggestions.

Thanks in advance guys.

[Veracocha]

You could pick up an EOS 350D or similar for around £150 and with good mounting/guiding will be better than a point & shoot jobbie.

[Photosbykev]

you should ensure that whatever camera you buy has a bulb option for exposures over 30 seconds and ideally a remote release. Also must have functions are manual focus aperture and iso control and a bonus would be saving images in the raw format.

An alternative might be the CHDK software utility for some Canon compacts that gives you alot more than the standard functionality of the stock camera.

In terms of image quality the newer compacts will blow the earlier Canon DSLRs into the water for general photography and have significantly lower noise .